Summary
The Supreme Court of Florida held that Ricky Hope could raise a constitutional challenge to the sentencing guidelines for the first time on appeal because the sentencing error constituted fundamental error. Applying Heggs v. State, the court quashed the Fourth District's affirmance and remanded for resentencing after recalculation of the scoresheet under the pre-amendment guidelines.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Hope could raise for the first time on appeal a constitutional challenge to the sentencing scoresheet calculated under chapter 95-184, Laws of Florida.
- Whether Hope was entitled to resentencing after recalculation of his scoresheet under the sentencing guidelines in effect before the unconstitutional amendments.
- Whether the upward departure sentence should be reconsidered after the scoresheet was recalculated.
Holdings
- A defendant may properly raise for the first time on appeal a challenge that the sentencing guidelines amendments in chapter 95-184 violated the single-subject requirement of article III, section 6, of the Florida Constitution.
- Because Hope had standing under Heggs and the 1994 guidelines produced a lower sentencing range than the range calculated under chapter 95-184, the sentence had to be reconsidered using the guidelines in effect before the unconstitutional amendments became effective.
Key quotations
“We remand to the Fourth District, as we agree with Hope that the departure sentence should be reconsidered after the recalculation of his scoresheet under the sentencing guidelines in effect prior to the date the unconstitutional amendments made by chapter 95-184 became effective.” (797 So. 2d at 1253)
Factual background
Hope was convicted of attempted first-degree murder for an offense committed on July 24, 1996. His sentencing scoresheet produced a guidelines range of 100.5 to 167.5 months, but the trial court imposed a thirty-year upward departure sentence based on his juvenile record, prior robbery-related conduct, and asserted lack of amenability to rehabilitation. The scoresheet also included thirty points for a prior serious felony under the unconstitutional amendments enacted by chapter 95-184, Laws of Florida.
Procedural history
Hope was convicted by a jury of attempted first-degree murder and received a thirty-year upward departure sentence. The Fourth District affirmed, upholding one departure reason and concluding that Hope had failed to preserve his challenge to the addition of thirty points for a prior serious felony. The Supreme Court of Florida accepted review because the decision expressly and directly conflicted with Maddox v. State.
Remand instructions
The Fourth District Court of Appeal was directed to reconsider the departure sentence after recalculation of Hope's scoresheet under the sentencing guidelines in effect before the unconstitutional chapter 95-184 amendments became effective.