Clarence H. Daniels v. State Florida

In 1987 the defendant was before the trial court for sentencing on three offenses all scored on one guidelines scoresheet. The recommended guidelines sentence was five years. The trial court imposed a five year prison sentence on one offense and, as to the other two offenses, placed the defendant on probation with conditions requiring restitution. With credits the defendant served the five year sentence. Thereafter, he was accused of, and pled guilty to, a violation of probation. Defense counsel pointed out that the five year prison sentence exhausted the recommended guidelines sentence and further confinement for the violation of probation was prohibited because such confinement would exceed the original guidelines sentence, citing Fullwood v. State, 558 So.2d 168 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990). Upon questioning by the trial court the State agreed with trial counsel that under Fullwood, no further incarceration could be imposed on the defendant in this case as a result of the violation of probation.1{/Cite} Accordingly the trial court terminated probation. The trial court reflected on the fact that before guidelines sentencing, a trial court could impose a prison sentence on one offense and place a defendant on probation in lieu of sentencing on a second offense and when the defendant served the prison sentence on the first offense but violated probation as to the second offense, the trial court could then ""impose any sentence which it might have originally imposed before placing the probationer on probation"" (Section 948.06(1), Florida Statutes) and the prison sentence on the first offense in no way restricted the sentence on the second offense as to which the defendant had been placed on, and violated, probation. However, as the Fullwood case demonstrates, the sentencing guidelines tie together and limit the total sentencing sanctions relating to all offenses pending before the court for sentencing.2{/Cite} The fact that the judge imposing the original sentence in this case exhausted the maximum guidelines prison sanction by imposing it on the first offense and reserved none of it for use as further punishment in the event the defendant violated probation as to the other charges, was frustrating to the trial judge in this case who then decided that although the probation was being terminated he would merely order the defendant to make restitution under the threat of being held in contempt of court for failure to comply with that order and confinement of up to 180 days or six months in jail as to each of the two offenses as to which probation was terminated.