Scott H. Rowe v. State of Florida

175 So. 3d 947

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: October 20, 2015
• Docket: 1D15-1275
• Status: Published

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Appellant challenges the denial of his motion for a downward departure sentence brought pursuant to section 921.0026, Florida Statutes (2014) (addressing mitigating circumstances). We reverse and remand because the trial court erred in finding that it was -per se precluded from entering a downward departure sentence based upon Appellant's single prior conviction. See State v. Randall, 746 So.2d 550, 552 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) (allowing downward departure sentence where defendant had only one prior conviction and current offense was isolated incident occurring in short span of time during Christmas when he was trying to earn money for his chil- ■ dren). The trial judge concluded that he would enter a downward departure sentence including withholding adjudication if he were free to do so. Because the law permits such a downward departure, we reverse and remand for a new sentencing hearing at which the court may exercise its discretion to enter a downward departure sentence.

This Court previously entered an order granting Appellant’s unopposed motion to expedite this appeal. In light of the fact that Appellant has already served several months of his short sentence, we likewise order the trial court to hold the new sentencing hearing on an expedited basis.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.

'WOLF, THOMAS, and KELSEY, JJ„ concur.