Amendments to 921.0021

1. Montgomery v. State

   897 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. 2005)   Cited 34 times

   The issue in this case is whether a plea of nolo contendere, where adjudication of guilt has been withheld, serves as a prior conviction for purposes of the sentencing guidelines. For sentencing purposes, chapter 921, Florida Statutes, provides that prior convictions are scored on the sentencing guidelines worksheet in computing a defendant's sentence. See § 921.0014, Fla. Stat. (2002). Section 921.0021 defines a conviction as "a determination of guilt that is the result of a plea or a trial, regardless of whether adjudication is withheld." See § 921.0021( 2), Fla. Stat. (2002); see also Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.701(d)(2) ("`Conviction' means a determination of guilt resulting from plea or trial, regardless of whether adjudication was withheld or whether imposition of sentence was suspended."). The Fourth District in this case held that Montgomery's no contest pleas were properly calculated on the scoresheet as prior convictions. The Fourth District reasoned that because the statute made no distinction between guilty and no contest pleas, and both pleas were processed in an identical manner, there had been a determination of guilt. See Montgomery v. State, 821 So.2d 464…

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2. Sanders v. State

   35 So. 3d 864 (Fla. 2010)   Cited 32 times

   Section 921.0021, Florida Statutes (1999), defined the scoresheet categories of noncapital, felony offenses committed on or after October 1, 1998, as follows:

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3. State v. Hardley

   344 So. 3d 638 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2022)

   We note two observations about these provisions. First, the statute defines "victim injury" in terms of physical injury (including fatal injury). So for a defendant to be scored for victim injury under section 921.0021(7), he must be sentenced for an offense that directly caused a physical injury, up to and including death. Any such injury is scored on a continuum—120 points for death, down to 4 points for slight physical injury. See § 921.0024(1)(a), Fla. Stat. By contrast, and despite its inclusion under the "victim injury" heading of the scoresheet, section 921.0021(7) requires that sexual penetration be scored separately, whether or not there is physical injury. In other words, sentencing points assessed for sexual penetration stand apart from victim injury points assessed for physical injury to a victim.

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4. Fox v. State

   281 So. 3d 498 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2019)

   In the present case, the record reflects that the sentencing judge ordered a presentencing investigation (PSI) report pursuant to § 921.231(1), Fla. Stat. (2010). The purpose of the PSI report is to provide the sentencing court with information that is helpful in determining the type of sentence that should be imposed. Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.712(a). This report must include, inter alia , the offender's prior record of arrests and convictions . § 921.231(1)(c), Fla. Stat. (2010). In other words, by definition, the arrests and convictions considered by a trial judge in sentencing occur "prior to the time of the primary offense," and not subsequent to the primary offense . § 921.0021(5), Fla. Stat. (2010). Additionally, the terms "primary offense" and "prior record," which are included in the CPC's sentencing principles, do not include a subsequent arrest and its related charges . See §§ 921.0021(4)(5), Fla. Stats. (2010).

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5. Champagne v. State

   269 So. 3d 629 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2019)   Cited 16 times

   The CPC provides that "[t]he primary purpose of sentencing is to punish the offender." § 921.002(1)(b). It also provides that "[t]he penalty imposed is commensurate with the severity of the primary offense and the circumstances surrounding the primary offense" and that "[t]he severity of the sentence increases with the length and nature of the offender's prior record." § 921.002(1)(c), (d). "Primary offense" is defined as the "the offense at conviction pending before the court for sentencing for which the total sentence points recommend a sanction that is as severe as, or more severe than, the sanction recommended for any other offense committed by the offender and pending before the court at sentencing." § 921.0021( 4). "Prior record" is defined as "a conviction for a crime committed ... prior to the time of the primary offense." § 921.0021( 5). Additional offenses, those "for which an offender is convicted and which [are] pending before the court for sentencing at the time of the primary offense," § 921.0021( 1), are scored and included in the total sentence points calculation, which is then used solely to determine the offender's LPS, see …

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6. Brown v. State

   305 So. 3d 547 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2020)

   At sentencing, only one offense, typically the most severe offense, can be classified as the "primary offense." See § 921.0021(4), Fla. Stat. (2020). All others are listed as "additional offense[s]" which are defined as offenses "other than the primary offense for which an offender is convicted and which is pending before the court for sentencing at the time of the primary offense." § 921.0021(1), Fla. Stat. (2020).

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7. Sims v. State

   998 So. 2d 494 (Fla. 2008)   Cited 30 times

   • Motion to dismiss

   Based upon the plain language of section 921.0021(7)(a), which defines "victim injury" for the purpose of scoring victim-injury points, we conclude that under these facts, the imposition of such points for leaving the scene in violation of section 316.027(1)(b) was incorrect. See Koile v. State, 934 So.2d 1226, 1233 (Fla. 2006) ("[T]his Court must first look to the plain language of the statute, and if the statute is ambiguous on its face, the Court can only then rely upon the rules of statutory construction in order to discern legislative intent."). Section 921.0021 (7)(a) applies here because it concerns felony offenses committed on or after October 1, 1998, and Sims committed the alleged offense on May 12, 2001. Section 921.0021(7)(a) provides:

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8. Norvil v. State

   191 So. 3d 406 (Fla. 2016)   Cited 43 times

   In the present case, the record reflects that the sentencing judge ordered a presentencing investigation (PSI) report pursuant to § 921.231(1), Fla. Stat. (2010). The purpose of the PSI report is to provide the sentencing court with information that is helpful in determining the type of sentence that should be imposed. Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.712(a). This report must include, inter alia, the offender's prior record of arrests and convictions. § 921.231(1)(c), Fla. Stat. (2010). In other words, by definition, the arrests and convictions considered by a trial judge in sentencing occur “prior to the time of the primary offense,” and not subsequent to the primary offense. § 921.0021(5), Fla. Stat. (2010). Additionally, the terms “primary offense” and “prior record,” which are included in the CPC's sentencing principles, do not include a subsequent arrest and its related charges. See §§ 921.0021(4)(5), Fla. Stats. (2010).

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9. Lewis v. State

   898 So. 2d 1081 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2005)   Cited 1 times

   Section 921.0021(7) also exempts the assessment of victim injury points for violations of section 872.06, Florida Statutes. § 921.0021(7)(d), Fla. Stat.
10. Vonador v. State

    857 So. 2d 323 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2003)   Cited 4 times

    The trial court denied Vonador's motion, citing the provision of section 921.0021( 5), Florida Statutes (2001-2003), which states that "[j]uvenile dispositions of offenses committed by the offender within 5 years before the primary offense are included in the offender's prior record when the offense would have been a crime had the offender been an adult rather than a juvenile." However, this section governs the scoring of prior record under the sentencing guidelines and has no relevance to the determination of what constitutes a predicate conviction under the habitual offender statute. Furthermore, the trial court, in its order, failed to indicate to which version of section 921.0021( 5) it was citing. The statute was amended in 2001 to allow the scoring of juvenile adjudications as prior record if they were committed up to five years, rather than three years, before the offense for which the defendant is being sentenced. See Amendments to Florida Rules of Procedure 3.704 3.992 (Criminal Punishment Code), 810 So.2d 826, 826 (Fla. 2001). In denying Vonador's claim that he was illegally sentenced as a habitual offender for a 1992 offense, the trial court…

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