07-2735 JAMES M. BROWN, v. STATE OF FLORIDA

State: Florida

Court: Florida First District Court

Docket No: 07-2735

Case Date: 11/06/2008

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF FLORIDA NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED

JAMES M. BROWN, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. _____________________________/ Opinion filed November 6, 2008.

CASE NO. 1D07-2735

An appeal from the Circuit Court for Leon County. Kathleen F. Dekker, Judge. Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and M. J. Lord, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant. Bill McCollum, Attorney General, and Edward C. Hill, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

BENTON, J. James M. Brown alleges that the trial court erred by denying his motion to correct sentencing error, filed pursuant to Rule 3.800(b), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. The motion contends that the trial judge sentenced him unlawfully by taking prior acquittals by reason of insanity into account. We affirm.

After Mr. Brown was convicted of robbery, the assistant state attorney sought a fifteen-year sentence, the maximum allowable under the statute, arguing that Mr. Brown was a dangerous person as evidenced by, among other things, the fact that he had killed his wife and daughter--although, in 1985, a jury acquitted him of homicide charges by reason of insanity. The judge imposed a fifteen-year sentence, explicitly relying on the killings.1 As our supreme court has recently explained, Rule 3.800(b) is the vehicle for challenging substantive errors apparent in sentencing orders, but not [just] any
1

The trial judge explained her rationale as follows: . . . I just feel that you present a high danger

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