5D01-1892 Hannah v. State

State: Florida

Court: Florida Fifth District Court

Docket No: 5D01-1892

Case Date: 04/01/2002

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT ANTHONY HANNAH, Appellant, v. Case No. 5D01-1892 STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. / Opinion Filed April 5, 2002 Appeal from the Circuit Court for Orange County, Anthony H. Johnson, Judge. James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Lyle Hitchens, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant. Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Lori N. Hagan, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee. PLEUS, J. Hannah appeals his sentence imposed after violating probation. He argues that the lower court improperly felt constrained to sentence him to a guidelines sentence upon revoking his probation. We affirm. Hannah admitted violating his probation. The judge began to sentence Hannah as follows: I' m going to sentence you to -- I' m going to adjudicate you guilty, revoke and terminate your sentence of -- or your probation and sentence you to 364 days in Orange County Jail, give you credit for 9 months and 87 days time served. JANUARY TERM 2002

The state asked the court to sentence Hannah to a guidlelines sentence based on Griffin v. State, 783 So. 2d 337 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001). After considering Griffin, the court stated: Griffin says that I can modify a person' s probation. If they violate probation, I can modify their probation and eventually do with -- essentially, do a lot of different things. But if -- in his case -- Mr. Hannah' s case, I' m not modifying his probation; I' m just revoking his probation and sentencing him. The judge then sentenced Hannah to 14.4 months in prison, with credit for time served, based on his scoresheet. Hannah argues that the judge misinterpreted Griffin, improperly feeling constrained to impose a guideline sentence of 14.4 months in prison instead of his original intention of imposing 364 days in county jail. The standard of review is de novo. See Schaal v. State, 743 So. 2d 1229 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). The state correctly argues that upon a violation of probation, the trial court may " revoke, modify, or continue the probation."

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