DocketNumber: No. 92-00342
Citation Numbers: 614 So. 2d 29, 1993 Fla. App. LEXIS 2031, 1993 WL 40393
Judges: Altenbernd, Frank, Key, Parker, System
Filed Date: 2/19/1993
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 10/18/2024
Michael W. Gaither appeals his convictions for three counts of capital sexual battery and two counts of lewd and lascivious acts and the sentences imposed on the noncapital felonies. We affirm the convictions but remand for resentencing on the two noncapital offenses.
This appeal is on the retrial of Gaither after this court reversed all convictions and remanded for a new trial. See Gaither v. State, 581 So.2d 922 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991). At the initial sentencing, the trial court imposed sentences of five and one-half years, which fell within the guidelines’ recommended range, on the two charges of lewd and lascivious acts. At sentencing following the second trial, the trial court, without the benefit of a guidelines’ score-sheet, sentenced Gaither to consecutive fifteen-year prison terms on each of the non-capital felonies, which was the statutory maximum and an apparent upward departure from the guidelines. The trial court, however, did not list any reasons for departure or justification for exceeding the sentences imposed originally.
The United States Supreme Court has held that a judge may not impose a harsher sentence upon a defendant after a new trial unless the record affirmatively
We affirm all convictions and the sentences on the capital felonies but vacate the two sentences for lewd and lascivious acts and remand for resentencing within the sentencing guidelines.