Joseph Domenick Bustos v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledNovember 16, 2022
Docket2D21-2485
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
JOSEPH DOMENICK BUSTOS,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
No. 2D21-2485
November 16, 2022
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Polk County; Donald G. Jacobsen,
Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Caroline Joan S. Picart,
Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
ATKINSON, Judge.
Joseph Domenick Bustos appeals from the judgment and
sentence for child abuse entered following a negotiated plea
agreement. His sentence provides for investigative costs of $385.85.
But at the hearing, the court indicated that it was imposing
"$382.85 investigative costs to the Polk County Sheriff's Office."
During the pendency of this appeal, Bustos filed a motion to
correct sentencing error pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal
Procedure 3.800(b)(2), which the trial court denied, and we reverse
as to one of the two items in the monetary obligations order that
Bustos challenged—the $3 discrepancy between the amount set
forth in the affidavit and the amount in the judgment as it relates to
the investigation costs. Pursuant to section 938.27(1), Florida
Statutes (2019), "convicted persons are liable for payment of the
costs of prosecution, including investigative costs incurred by law
enforcement agencies." The plea form in the record indicates that
Bustos agreed to pay only established investigative costs in the
amount of $382.85, an amount reflected by the affidavit submitted
by the State in response to Bustos' motion to correct sentencing
error. Because the award of $385.85 did not conform to the trial
court's oral ruling of "$382.85 investigative costs to the Polk County
Sheriff's Office," the sentence is illegal. See Williams v. State, 957
So. 2d 600, 603 (Fla. 2007) ("[W]e have determined that a written
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sentence that conflicts with the oral pronouncement of sentence
imposed in open court is an illegal sentence.").
Accordingly, we remand for entry of a corrected judgment and
sentence consistent with this opinion. However, we affirm Bustos's
conviction and sentence in all other respects.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with
directions.
SLEET and LABRIT, JJ., Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
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