Rolend Ashtin Jean - Foster v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledNovember 3, 2023
Docket2D2021-2305
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
ROLEND ASHTIN JEAN-FOSTER,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
Nos. 2D21-2305, 2D21-2306
CONSOLIDATED
November 3, 2023
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Manatee County; Frederick P.
Mercurio, Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Daniel Muller,
Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
ATKINSON, Judge.
In this Anders appeal,1 Rolend Ashtin Jean-Foster appeals from the
judgments and sentences entered against him in two consolidated cases.
We affirm in all respects without further comment except for minor
sentencing issues. See In re Anders Briefs, 581 So. 2d 149, 152 (Fla.
1 Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967).
1991) (holding a litigant does not lose his or her Anders rights because
counsel is able to identify "some relatively minor sentencing issues").
Jean-Foster contends that the trial court erred by failing to enter a
corrected final judgment and sentence and a corrected monetary final
judgment in case 20-CF-3129 that reflect the accurate amount of the fine
and corresponding surcharge for count 3 (trafficking in
methamphetamine, 28 to 200 grams). See ยง 938.04, Fla. Stat. (2020)
(imposing, as an additional cost, 5% of any criminal fine levied upon a
defendant). The trial court acknowledged that it erroneously imposed a
fine of $500,000 rather than the statutorily prescribed fine of $100,000.
See ยง 893.135(1)(f)1.b, Fla. Stat. (2020) (setting a $100,000 fine for
trafficking "28 grams or more, but less than 200 grams" of
methamphetamine). As a result, it entered a new judgment and sentence
that removed any reference to a fine altogether. It also entered a
corrected monetary final judgment reducing the total amount of fines for
all counts from $683,018 to $263,018โa difference of $420,000โwhich
reflects both the reduction in the fine for count 3 from $500,000 to
$100,000 and the corresponding reduction in the 5% surcharge from
$25,000 to $5,000. Therefore, the trial court did not commit any
sentencing error in case 20-CF-3129 with respect to the fine and
surcharge imposed for count 3.
With respect to the other minor sentencing issues raised by Jean-
Foster, the trial court entered an order on December 21, 2022, rectifying
these mistakes. The trial court's order modified Jean-Foster's sentence
to "[r]emove the minimum mandatory for Count 1 . . . from case
20CF3109," and the trial court ordered the clerk to "cite the appropriate
county ordinance for costs imposed as a Final Judgment." But Jean-
Foster is correct that the trial court failed to implement these ordered
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directives through corrected judgments. We remand for the entry of
corrected judgments in accordance with the trial court's December 21,
2022, order. See Clifford v. State, 300 So. 3d 761, 761 (Fla. 2d DCA
2020) (remanding for entry of an amended order because the trial court
granted a motion to correct sentence but failed to enter an amended
order); Mobley v. State, 968 So. 2d 632, 632 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007)
(remanding for entry of a corrected order because the trial court granted
a rule 3.800(b)(2) motion but failed to enter a corrected probation order);
Diaz v. State, 43 So. 3d 874, 875 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010) (affirming but
remanding to correct "a minor error relating to the classification of the
Defendant's conviction which was referenced in the Anders brief filed on
appeal"); see also Hamiter v. State, 290 So. 3d 1003, 1004, 1006 n.4 (Fla.
2d DCA 2020) (certifying "a question regarding what constitutes a 'minor
sentencing error' that can be addressed on the merits within an
otherwise 'no merit' Anders brief" but "recogniz[ing] that that question is
not so urgent in this particular case, given that the State voiced no
objection to the granting of Hamiter's motion below").
Affirmed but remanded for entry of corrected judgments.
KELLY and ROTHSTEIN-YOUAKIM, JJ., Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
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