Dawn Gibson-Capo v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledJanuary 13, 2023
Docket2D21-2776
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
DAWN GIBSON-CAPO,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
No. 2D21-2776
January 13, 2023
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Manatee County; Charles E. Roberts,
Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Lisa Lott, Assistant Public
Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
LaROSE, Judge.
In this Anders1 appeal, Dawn Gibson-Capo challenges the order
revoking her probation and resulting sentences for third-degree grand
theft in case numbers 2019-CF-3579 and 2019-CF-3580. We affirm,
without further discussion, the revocation order. We reverse the
1 Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967).
sentences to the extent that the trial court delegated the determination of
a restitution payment schedule.
The trial court ordered Ms. Gibson-Capo to pay $438 in restitution
in case number 2019-CF-3579. Ms. Gibson-Capo, who was unemployed,
asked for a payment plan. The trial court told her to make arrangements
through the probation department. The trial court repeated this
instruction when it later dismissed her motion to modify sentence. The
trial court never set a payment schedule. See generally ยง 775.089(3)(d),
Fla. Stat. (2021) (stating that unless otherwise provided by the court,
restitution is payable immediately).
Setting a restitution payment schedule is a nondelegable judicial
task. Pearce v. State, 968 So. 2d 92, 93 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007) (first citing
Lewellen v. State, 685 So. 2d 1367, 1368 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); then citing
Douglas v. State, 664 So. 2d 1099, 1099 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995); then citing
Guinn v. State, 652 So. 2d 902, 902 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995); and then citing
Briggs v. State, 647 So. 2d 182, 182 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)); see, e.g.,
Lewellen, 685 So. 2d at 1368 ("The trial court cannot delegate to the
probation officer the authority to determine a restitution payment
schedule." (citing Douglas, 664 So. 2d at 1099)); Fichera v. State, 688 So.
2d 453, 453 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997) ("[T]he trial court improperly delegated
to [the defendant's] probation officer the responsibility for creating a
schedule of payments consistent with his ability to pay." (first citing
Briggs, 647 So. 2d at 182; then citing Bowers v. State, 596 So. 2d 480,
481 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); and then citing Smith v. State, 589 So. 2d 387,
388 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991))); Boss v. State, 613 So. 2d 525, 526 (Fla. 5th
DCA 1993) ("Only the trial court, not the probation officer, can set up a
payment schedule."). Thus, the trial court erred in delegating to the
probation department the responsibility to set a restitution payment
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schedule. See Pearce, 968 So. 2d at 93; see also Robinson v. State, 586
So. 2d 88, 89 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991) ("While Robinson did not object to the
delegation of authority, the failure to object does not confer on the court
the authority to violate the law, i.e., to delegate to a probation officer a
purely judicial function." (citing Ashe v. State, 582 So. 2d 759, 760 (Fla.
1st DCA 1991))).
We reverse the sentences to the extent that the trial court delegated
authority to the probation department to determine the restitution
payment schedule. See Pearce, 968 So. 2d at 94. We remand for the
trial court to establish a restitution payment schedule if it determines
that installment payments are appropriate. See ยง 775.089(3); Fichera,
688 So. 2d at 453 (remanding the restitution order for the trial court to
determine if a payment schedule is necessary); Smith, 589 So. 2d at 388
(remanding restitution orders because "the court's attempt to delegate to
the Department of Corrections the responsibility to determine an amount
for regular payments to the aggrieved party is ineffectual and must be
stricken" (citing Williams v. State, 556 So. 2d 799, 800 (Fla. 4th DCA
1990))).
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with directions.
BLACK and LUCAS, JJ., Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
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