Derek Lamont Johnson v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledDecember 30, 2022
Docket2D21-3220
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
DEREK LAMONT JOHNSON,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
No. 2D21-3220
December 30, 2022
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Pinellas County; Kathleen T. Hessinger,
Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Daniel Muller, Assistant
Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
MORRIS, Chief Judge.
In this appeal brought pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S.
738 (1967), Derek Lamont Johnson appeals his judgment and sentences
for petit theft and resisting an officer without violence. We affirm
Johnson's judgment without further comment. We also affirm Johnson's
sentences as orally pronounced.
However, during the pendency of this appeal, Johnson filed a
motion to correct sentencing error pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal
Procedure 3.800(b)(2). One of Johnson's claims addressed a scrivener's
error in the sentences due to a citation to an incorrect statute. The trial
court denied that portion of the motion. The trial court failed to address
Johnson's claim that special condition eighteen in the judgment and
sentencing documents contained a timing requirement that was not
orally pronounced. Because more than sixty days have passed, that
portion of the motion is deemed denied. See Fla. R. Crim. P.
3.800(b)(2)(B) (requiring a rule 3.800(b) motion to be resolved and for a
trial court ruling to occur within sixty days); Petterson v. State, 323 So.
3d 348, 349 (Fla. 2d DCA 2021) (deeming motion denied where trial
court failed to rule within sixty-day period). The trial court granted other
claims relating to the written judgment and sentences not conforming to
the oral pronouncement, but the record before this court does not reflect
that amended judgment and sentencing documents were entered.
For the reasons explained herein, we remand for entry of amended
judgment and sentencing documents that reflect the correction of the
scrivener's errors as ordered by the trial court as well as the correction of
the remaining scrivener's errors addressed in Johnson's motion.
BACKGROUND
In Johnson's rule 3.800(b)(2) motion, he raised three arguments: (1)
the trial court failed to specifically orally pronounce a $127 fine and
surcharge that appeared in the sentencing documents as part of the
$500 figure that the trial court did reference; (2) the written judgment
and sentencing documents contained requirements that Johnson pay
investigative costs and complete a shoplifting course within ten months
and also contained special condition eighteen which required completion
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of all of his probation conditions within ten months unless otherwise
specified, yet the trial court failed to orally pronounce those time
requirements; and (3) the trial court failed to cite the correct statute for
the imposition of the $3 Teen Court Assessment cost. The trial court
granted Johnson's motion in part, agreeing to strike the $127 fine and
surcharge and to remove the time requirements related to payment of the
investigative costs and completion of the shoplifting course. The trial
court denied the portion of Johnson's motion addressing the $3 Teen
Court Assessment cost, concluding that the judgment for fines and costs
cited the statutory authority. The trial court did not address Johnson's
claim that the trial court had failed to orally pronounce that he must
complete all of his probation requirements within ten months unless
otherwise specified as set forth in special condition eighteen in the
sentencing documents. The trial court subsequently entered an order
striking the $127 fine and surcharge and removing the time
requirements for payment of the investigative costs and completion of the
shoplifting course.
ANALYSIS
Although the trial court granted Johnson's rule 3.800(b)(2) motion
in part and, thereafter, entered an order striking the fine and surcharge
and removing the time requirements for payment of the investigative
costs and completion of the shoplifting course, nothing in the record
before this court reflects that amended judgment and sentencing
documents or an amended judgment for fines and costs was ever entered
in accordance with the trial court's orders. Thus we must remand for
entry of such documents. See Rodriguez v. State, 310 So. 3d 465, 465-
66 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020) (affirming sentence but remanding for clerk to
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fulfill trial court's order striking discretionary costs which had not been
orally pronounced where amended sentencing documents failed to fully
effectuate trial court's order); Haddock v. State, 255 So. 3d 994, 994 (Fla.
2d DCA 2018) (affirming sentence but remanding for correction of
sentencing documents where trial court had granted rule 3.800(b)
motion but where corrections had not been made). However, on remand,
additional scrivener's errors must be corrected.
The denial of a rule 3.800(b)(2) claim addressing a minor
sentencing error, such as the $3 Teen Court Assessment cost here, may
be raised in an Anders brief. See Gedehomme v. State, 160 So. 3d 533,
534 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015) (noting, in a case briefed pursuant to Anders,
that a rule 3.800(b)(2) motion was the appropriate mechanism to address
the "erroneous imposition of costs" and that it preserved the error for
appellate review); see also Crowder v. State, 313 So. 3d 704, 706 (Fla. 2d
DCA 2020) (acknowledging that minor sentencing issues, such as a claim
that a cost was improperly imposed, are permitted to be raised in Anders
briefs). Here, the trial court listed "Teen Court Assessment" and a
citation to the applicable county ordinance and section 939.19(2), Florida
Statutes (2020), as the basis for the cost. However, the correct statutory
authority for that cost is section 938.19(2), Florida Statutes (2020).
Thus, we must remand for correction of this scrivener's error. See
Echavarria v. State, 270 So. 3d 527, 528 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019) (remanding
for correction of a scrivener's error in citation to nonexistent statute); see
also Morran v. State, 662 So. 2d 1339, 1340 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995)
(acknowledging that a citation to the incorrect statute can be a
scrivener's error). The trial court must amend the judgment for fines and
costs to reflect the correct statute.
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Finally, we must remand due to the deemed denial of Johnson's
rule 3.800(b)(2) claim that special condition eighteen in the written
judgment and sentencing documents (requiring completion of all
probation conditions within ten months unless otherwise specified) did
not conform to the oral pronouncement. The transcript of the sentencing
portion of Johnson's trial does not reflect that the trial court orally
pronounced such a requirement. Where a written sentencing document
fails to conform to an oral pronouncement, such an error is "a scrivener's
error that may be corrected as a ministerial act." Diego Mateo v. State,
320 So. 3d 982, 983 (Fla. 2d DCA 2021) (quoting Pittman v. State, 310
So. 3d 970, 971 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020)). Thus, on remand, special condition
eighteen must also be stricken from the written judgment and sentencing
documents in order to conform to the oral pronouncement. Johnson
need not be present for the correction of the scrivener's errors. See Diego
Mateo, 320 So. 3d at 983.
CONCLUSION
We affirm Johnson's judgment and the sentences as orally
pronounced. We remand with directions for the trial court to prepare,
sign, and render proper judgment and sentencing documents that
accurately reflect the sentences imposed on Johnson. See Pittman, 310
So. 3d at 972.
Affirmed; remanded with directions.
KHOUZAM and LUCAS, JJ. Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
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