Levine v. State
The Fourth DCA affirmed most issues without comment but reversed on sentencing, holding the circuit court misunderstood its discretion to depart below the statutory maximum once it found a valid downward departure ground, and erred by failing to require the State to substantiate disputed prior convictions used in the scoresheet. The court also reversed four cost orders and remanded for clarification on whether later orders superseded earlier ones.
Key facts
- Levine was convicted and sentenced by the circuit court, which calculated his sentencing scoresheet using prior convictions and imposed a sentence at the statutory maximum.
- Levine appealed, challenging the sentencing determination and the prior convictions used in the scoresheet calculation, among other issues.
- +2 more key facts with a free trial
Why it matters
This opinion reinforces, via the Rudd line of authority, that trial courts retain discretion to depart below the statutory maximum sentence even when the CPC's lowest permissible sentence exceeds that maximum—a… — full analysis with a trial
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