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3rD DCA ROUNDUP -The Road to hell edition

By "Captain Liberty" and "Rumpole"

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. In State v. McCray, Judge Murphy sentenced a defendant who scored 21 months prison to two years probation, 100 community service hours, participation in a jobs program, and $205.00 restitution. The road to hell and a reversal by the 3rd DCA is paved with both good intentions, and failure to file written reasons for the download departure or failing to contemporaneously pronounce on the record the reasons for the downward departure. Because apparently the judge was persuaded by the defense's powerful arguments for a downward departure to the extent that he remained mute, the 3rd overturned the downward departure. Moral of the case: no good deed goes unpunished by the 3rd DCA unless you give a reason for the good deed...continue to full post

Full post as published by Justice Building Blog on March 17, 2010 (boomark / email).