Eddie Roger WILSON, Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.
Supreme Court of Florida.
*426 Barbara M. Linthicum, Public Defender, and Kathleen Stover, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for petitioner.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Gypsy Bailey, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for respondent.
McDONALD, Justice.
We review Wilson v. State,
Whether abuse of a position of familial authority over a victim may constitute a clear and convincing reason justifying the imposition of a departure sentence for convictions of lewd and lascivious assault upon a child under 16 years of age?
Wilson pled guilty to two counts of lewd and lascivious assault on a child under sixteen years of age.[1] The recommended *427 sentence under the guidelines was five and one-half to seven years' incarceration. After a detailed sentencing proceeding which fully advised the trial judge of the circumstances of the events leading to the pleas, the judge imposed upward departure sentences of fifteen years' incarceration for the first count and ten years' incarceration followed by five years' probation on the second count. His written reasons were:
"1. The victim in this case is the defendant's stepdaughter, who suffers from mild mental retardation, and by virtue thereof she was in a particularly vulnerable position because of the trust she placed in the defendant. Hawkins v. State,522 So.2d 488 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988).
2. Because the sexual assault was committed by one in a position of familial authority and the defendant was convicted of a crime not predicated upon the existence of such relationship, the usual mental trauma which was caused to the victim was not inherent in the crime itself and not factored into the sentencing guidelines.
3. The trauma suffered by the victim was of such an aggravated nature as to exceed that which is inherent in the usual case of a lewd and lascivious act and demonstrable physical manifestations resulted from the trauma."
A departure sentence should be reviewed by looking at the reasons therefor individually and collectively. Any doubt as to the applicability of a departure reason must be resolved in favor of the defendant.
In Lerma v. State,
that any factor, though not an element of the offense, that is commonly appurtenant to the offense, such as emotional harm in a sexual battery case, should not be used to authorize a departure sentence because, contrary to the intent of guidelines sentencing, a departure sentence, rather than the recommendend sentence, could be authorized in most cases.
In Hall v. State,
Although the trial court's third reason for departure is valid, in view of the two invalid reasons we are unable to determine beyond a reasonable doubt whether a departure sentence would have been imposed based on that reason alone. Albritton v. State,
It is so ordered.
SHAW, C.J., and OVERTON, EHRLICH, BARKETT, GRIMES and KOGAN, JJ., concur.
NOTES
Notes
[1] § 800.04, Fla. Stat. (1985), provides:
Any person who:
(1) Handles, fondles or makes an assault upon any child under the age of 16 years in a lewd, lascivious, or indecent manner;
(2) Commits an act defined as sexual battery under s. 794.011(1)(h) upon any child under the age of 16 years; or
(3) Knowingly commits any lewd or lascivious act in the presence of any child under the age of 16 years
without committing the crime of sexual battery is guilty of a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. Neither the victim's lack of chastity nor the victim's consent is a defense to the crime proscribed by this section.
[2] In discussing Hankey v. State,
[3] There is no evidence that Wilson took the action he did because of, or that his acts were facilitated by, the child's retardation. Compare Hawkins v. State,
