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620 So. 2d 187

Docket No. 80551.

Smith v. State

Donald Lewis SMITH, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.

Supreme Court of Florida

Decided June 10, 1993.

Supreme Court of Florida · decided 1993-06-10

Cited by 6 later decisions — most recently March 2004

6 state decisions

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“Do defendant's efforts to cover up a crime allow sentencing guidelines departure?”

quoted by 1 later decision, including Rendon v. State

Relies on 488 So. 2d 523 - State v. Mischler · 497 So. 2d 736 - Sharp v. State · 616 So. 2d 988 - State v. Varner

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1993-06-10

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender and Kathleen Stover, Asst. Public Defender, Second Judicial Circuit, Tallahassee, for petitioner.

¶2Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., James W. Rogers, Bureau Chief — Criminal Appeals and Carolyn J. Mosley, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for respondent.

¶3PER CURIAM.

¶4We have for review Smith v. State, 604 So.2d 944 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992), which certified the following question of great public importance:

Do defendant's efforts to cover up a crime allow sentencing guidelines departure?

¶5We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. We answer in the negative consistent with our opinion in State v. Varner, 616 So.2d 988 (Fla. 1993). The opinion below is quashed and remanded for reconsideration in light of Varner.

¶6It is so ordered.

¶7OVERTON, McDONALD, SHAW, GRIMES, KOGAN and HARDING, JJ., concur.

¶8BARKETT, C.J., concurs specially with an opinion.

¶9BARKETT, Chief Justice, specially concurring.

¶10Regardless of whether the concealment of a murder is a crime for which the defendant was not charged, a departure from the sentencing guidelines cannot be based on an inherent component of the crime in *188 question. State v. Mischler, 488 So.2d 523 (Fla. 1986). Concealment of a murder by the murderer is "a factor common to nearly all crimes in the sentencing category." Lerma v. State, 497 So.2d 736, 739 (Fla. 1986) (applying Mischler to the stated reasons for departure in a sexual battery case, i.e., dangerousness of the defendant and helplessness of the victim).

¶11Although I agree with the majority that State v. Varner, 616 So.2d 988 (Fla. 1993) also applies, I would reverse the decision based on Mischler as well.

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