Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

643 So. 2d 701

Docket No. 93-1518.

MacK v. State

Jessie Lee MACK, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

District Court of Appeal of Florida

Decided October 17, 1994.

District Court of Appeal of Florida · decided 1994-10-17

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently December 2007

4 state decisions

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“In any case, other than a capital case, in which it is necessary that sentence be pronounced by a judge other than the judge who presided at trial or accepted the plea, the sentencing judge shall not pass sentence until the judge becomes acquainted with what transpired at the trial, or the facts, including any plea discussions, concerning the plea and the offense.”

quoted by 1 later decision, including 898 So. 2d 266 - Baskin v. State

Relies on 365 So. 2d 701 - Castor v. State · Lawley v. State · Taylor v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1994-10-17

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, Faye A. Boyce, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for appellant.

¶2Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Amelia L. Beisner, Asst. Public Defender, Office of the Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.

¶3ERVIN, Judge.

¶4Appellant, Jessie Lee Mack, appeals his conviction and sentence for possession of cocaine and driving with a suspended license. We affirm his conviction, but reverse and remand for resentencing because the record fails to show exigent or unusual circumstances, as required by Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.700(c),[1] for a judge other than the one who presided at trial to impose sentence.

¶5Because the trial judge became ill while the jury was deliberating, a replacement judge was appointed to receive the jury's verdict. At the sentencing hearing over a month later, the substitute judge presided. When appellant objected, the alternate judge did not state on the record why he, rather than the original judge, was pronouncing sentence. The record does not demonstrate that the replacement was based on necessity rather than mere convenience, which cannot justify sentencing by a substitute judge. Lawley v. State,377 So.2d 824, 825 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979); Campbell v. State,622 So.2d 603 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993). We remand, directing that the original judge who presided at trial impose sentence upon appellant, unless it is established on the record that he is unavailable under the rule.

¶6*702 AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, and REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

¶7BARFIELD and WEBSTER, JJ., concur.

NOTES

¶8[1] That rule provides:

¶9In those cases in which it is necessary that sentence be pronounced by a judge other than the judge who presided at trial or accepted the plea, the sentencing judge shall not pass sentence until the judge becomes acquainted with what transpired at the trial, or the facts, including any plea discussions, concerning the plea and the offense.

¶10We find no error in regard to the judge's preparation for sentencing. Castor v. State,351 So.2d 375 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977), aff'd,365 So.2d 701 (Fla. 1978).

/643/so2d/701 · .json · Public domain