Case Name: James BROWN, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1989-02-09
Citations: 538 So. 2d 116
Docket Number: No. 88-983
Parties: James BROWN, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: ORFINGER, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 538
Pages: 116–118

Head Matter:
James BROWN, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 88-983.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
Feb. 9, 1989.
James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Barbara L. Condon, Asst. Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Laura Ann Griffin, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee.

Opinion:
DANIEL, Judge.
Defendant, James Brown, has taken this appeal from his judgment and sentence of fifteen years imprisonment entered by the trial court after a jury found him guilty of committing the offenses of attempted manslaughter and use of a firearm in commission of a felony.
On November 3, 1987, defendant shot and wounded Officer Robert A. Bond, a plainclothes police officer who was pursuing defendant on foot in an attempt to arrest him. As a result of this shooting an information was filed charging defendant with committing the offenses of attempted murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. Following a one day trial, the jury returned a verdict finding defendant guilty of the firearm offense as well as attempted manslaughter, a lesser included offense of the attempted murder charge. The trial court entered judgment on both charges. Before imposing sentence on defendant, the trial court reclassified the attempted manslaughter charge from a second degree felony to a first degree felony by reason of defendant's use of a firearm in the commission of the crime. § 775.087, Fla.Stat. (1987). The court then departed from the recommended sentencing guideline range of three to seven years imprisonment and sentenced defendant to fifteen years imprisonment on the attempted manslaughter conviction. The court did not impose sentence on the firearm conviction.
As its reason for departure, the court stated that the victim in this case was a police officer on duty at the time of the commission of the offenses. Our supreme court has ruled that this is a valid reason for departure. State v. Baker, 483 So.2d 423 (Fla.1986). Having reclassified the attempted manslaughter charge from a second degree felony to a first degree felony by reason of the defendant's use of a firearm, the judgment on the firearm charge should have been vacated. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment and sentence for attempted manslaughter and vacate the judgment on the lesser charge of use of a firearm in commission of a felony.
AFFIRMED in part; VACATED in part.
ORFINGER, J., concurs.
COWART, J., concurs specially with opinion.
. § 782.07, 777.04(1) Fla.Stat. (1987).
. § 790.07, Fla.Stat. (1987).
. § 782.04, 777.04(1), Fla.Stat. (1987).
. Defendant also challenges the validity of the trial court's other reason for imposing a departure sentence. Review of this issue is not necessary since the Legislature has stated that a departure sentence can be upheld when at least one circumstance or factor justifies the departure. § 921.001(5), Fla.Stat. (1987).