Case Name: STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Howard REGAN, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1990-07-27
Citations: 564 So. 2d 1208
Docket Number: No. 89-01309
Parties: STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Howard REGAN, Appellee.
Judges: PATTERSON, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 564
Pages: 1208–1211

Head Matter:
STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Howard REGAN, Appellee.
No. 89-01309.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.
July 27, 1990.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Robert J. Krauss, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellant.
No appearance by appellee.

Opinion:
LEHAN, Acting Chief Judge.
We affirm the trial court's downward departure from the sentencing guidelines. The trial court imposed two years community control followed by five years probation upon defendant's conviction for the purchase of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school. The guidelines recommended 3 ¥2 to 4V2 years imprisonment.
The trial court's reasons for the downward departure were as follows:
1.This crime occurred on Saturday, October 29, 1988, at approximately 4:08 p.m., in a residential neighborhood well known as a place where drugs are used, bought and sold. The seller was an undercover police officer who is an adult black female. She could not be mistaken for a school child. The officer was deliberately standing at a location within 1,000 feet of a school for the purpose of enhancing the penalty. There is no evidence that the Defendant knew he was within 1,000 feet of a school. The Defendant is an adult male who was alone when he made the purchase and intended the cocaine for his own use. There is no indication he intended to sell or give it to a minor.
The laudable intent of the legislature in passing this law was to severely punish persons who attempt to introduce drugs into the lives of our children. The problem with this case is that there is no nexus between the purchase of the drugs and the school except proximity and that proximity was deliberately created by law enforcement. If the purchase was made 1,0001 [sic] feet from the school the guidelines sentence would be any non-state prison sanction. The Defendant needs to be punished for what he did, no more or less.
2. The Defendant is employed full-time and has held the same job for many years.
3. The Defendant, who is 43 years old, has not been arrested during his adult life.
4. The Defendant is not dangerous and does not constitute a threat to society. To place him in prison would be a waste of valuable prison space which should be used for violent criminals.
The state argues that these reasons reflect no more than the trial court's dissatisfaction with the guidelines recommended range for a crime which defendant clearly committed. Citing Scott v. State, 508 So.2d 335, 337 (Fla.1987), the state correctly argues that dissatisfaction of that kind would by itself not provide a proper basis for a downward departure. While the trial court's reasons did reflect dissatisfaction with the guidelines recommended range, that dissatisfaction appears to have been attributable not to the existence of that range as such but to the trial court's conclusion that the particular circumstances of the crime in this case ameliorated the level of defendant's guilt and indicated less moral culpability. In that regard the first reason for departure reflects that defendant knew he was not dealing with a school child, had no reason to believe that his crime had anything to do with a school or school activities or personnel, and in fact was not shown to be aware that there was a school in the vicinity. Amelioration of the level of a defendant's guilt or moral culpability may in proper circumstances justify a downward departure. See State v. Sachs, 526 So.2d 48, 50 (Fla.1988); State v. D 'Alexander, 496 So.2d 1007, 1008 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986). See also State v. Herrin, 555 So.2d 1288, 1291-92 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990) (Lehan, A.C.J., concurring specially).
The fourth reason for departure— that defendant did not constitute a threat to society — is closely related to the first reason and is in these circumstances a valid reason for departure. See Sachs; State v. Bingham, 549 So.2d 1173 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989).
The crime for which defendant was convicted having been committed after the enactment of section 921.001(5), Florida Statutes (1987), it is not determinative that others of the trial court's reasons for departure were invalid.
Affirmed.
PATTERSON, J., concurs.
ALTENBERND, J., concurs with opinion.