Case Name: STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Eugene BUCHANAN, etc., Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1991-04-25
Citations: 580 So. 2d 201
Docket Number: No. 90-1860
Parties: STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Eugene BUCHANAN, etc., Appellee.
Judges: COBB and W. SHARP, concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 580
Pages: 201–203

Head Matter:
STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Eugene BUCHANAN, etc., Appellee.
No. 90-1860.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
April 25, 1991.
Rehearing Granted, Question Certified and Answered June 13, 1991.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and James N. Charles, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellant.
James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Noel A. Pelella, Asst. Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for appellee.

Opinion:
DIAMANTIS, Judge.
The state appeals from a guidelines departure sentence. We hold that the trial court erred in departing from the guidelines without issuing contemporaneous written reasons for the departure and we reverse.
Defendant was convicted of two offenses of dealing in stolen property in violation of section 812.019, Florida Statutes (1989). His recommended sentencing guideline range was 7-9 years incarceration. Defendant received a sentence consisting of concurrent terms of two years community control followed by five years probation. As part of defendant's sentence, the trial judge required defendant to serve 51 weeks in the county jail. The defendant's sentence constituted a downward departure from the recommended guidelines sentence.
Although the trial court orally stated its reason on the record for departing, we agree with the state that a sentencing transcript does not satisfy the requirement of contemporaneous written reasons. State v. Jackson, 478 So.2d 1054 (Fla.1985), receded from on other grounds, Wilkerson v. State, 513 So.2d 664 (Fla.1987). In failing to provide contemporaneous written reasons for departing downward, the trial court erred. State v. McCulloch, 573 So.2d 395 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991); State v. Cook, 571 So.2d 22 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). On remand, the trial court must resentence defendant within the guidelines. Pope v. State, 561 So.2d 554 (Fla.1990).
Accordingly, we reverse the departure sentence and remand for a guideline sentence.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
COBB and W. SHARP, concur.