Title: Harris v. State
Citation: 531 So. 2d 1349
Docket Number: 70983
State: Florida
Issuer: Florida Supreme Court
Date: October 20, 1988

531 So. 2d 1349 (1988)
Byron Anthony HARRIS, Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.
No. 70983.

Supreme Court of Florida.
October 20, 1988.
Michael E. Allen, Public Defender, Second Judicial Circuit; and David P. Gauldin, Sp. Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for petitioner.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Edward C. Hill, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for respondent.
OVERTON, Justice.
This is a petition to review Harris v. State, 509 So. 2d 1299 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), in which the district court approved an upward departure sentence for unarmed robbery, kidnapping, and two counts of sexual battery on the basis of an extraordinary amount of emotional trauma. The district court certified the following question of great public importance:
Id. at 1302. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. We hold that an upward departure is proper where the victim suffered extraordinary emotional trauma and sufficient physical manifestation of injury existed.
The relevant facts demonstrate that the victim was the sole night clerk at an Orange Park convenience store when Harris entered, forced her at gunpoint to place the store's cash in a bag, and then forced her to drive to a secluded location. There he forced her to undress, fondled and mouthed her breasts, digitally penetrated her vagina, forced her to perform fellatio requiring her to swallow his ejaculate, and threatened to rape her anally. Throughout the encounter, Harris repeatedly threatened to blow the victim's head off, and, before fleeing, he warned her that if she reported him, he would find and kill her.
*1350 Harris was later apprehended, identified by the victim, and convicted of unarmed robbery, kidnapping, and two counts of sexual battery. The trial judge obtained a presentence investigation report and, at Harris' request, a psychiatric report. At the sentencing hearing, the victim testified that as a result of this incident she was unable to work, was receiving workers' compensation, and was undergoing psychological treatment. While the sentencing guidelines prescribe seventeen to twenty-two years incarceration for these offenses, the trial judge imposed four consecutive fifteen-year sentences in state prison and justified the departure as follows:
Id. at 1300.
On appeal, the First District affirmed the trial court's departure, concluding:
Id. at 1302.
We have recently addressed the question of psychological trauma as a ground for departure in three separate opinions. In Lerma v. State, 497 So. 2d 736, 739 (Fla. 1986), we held that "emotional hardship can never constitute a clear and convincing reason to depart in a sexual battery case because nearly all sexual battery cases inflict emotional hardship on the victim." Immediately following Lerma, in Casteel v. State, 498 So. 2d 1249 (Fla. 1986), we addressed the issue of whether an upward departure was justified in a sexual battery case where the victim and her son suffered psychological trauma after the son witnessed the rape of his mother. In Casteel, we reaffirmed Lerma yet upheld departure, reasoning:
Id. at 1253 (citations omitted). More recently, in State v. Rousseau, 509 So. 2d 281 (Fla. 1987), we considered emotional trauma resulting from a burglary as a justification for departure. Although we reaffirmed the basic principle in Lerma, we modified the general prohibition against an upward departure and explained when psychological trauma could justify departure. We stated:
Id. at 284.
The question in this case is whether the record establishes a discernible physical manifestation resulting from the trauma. Although the victim suffered no physical injuries, e.g., wounds or bruises, she suffered severe recurring headaches and extreme depression requiring medication. Further, she was unable to work and was receiving workers' compensation benefits as a result of the psychological problems caused by the criminal acts.
We find that this record establishes extraordinary circumstances not normally inherent in the crime of sexual battery, and that sufficient physical manifestation of injury exists to justify the upward departure. Accordingly, we approve the district court's decision.
It is so ordered.
EHRLICH, C.J., and McDONALD, SHAW, GRIMES and KOGAN, JJ., concur.
BARKETT, J., concurs specially with an opinion.
BARKETT, Justice, concurring specially.
I agree with the majority's conclusion and would also answer the certified question in the affirmative. The focus, in my opinion, must be on the defendant's intentional infliction of an extraordinary amount of emotional trauma. I believe that departure here is justified based on the fact that the defendant engaged in acts over and beyond the simple elements of sexual battery, deliberately traumatizing the victim by these acts.