{"id":935,"date":"2024-02-17T18:31:22","date_gmt":"2024-02-17T23:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tampacriminallawyer.net\/?p=935"},"modified":"2026-01-08T05:04:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T10:04:59","slug":"florida-court-discusses-determining-if-a-sentence-is-illegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.criminalattorneytampa.net\/blog\/florida-court-discusses-determining-if-a-sentence-is-illegal\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Court Discusses Determining if a Sentence is Illegal"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Florida, when sentencing a person convicted of a crime, the courts will rely on numerous factors when determining an appropriate penalty, including victim injury points. Thus, if a sentencing court improperly adds victim injury points, the resulting sentence may be illegal, and there may be grounds for vacating it, as demonstrated by a recent Florida opinion delivered in a sexual battery case<\/a>. If you are charged with a crime of a sexual nature, it is important to understand your rights, and you should meet with a Tampa sex crime defense lawyer as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Facts and Procedure of the Case<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It is alleged that the defendant filed a motion under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a) to correct an allegedly illegal sentence. The defendant argued that his life sentences for two sexual battery offenses were illegal because victim injury points were improperly added. The offenses occurred in 1988, and under the law at that time, victim injury points could only be added once per victim per criminal episode.<\/p>\n

Reportedly, the defendant contended that he received victim injury points for three offenses, but there were only at most two criminal episodes involving a single victim. Removing 40 penetration points for one sexual battery would reduce his permissible guidelines sentencing range from life to 40 years in prison. The trial court denied the defendant\u2019s motion and he appealed. Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Florida, when sentencing a person convicted of a crime, the courts will rely on numerous factors when determining an appropriate penalty, including victim injury points. Thus, if a sentencing court improperly adds victim injury points, the resulting sentence may be illegal, and there may be grounds for vacating it, as demonstrated by a recent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sex-crimes"],"yoast_head":"\nIllegal Sentence in Florida: What It Means<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read how Florida courts decide a sentence is \u201cillegal\u201d and what steps may help fix a bad sentence after conviction.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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