Opinion
Case No. 2D16-3391
11-08-2017
BRIAN KEITH CHESSER, DOC #525373, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Matthew J. Salvia, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and John M. Klawikofsky, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County; Daniel L. Perry, Judge. Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Matthew J. Salvia, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and John M. Klawikofsky, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee. SLEET, Judge.
Brian Chesser appeals the order revoking his probation and his resulting forty-month sentence. He argues that the trial court denied him due process when it interrupted him at the sentencing hearing and refused to listen to his statements before sentencing him. We agree. See Amason v. State, 76 So. 3d 374, 377 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011) ("A probationer must have an opportunity to present mitigating evidence and argue for sentencing alternatives when the court has sentencing discretion." (citing Black v. Romano, 471 U.S. 606, 614 (1985))); see also Johnpier v. State, 89 So. 3d 996, 996 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012) (reversing probationer's sentence when "the trial court erred by refusing to hear any argument on sentencing").
Accordingly, we affirm the revocation of Chesser's probation but reverse Chesser's sentence and remand to the trial court for a new sentencing hearing.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. VILLANTI and KHOUZAM, JJ., Concur.