Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...However, the question before us is not whether they are the same punishment. Rather, it is whether they are similar forms of release. Florida considers both probation and community control to be discretionary alternatives to imprisonment. See Fla. Stat. § 948.011 (“when the defendant's offense is punishable by both fine and imprisonment, the trial court may, in its discretion, impose a fine upon him or her and place him or her on probation or into community control as an alternative to imprisonment.”)....

...More generally, the court expressed disapproval of such "piecemeal punishments." However, in the instant case, sentence was neither pronounced nor imposed on the appellee, for the fine and intermittent incarceration, though highly unusual, were both imposed as conditions of probation. Fla. Stat. § 948.011, F.S.A....

...e provision under which the defendant was sentenced. Thus, while a sentence under 948.01(13) or 948.034 may be restricted to violations of chapter 893.13, I see no reason why a trial court cannot use the more intensive form of supervision defined by section 948.011(4) known as "drug offender probation." I would therefore affirm that part of his sentence....

...ory limit provided in section 948.03(7), Florida Statutes, is that if the court withholds adjudication of guilt, any period of incarceration imposed as a condition of probation or community control cannot exceed 364 days in certain facilities. Under section 948.011, Florida Statutes, a court may withhold an adjudication of guilt and place a defendant on probation and still, in its discretion, impose a fine....

...t of conviction; section 924.06, Florida Statutes, specifying when a defendant may take an appeal; section 924.09, Florida Statutes, and Florida Criminal Appellate Rule 6.2 concerning the time for taking appeals by a defendant in criminal cases; and section 948.011, Florida Statutes, providing for a sentence of a fine and probation as to imprisonment....

...imprisonment, a fine, and probation all within one sentence, we affirm. We read nothing in the pertinent sentencing statutes cited by appellant precluding the above combination of sanctions. Appellant argues, relying upon Sections 775.083(1) [2] and 948.011, [3] Florida Statutes (1987), that when one reads the two statutes in pari materia, it becomes clear that a term of imprisonment cannot be imposed in addition to both a fine and probation, because these statutes authorize only the payment of a fine in lieu of imprisonment. Appellant also refers to Section 921.187, Florida Statutes (Supp. 1988), which establishes sentencing alternatives, pointing out that subsection (1)(b) thereof explicitly empowers only the imposition of "a fine and probation pursuant to s. 948.011 when the offense is punishable by both a fine and imprisonment." Appellant reasons therefrom that the court was without authority to impose a fine in the absence of statutory provision therefor....

...Although section 775.083(1) permits, when authorized by statute, the payment of a fine in lieu of any punishment prescribed in section 775.082, it also authorizes the imposition of a fine in addition to a term of incarceration imposed under section 775.082. Section 948.011, relating to crimes for which the punishment is both fine and imprisonment, authorizes the courts, in their discretion, to substitute probation or community control for an incarcerative term. In that the offense for which appellant was convicted [4] is not one which is expressly punishable by fine and imprisonment, nor by fine in lieu of imprisonment, we do not consider that the provisions of either section 775.083(1) or 948.011 in any way preclude the sentence imposed here: three years' incarceration followed by five years' probation and a $1,000 fine. In regard to appellant's reliance on section 921.187(1)(b), authorizing the imposition of both a fine and probation under section 948.011, if the offense is punishable by both fine and imprisonment and probation is authorized, we note that section 921.187(1)( l ), allowing a trial court to sentence an offender to imprisonment in a state correctional institution, similarly makes no provision for the imposition of a fine....

...[2] Section 775.083(1) provides: A person who has been convicted of an offense other than a capital felony may be sentenced to pay a fine in addition to any punishment described in s. 775.082; when specifically authorized by statute, he may be sentenced to pay a fine in lieu of any punishment described in s. 775.082... . [3] Section 948.011 states: When the law authorizes the placing of a defendant on probation, and when his offense is punishable by both fine and imprisonment, the trial court may, in its discretion, impose a fine upon him and place him on probation or into community control as to imprisonment....

...t of conviction; section 924.06, Florida Statutes, specifying when a defendant may take an appeal; section 924.09, Florida Statutes, and Florida Criminal Appellate Rule 6.2 concerning the time for taking appeals by a defendant in criminal cases; and section 948.011, Florida Statutes, providing for a sentence of a fíne and probation as to imprisonment....

PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See § 948.11, Fla. Stat. (2009); Freeman v. State, Dep’t of Health & Rehab. Servs

SHEPHERD, and LAGOA, JJ. PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See § 948.11, Fla. Stat. (2009); Freeman v. State, Dep't of

...t of conviction; section 924.06, Florida Statutes, specifying when a defendant may take an appeal; section 924.09, Florida Statutes, and Florida Criminal Appellate Rule 6.2 concerning the time for taking appeals by a defendant in criminal cases; and section 948.011, Florida Statutes, providing for a sentence of a fine and probation as to imprisonment....