Smith v. State

CAMPBELL, Judge.

Appellant, Ronald Wayne Smith, appeals his convictions and sentences imposed for two offenses of lewd and lascivious acts and one offense of sexual battery. While we find no reversible error in appellant’s convictions, we do find that the trial judge erred in imposing an upward departure sentence.

In his written reasons for departure, the trial judge found that appellant was not amenable to rehabilitation and that he displayed a continuing and escalating pattern of criminal behavior. Lack of amenability to rehabilitation has been recognized in earlier cases as a possible basis…