State of Florida v. Dylan Ray Stewart

The State appeals a downward departure sentence imposed by the trial court after Appellee entered an unconditional nolo contendere plea to multiple counts in five separate cases. The State argues, and Appellee concedes, that the statutory-grounds relied upon by the trial court for the downward departure sentence were not supported by competent substantial evidence. Nevertheless, Appellee argues that we should affirm his sentence because the record contains evidence of a non-statutory ground for a downward departure sentence. We reject this tipsy-coachman argument because the ground asserted…