Neale v. State

Appellant, Joseph Neale, appeals from convictions for armed burglary of a dwelling, armed robbery, and armed sexual battery. We affirm the convictions and find no merit in two of the three points Neale raises on appeal. We write only to address the issue of whether the trial court erred in imposing departure sentences for the burglary and the robbery.1

The recommended sentencing guidelines range for Neale’s convictions was 3½ to 4½ years, with a permissible range of 2½ to 5½ years. The trial court departed from the guidelines and imposed a sentence of 15 years incarceration for the burglary,…