State v. Whiteside

CRENSHAW, Judge.

The State appeals Jayson Whiteside’s sentences for burglary of a dwelling and dealing in stolen property. After pleading no contest to the charges, Whiteside was sentenced to two concurrent eighteen-month terms of imprisonment. The State argues that the trial court erred in reducing Whiteside’s sentence when the criminal punishment code scoresheet reflected a lowest permissible sentence of 28.1 months. Because the trial court failed to articulate a valid legal ground for the departure, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

In October 2009, Whiteside was charged with…