State v. Williams

OVERTON, Justice.

This is a petition to review Williams v. State, 462 So.2d 23 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984), remanding respondent’s case for resentenc-ing because of the trial court’s use of prior convictions as the reason for departure from the sentencing guidelines and certifying the following question as a matter of great public importance:

If the scoresheets make provision for prior convictions, can those convictions also constitute clear and convincing reasons for aggravated punishment outside the guidelines?

Id. at 24. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.

We answered the question in…