Cave v. State

I dissent because I do not interpret the supreme court’s decision in Barfield v. State, 594 So.2d 259 (Fla.1992), as authorizing, much less requiring, this court to scrutinize the record to find evidence of a valid reason for departure that was not clearly articulated by the trial judge. If that was the intent of the supreme court’s decision in Barfield, the court did not explicitly recognize and discuss that it was making a substantial change in the law governing the application of sentencing guidelines. Heretofore, the appellate courts could simply review the legality and evidential…