State v. Jackson

The State appeals from a downward departure sentence imposed on Roger Jerome Jackson for the third degree felony charge of possession of cocaine. Jackson’s criminal punishment code score-sheet indicated a lowest permissible sentence of 28.95 months in prison. If a “trial court wishes to depart downwardly from the indicated guidelines sentence, it must announce or write its valid reasons for doing so.” State v. Marshall, 869 So.2d 754, 756 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004); see also, § 921.0026(1), Fla. Stat. (2010) (“A downward departure from the lowest permissible sentence, as calculated according to the…