Bielik v. State

Appellant pled no contest to several felony counts of driving under the influence and was denied a downward departure sentence. Relying on our decision in State v. Warner, 721 So.2d 767 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998), disapproved in State v. VanBebber, 848 So.2d 1046 (Fla.2003), the trial judge ruled that the mitigating factor that “the offense was committed in an unsophisticated manner and was an isolated incident for which the defendant had shown remorse” was not available to support a downward departure on a DUI conviction.

In Warner, we held that a trial court cannot depart downward in a DUI case on…