Brown v. State

THREADGILL, Judge.

The appellant, Danny James Brown, and his codefendant, James Lee Allen, were indicted for the murder of Jack Jones on December 17, 1987. A jury convicted the appellant of the lesser included offense of manslaughter with a firearm, a first degree felony. The appellant challenges his departure sentence, and we reverse on the ground that the reason for departure was invalid.

The trial court’s written reason for departure was the appellant’s commission of manslaughter nine months after his release from prison in Louisiana for attempted rape. The presumptive guidelines sentence…