Paul v. State

In August 1995, Manassah Paul and three other young men robbed the driver and passengers of a Metro-Dade bus. Paul was convicted of five counts of armed robbery, one count of burglary with assault or battery while armed, one count of aggravated battery, and one count of attempted armed robbery. In an upward departure from the guidelines, the trial judge sentenced Paul to life in prison. The reasons given for the upward departure were: (1) that the offense created substantial risk of death or great bodily harm to many persons; (2) that the victim was physically attacked in the presence of his…