IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND FOR MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA
CASE NO. 04-2454-CF-A-Z
STATE OF FLORIDA
vs.
DEBRA BEASLEY LAFAVE,
Defendant.
ORDER REJECTING PROPOSED BELOW GUIDELINES PLEA AGREEMENT
The Defendant in this case is charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a child, in violation of section 800.04(4)(a) of Florida Statutes, and one count of lewd and lascivious exhibition, in violation of section 800.04(7)(a) of Florida Statutes. Consent is not an issue, because both alleged victims were less than 16 years old at the time of the alleged offenses. See 800.04(4)(a), 800.04(7)(a), Fla. Stat. (2005). All three charged offenses constitute second degree felonies, each punishable by up to 15 years in the Department of Corrections. See 800.04(4), 800.04(7)(c), 775.082(3)(c), Fla. Stat. (2005). Under the Florida sentencing guidelines, the Defendant's lowest permissible prison sentence is 203.25 months or 16.9375 years. In order to sentence the Defendant to any lesser sentence, the Court must find certain mitigating circumstances. See 921.00265, 921.0026, Fla. Stat. (2005).
The Defendant was charged with similar offenses in Hillsborough County, Florida, which have been resolved by plea agreement.1 The parties have presented to this Court a proposed plea agreement with similar (if not identical) terms. The parties first presented the plea agreement at the December 9, 2005 pre-trial/status conference, and the Court rejected it. Subsequently, the Court set a hearing on March 8, 2006 to hear evidence regarding the rationale for the plea agreement. The proposed plea agreement will require the Defendant to enter a plea of guilty as charged for an adjudication of guilt. The Defendant would be sentenced to three years of community control followed by seven years of probation (with a myriad of special conditions), to run concurrently with her Hillsborough County sentence. For the reasons that follow, this Court finds that the parties have failed to present sufficient justification to accept the below guidelines plea agreement.
