So this is where Hope came up with six years and the boot camp idea (which she clearly said she did not want to be a part of). This was entirely up to the judge's discretion and would have gotten her out of the minimum mandatory.
Alternative Sentencing: Youthful Offender Downward Departures
.fullpost{display:inline;} A “youthful offender” (YO) is any person who is sentenced as such by the court or is classified as such by the Department of Corrections pursuant to section 958.04.[FN1] There are two ways by which a defendant can become entitled to the benefits of the YO statute. Either the trial court can sentence the defendant as a YO, or the Department of Corrections can designate a defendant who was sentenced as an adult to be a YO.[FN2]
Qualification
Pursuant to section 958.04, F.S., the court may sentence as a YO any person:
(a) Who is at least 18 years of age or who has been transferred for prosecution to the criminal division of the circuit court pursuant to chapter 985;
(b) Who is found guilty of or who has tendered, and the court has accepted, a plea of
nolo contendere or guilty to a crime that is, under the laws of this state, a felony if the offender is younger than 21 years of age at the time sentence is imposed; and
(c) Who has not previously been classified as a youthful offender under the provisions of chapter 985; however, a person who has been found guilty of a capital or life felony may not be sentenced as a YO under the Youthful Offender Act.
Sentencing Options
In lieu of other criminal penalties authorized by law and notwithstanding any imposition of consecutive sentences, the court is required to dispose of the criminal case as follows:
(a) The court may place a YO under supervision on probation or in a community control program, with or without an adjudication of guilt, under such conditions as the
court may lawfully impose for a period of not more than 6 years. Such period of supervision may not exceed the maximum sentence for the offense for which the YO was found guilty.
(b) The court may impose a period of incarceration as a condition of probation or community control, which period of incarceration shall be served in a county facility, a Department of Corrections probation and restitution center, or a community residential facility that is owned and operated by any public or private entity providing such services. A YO may not be required to serve a period of incarceration in a community correctional center as defined in section 944.026, F.S. Admission to a Department of Corrections facility or center is contingent upon the availability of bed space, taking into account the purpose and function of such facility or center, and placement in such a facility or center may not exceed 364 days.
(c) The court may impose a split sentence whereby the YO is to be placed on probation or community control upon completion of any specified period of incarceration; however, if the incarceration period is to be served in a Department of Corrections facility other than a probation and restitution center or community residential facility, such period must be for not less than 1 year or more than 4 years. The period of probation or community control must commence immediately upon the release of the YO from incarceration. The period of incarceration imposed or served and the period of probation or community control, when added together, may not not exceed 6 years.
(d) The court may commit the YO to the custody of the Department of Corrections for a period of not more than 6 years, provided that any such commitment may not exceed the maximum sentence for the offense for which the YO has been convicted. Successful participation in the YO program by an offender who is sentenced as a YO by the court pursuant to this section, or is classified as such by the Department of Corrections, may result in a recommendation to the court, by the Department of Corrections, for a modification or early termination of probation, community control, or the sentence at any time prior to the scheduled expiration of such term. When a modification of the sentence results in the reduction of a term of incarceration, the court may impose a term of probation or community control which, when added to the term of incarceration, shall not exceed the original sentence imposed.
Consecutive Sentencing
Consecutive YO sentences exceeding the applicable maximum of six years are illegal.[FN3] A sentencing court can impose any YO sentence, so long as no matter how many sentences are imposed, the total does not exceed four years incarceration followed by two years probation or community control allowed by the applicable youthful offender statute.[FN4]
Violation of Probation or Community Control
A violation or alleged violation of probation or the terms of a community control program subjects the youthful offender to the provisions of section 948.06. However, no youthful offender can be committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections for a substantive violation for a period longer than the maximum sentence for the offense for which the youthful offender was found guilty, with credit for time served while incarcerated, or for a technical or nonsubstantive violation for a period longer than six years or for a period longer than the maximum sentence for the offense for which he or she was found guilty, whichever is less, with credit for time served while incarcerated.[FN5] The legislature has not defined “substantive violation” or “technical or nonsubstantive violation,” but courts examining the Youthful Offender Act have defined “substantive violation” as a new separate criminal offense by a youthful offender.[FN6] In contrast, a technical violation is a violation of a rule of probation or community control.[FN7]
Upward Departure
The provisions of the YO Act cannot be used to impose a greater sentence than the permissible sentence range as established by the Criminal Punishment Code pursuant to chapter 921 unless reasons are explained in writing by the trial court judge which reasonably justify departure. A sentence imposed outside of the Criminal Punishment Code is subject to appeal pursuant to section 924.06 or section 924.07, F.S.
Limits on Judicial Discretion
No one who has been found guilty of a life felony can be sentenced as a YO.[FN8] Otherwise, a trial court may exercise discretion and not impose a youthful offender sentence.[FN9] Failure to sentence a defendant as a youthful offender does not result in an illegal sentence.[FN10] A defendant may not be simultaneously sentenced as both a youthful offender and as an adult.[FN11] The sentencing court may not impose a youthful offender sentence on one count, but not another, even if part of a plea agreement.[FN12] As the intent of the Youthful Offender Act was to provide a sentencing alternative more stringent than the juvenile system but less harsh than the adult system, imposition of consecutive sentences as a youthful offender and as an adult would thwart the purpose of the Act.[FN13]
Imposition of sanctions other than those of the Youthful Offender Act is, in fact, prohibited once a court classifies a defendant as a YO. Minimum mandatory sentencing, in fact, is not applicable when a defendant is sentenced as a YO.[FN14] A YO sentence may be imposed on a defendant in lieu of a mandatory sentence under the “10-20-Life” scheme mandated by the firearm enhancement statute, section 775.087, F.S., because the firearm enhancement statute contains no language to supersede a YO sentence.[FN15] Imposition of the statutorily mandated minimum mandatory prison sentence and fine under the drug trafficking statute, section 893.135, F.S., is also preempted by the YO statute.[FN16] A defendant classified as a YO is not subject to the minimum mandatory provisions of the DUI manslaughter statute,[FN17] and the trial court can withhold adjudication for DUI offenses notwithstanding the mandatory language of section 316.656(1), F.S.[FN18] A defendant classified as a YO may, however, also be designated as a sexual offender or sexual predator.[FN19] If designated a sexual offender or sexual predator, the defendant is subject to the mandatory conditions of probation set out in section 948.30, F.S., notwithstanding the defendant’s designation as a YO.[FN20] An otherwise qualified defendant who was originally sentenced as an adult can be sentenced as a YO upon revocation of probation or community control.[FN21]
Mitigation of a Youthful Offender Sentence Through Boot Camp
One of the ways of further mitigating a YO sentence of is through successful completion of a basic training program run by the Department of Corrections. Section 958.04(2)(b), F.S., which governs the disposition of youthful offenders generally, states:
The court may impose a period of incarceration as a condition of probation or community control, which period of incarceration shall be served in either a county facility, a department probation and restitution center, or a community residential facility which is owned and operated by any public or private entity providing such services. . . . Placement in such a facility or center shall not exceed 364 days.
Section 958.045, F.S., governs the Department of Corrections’s youthful offender basic training program, commonly referred to as “boot camp.” Subsection (5)(c) currently provides in part:
Upon the offender’s completion of the basic training program, the department shall submit a report to the court that describes the offender’s performance. If the offender’s performance has been satisfactory, the court shall issue an order modifying the sentence imposed and placing the offender on probation. . . . If the offender violates the conditions of probation, the court may revoke probation and impose any sentence that it might have originally imposed. [emphasis added]
Up until section 958.045, F.S. was amended, effective July 1, 2006 to add the language permitting the court to sentence a violator to any sentence it might have originally imposed, when a defendant who had been sentenced as a YO successfully completed boot camp, the trial court was constrained to reduce the defendant’s remaining term of incarceration to a period of probation, and if a YO who has successfully completed boot camp subsequently violated the probation that followed, the trial court could impose a period of incarceration not to exceed 364 days in a specified facility for the violation.[FN22] Any sentence exceeding the 364 days permitted by the statute was illegal.[FN23] The defendant was also entitled to credit against these 364 days for all time previously served on that sentence.[FN24] This is still the rule for all youthful offenders whose offenses were committed prior to July 1, 2006.[FN25]
Presently, for violations of supervision involving offenses committed after July 1, 2006, the sentencing court is not constrained to sentence a youthful offender who has completed a boot camp program to not more than 364 days in the county jail per the Bloodworth decision, and can terminate the defendant’s youthful offender status and sentence the defendant under the Criminal Code for up to the statutory maximum for any offense before the court for sentencing.
The boot camp mitigator does not apply to all YO boot camp programs. Unlike the detailed provisions of the statute pertaining to the Department of Correction’s boot camp programs, section 946.046, F.S., the statute concerning
county-run programs merely states:
In counties where there are county-operated youthful offender boot camp programs, other than boot camps described in section 958.04 or sheriff’s training and respect programs in section 985.4891, the court may sentence a youthful offender to such a boot camp. In county-operated youthful offender boot camp programs, juvenile offenders shall not be commingled with youthful offenders.[FN26]
There are no provisions in the Youthful Offender Act requiring application of rules governing Department of Corrections boot camp facilities to the county-run programs. Moreover, the statute contains no specific provision comparable to section 958.045(5)(c) limiting sentences for youthful offenders who complete a county boot camp. Consequently, the trial court’s sentencing authority in such cases is not limited by section 958.045(5)(c).[FN27]
