IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF FLORIDA
BARBARA LYNNE NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO
MCDOWELL, FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND
DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED
Appellant,
CASE NO. 1D16-3227
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
_____________________________/
Opinion filed March 7, 2017.
An appeal from the Circuit Court for Nassau County.
Robert M. Foster, Judge.
William Mallory Kent, Jacksonville, for Appellant.
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General and Anne C. Conley, Assistant Attorney
General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
PER CURIAM.
Appellant challenges her fifteen-year prison sentence for DUI manslaughter.
She argues that the trial court committed fundamental error in suggesting that her
sentence may have been different had she cooperated and admitted guilt at an earlier
stage of the case. The State appropriately concedes that Appellant is entitled to relief.
Accordingly, we VACATE the sentence and REMAND with instructions for
Appellant to be resentenced before a different judge. See Dumas v. State, 134 So.
3d 1048, 1048 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013); Ritter v. State, 885 So. 2d 413, 414-15 (Fla. 1st
DCA 2004).
MAKAR and WINSOR, JJ., and BROWN, JOHN T., ASSOCIATE JUDGE,
CONCUR.
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