RONALD RICHARD DESCAULT, v. STATE OF FLORIDA
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF FLORIDA RONALD RICHARD DESCAULT, NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED Appellant, CASE NO. 1D08-4580 v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. _____________________________/ Opinion filed October 27, 2009. An appeal from the Circuit Court for Escambia County. Linda L. Nobles, Judge. Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and David A. Davis, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant. Bill McCollum, Attorney General, and Pamela J. Koller, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee. PER CURIAM. We affirm appellant s conviction. However, as conceded by the State, the trial court did err in failing to conduct a Faretta inquiry at appellant s sentencing hearing. Sentencing is a crucial stage of a criminal proceeding, so that the offer of assistance of counsel must be renewed then, even if the defendant has previously waived counsel at other stages. Travis v. State, 969 So. 2d 532, 533 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007); see also Parker v. State, 539 So. 2d 1168, 1169 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989); Kepner v. State, 911 So. 2d 1256, 1258 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005); Beard v. State, 751 So. 2d 61, 62 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999); Hardy v. State, 655 So. 2d 1245, 1247-48 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995). We affirm appellant s convictions but strike his sentence and remand for resentencing following a proper Faretta inquiry. HAWKES, C.J., WOLF and WETHERELL, JJ., CONCUR. 2
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
