DARELL JOHNSON, v. STATE OF FLORIDA
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF FLORIDA DARELL JOHNSON, Appellant, v. NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED CASE NO. 1D10-5673 STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. _____________________________/ Opinion filed August 15, 2011. An appeal from the Circuit Court for Bay County. Richard Albritton, Judge. Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and Joel Arnold, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant, and Appellant, pro se. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Trisha Meggs Pate, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee. PER CURIAM. Darell Johnson appeals the trial court s revocation of his probation and imposition of a sentence totaling seven years imprisonment. The trial court found that Mr. Johnson violated four conditions of his probation, including failing to make restitution payments. At the hearing, Mr. Johnson testified that he had not made many restitution payments because he was barely surviving on his monthly salary. Mr. Johnson s probation officer testified that Mr. Johnson had not made any restitution payments, but did not testify regarding his ability to do so. While section 948.06(5), Florida Statutes (2007), provides that once the state establishes a probationer s failure to pay restitution, it is incumbent upon the probationer or offender to prove by clear and convincing evidence that he or she does not have the present resources to do so, this court has held this statute does not . . . relieve the trial court of its obligation to make a finding that the probationer has the ability to pay. Martin v. State, 937 So. 2d 714, 716 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006). Because the trial court did not make a finding that Mr. Johnson had the ability to make restitution payments, we reverse as to this ground for revocation of probation. As it is unclear from the record whether the trial court would have revoked Mr. Johnson s probation and imposed the same sentence based on the three remaining violations, we reverse the revocation order and remand for further proceedings. See Marzendorfer v. State, 16 So. 3d 957, 958 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009). Reversed and remanded. BENTON, C.J., LEWIS, and SWANSON, 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.
