CAVINESS v. STATE (2025)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Sixth District.

Vicki CAVINESS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

Case No. 6D2023-3661

Decided: September 26, 2025

Blair Allen, Public Defender, and Stephania A. Valantasis. Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant. James Uthmeier, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Jonathan P. Hurley, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.

Appellant Vicki Caviness appeals her judgment and sentence for first-degree arson. She argues that the trial court erred by declining her request for a downward departure sentence. We determine that we have jurisdiction over the appeal. See Gazoombi v. State, 406 So. 3d 371, 375 (Fla. 1st DCA 2025) (en banc) (receding from Wilson v. State, 306 So. 3d 1267 (Fla. 1st DCA 2020), and Parrish v. State, 349 So. 3d 485 (Fla. 1st DCA 2022), and holding that district courts of appeal have jurisdiction to review a trial court's exercise of its discretion to deny downward departure sentence); Fogarty v. State, 158 So. 3d 669, 671 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014) (en banc); Kiley v. State, 273 So. 3d 193, 194 (Fla. 5th DCA 2019). However, we find no error in the trial court's denial of Appellant's request for a downward departure sentence. Accordingly, we affirm.

AFFIRMED.

PER CURIAM.

TRAVER, C.J., and MIZE and GANNAM, JJ., concur.

Was this helpful?

Why was this helpful?

Easy to understand

Solved my problem

Other

Why was this not helpful?

Missing the information I need

Too complicated / too many steps

Out of date

Other

Thank you for your feedback!

Welcome to FindLaw's Cases & Codes

A free source of state and federal court opinions, state laws, and the United States Code. For more information about the legal concepts addressed by these cases and statutes visit FindLaw's Learn About the Law.

Go To Learn About The Law