Failure to Comply Sentence Found in Error

The defendant/appellant in this case was sentenced to 36 months for the
third degree felony of failure to comply with a police officer’s order.
The defendant had led law enforcement on a high-speed chase and then crashed
his vehicle into a house. He appealed this sentence contending that the
trial court abused its discretion. He alleged that the trial court abused
its discretion by improperly considering an element of the case/alleged
offense as more serious for the purpose of imposing a maximum sentence.
Imposition of maximum sentence for failure to comply with an order of
a police officer was error where trial court used an element of offense
to determine that defendant’s crime was more serious than the norm
for sentencing purposes.