          FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
                 STATE OF FLORIDA
                  _____________________________

                          No. 1D17-3432
                  _____________________________

LA TISSHA M. JOHNSON,

    Petitioner,

    v.

STATE OF FLORIDA,

    Respondent.
                  _____________________________


Petition for Writ of Certiorari—Original Jurisdiction.

                            May 25, 2018


PER CURIAM.

     Petitioner seeks certiorari review of the trial court’s denial of
her motion to reduce or modify her sentence filed pursuant to
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(c). The trial court
dismissed the motion as untimely. However, the motion was filed
within sixty days of the date that this Court issued the mandates
in her direct appeals. See Bailey v. State, 136 So. 3d 615, 616 (Fla.
2d DCA 2013) (“[A] rule 3.800(c) motion is considered filed when
entrusted to prison officials for further delivery or processing.”). As
the State concedes, the motion was timely filed. See Fla. R. Crim.
P. 3.800(c).

    The trial court’s failure to consider Petitioner’s rule 3.800(c)
motion on the merits was a departure from the essential
requirements of law. See Bacchus v. State, 958 So. 2d 1016, 1017
(Fla. 1st DCA 2007). Accordingly, we grant the petition for writ of
certiorari, vacate the order dismissing Petitioner’s rule 3.800(c)
motion, and remand with directions to consider the motion on its
merits.

OSTERHAUS, WINOKUR, and M.K. THOMAS, JJ., concur.

                 _____________________________

    Not final until disposition of any timely and
    authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or
    9.331.
               _____________________________


La Tissha M. Johnson, pro se, Petitioner.

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Steven E. Woods,
Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Respondent.




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