Kemar Rochester, Petitioner v. State of Florida, Respondent

Summary

The court held that the applicable sentencing statute requires a minimum sentence of twenty-five years for an adult convicted of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child under twelve. Reading the statute as a whole, the court concluded that “may be punished as follows” gives the trial court discretion only to choose between the statutory sentencing alternatives, neither of which permits a sentence below twenty-five years. Justice Pariente, dissenting, would have held that the statute permits downward departures and does not create a day-for-day mandatory minimum.