State v. Langford

When a defendant is sentenced to and agrees to community service, then that defendant is not also subject to a work crew unless specified by the judgment. The standard of review is the same as that of reviewing a judgment of acquittal.

Defendant appealed a conviction stating that Defendant was to be held in contempt for not complying with an order to perform community service within a work crew as per a judgment issued that allegedly covered both. The judgment had multiple spaces for the court to check and the options were segregated into two community service options and two work crew options, whereby the original court checked the community service option. Defendant reported and was requested to work with the work crew, which he rejected. The work crew manager forwarded that information to the trial court, which held him in contempt. The State argued that work crew was within the community service work that was to be performed. However, Defendant argued that work with the work crew was different and had a different social stigma attached. The reviewing court agreed with Defendant and said that the form was segregated in such a way as to distinguish the two. Therefore, it had to be determined whether Defendant would actually perform community service outside of the work crew assignment to find Defendant in contempt. Motion to dismiss denied; reversed and remanded.