DEAN ROBERT KERSEY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 1987-09-24
No. 87-933
UPCHURCH, C.J., and COBB, J., concur.
515 So. 2d 261 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1987) Negative Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

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Synopsis

Kersey appeals a 30-year sentence for committing a lewd act in the presence of a child, a second-degree felony with a 15-year statutory maximum. The court vacates the sentence and remands for resentencing, holding that the trial court's reliance on a habitual offender finding to depart from sentencing guidelines was illegal under Whitehead v. State.


Holding

The court holds that the habitual offender finding is not a valid basis to depart from the sentencing guidelines' presumptive range, and the 30-year sentence is illegal because it greatly exceeds both the applicable guidelines range and the statutory maximum for the offense. The sentence is vacated and the case remanded for resentencing.


Headnotes

[1] A sentence imposed as a "departure" from the sentencing guidelines based solely on a defendant's habitual offender status is illegal.

[2] An illegal sentence, including one that exceeds the statutory maximum for the offense, may be challenged collaterally.

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Key Quotes

“the finding that a defendant was a habitual offender, pursuant to section 775.084, was not a valid basis to 'depart' from the sentencing guidelines' presumptive sentence range”

Establishes the holding from Whitehead that habitual offender findings cannot justify departures from guidelines

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Facts & Procedural History

Kersey was convicted on March 28, 1985 of committing a lewd act in the presence of a child, a second-degree felony with a statutory maximum of 15 year…

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Opinion of the Court
SHARP, Judge.

SHARP, Judge.

Kersey appeals from a summary denial of his motion for post-conviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. We find no merit to Kersey’s first five points, but with regard to the challenge of the legality of his 30-year sentence, we vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing, on the authority of Frierson v. State, 511 So. 2d 1016, (Fla. 5th DCA, 1987).

Kersey was convicted on March 28, 1985 of committing a lewd act in the presence of a child.1 That offense is a second degree felony, with a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years.2 Because of his prior record, and being on parole, Kersey’s composite score under the guidelines was 372 points, which placed him in the 12-to-17-year presumptive sentence range.3 The trial court declared he was a “habitual offender,” and sentenced him to a term of 30 years. No other grounds for “departure” were given.

In Whitehead v. State, 498 So. 2d 863 (Fla.1986), the Florida Supreme Court held that the finding that a defendant was a habitual offender, pursuant to section 775.084, was not a valid basis to “depart” from the sentencing guidelines’ presumptive sentence range. Since the 30-year sentence in Kersey’s case greatly exceeds the presumptive sentence range, it constitutes an illegal sentence, and may be challenged collaterally. Frierson; Hall v. State, 511 So. 2d 1038 (Fla. 1st DCA, 1987).

On remand, however, the state argues that the trial court should be able to sentence Kersey to 17 years, the maximum of the applicable guidelines range, even though that exceeds the statutory maximum, and appears to conflict with Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.701.d.l0., which states:

If the composite score for a defendant charged with a single offense indicates a guideline sentence that exceeds the maximum sentence provided by statute for that offense, the statutory maximum sentence should be imposed.

The state urges that we adopt the view taken by our sister courts in Hall and Hoefert v. State, 509 So. 2d 1090 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). Those cases hold that the habitual offender statute enhances the maximum sentence permissible, and thus makes legal the imposition of a sentence, so long as it is within the guidelines range, and no greater than the enhanced statutory maximum. In this case, the habitual offender statute would enhance Kersey’s offense, a second degree felony, to a 30-year statutory maximum. Therefore, 17 years, the maximum of the guidelines range, would be permissible under this view.

In Frierson we held that the habitual offender statute had been repealed by enactment of the guidelines, and that a sentence enhanced by the habitual offender statute is illegal if it exceeds the general statutory maximum punishment for the applicable offense. We are bound by that decision, but we note a conflict with Hall and Hoefert. Whitehead does not expressly deal with this issue, and the language in the revised committee note to rule 3.701.-d.10., quoted in Hoefert lends support to the views of our sister courts. We hope that before resentencing in this case, the Supreme Court will have resolved the confusion.

SENTENCE VACATED; REMANDED.

UPCHURCH, C.J., and COBB, J., concur. . § 800.04, Fla.Stat. (1985).

. § 775.082(3)(c), Fla.Stat. (1985).

.See Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.701, 3.988.

Other
SHARP, Judge.

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING/MOTION TO CERTIFY CONFLICT

SHARP, Judge.

Pursuant to motion by appellee, this Court amends its prior opinion issued in this case by adding thereto the following statement: We certify that this opinion is in direct conflict with Hall v. State, 511 So. 2d 1038 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987) and Hoefert v. State, 509 So. 2d 1090 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987).

UPCHURCH, C.J., and COBB, J., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Inscho v. State, 521 So. 2d 164 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988)
    …gurative language and stated that the approval of the guidelines by the legislature served to “repeal” the habitual offender statute. This court in Frierson adopted the same figurative language in Whitehead resulting in the panel in Kersey v. State, 515 So. 2d 261 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987), conflict certified, (Fla. 5th DCA Nov. 5, 1987),2 holding that it was bound by the language in Frierson and holding that the habitual offender statute is not viable to authorize an enhancement or extension of the general statuto…
  • Arnett Lofton v. State, 517 So. 2d 700 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987)
    …WART, Judge. Appellant’s departure sentence based on the habitual offender statute is vacated and this cause remanded for resentencing under the sentencing guidelines. See Frierson v. State, 511 So. 2d 1016 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987) and Kersey v. State, 515 So. 2d 261 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). REVERSED and REMANDED. UPCHURCH, C.J., and ORFINGER, J., concur.…
  • Stingray Jones v. State, 517 So. 2d 121 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987)
    …Millan v. State, 516 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987), citing Hall v. State, 511 So. 2d 1038 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), Holmes v. State, 502 So. 2d 1302 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), and Hester v. State, 503 So. 2d 1342 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). But see Kersey v. State, 515 So. 2d 261 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). Accordingly, we affirm and certify the following question: DOES WHITEHEAD V. STATE, 498 So. 2d 863 (Fla.1986) PREVENT THE USE OF THE HABITUAL OFFENDER STATUTE TO ENHANCE A DEFENDANT’S SENTENCE BEYOND THE RECOMMENDED GUIDELINES…

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