DAVID EARL SENTERFITT, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that aggravated battery, as charged, could not be reclassified as a first-degree felony under section 775.087 because the use of a deadly weapon was an essential element of the offense.
[1] Aggravated battery, as defined by Section 784.045(1)(b), Florida Statutes, is a second-degree felony and cannot be reclassified as a first-degree felony under Section 775…
[2] A defendant may challenge an error in felony classification on appeal even if their counsel agreed to the classification at trial, if the error is apparent from the face…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDefendant was convicted of aggravated battery with a firearm and other offenses. The trial court, with agreement of counsel, treated the aggravated ba…
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ZEHMER, Judge.
David Earl Senterfitt was convicted following a jury trial of two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, one count of shooting into an occupied vehicle, and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. For purposes of sentencing, counsel for the prosecution and defense agreed that the two aggravated batteries would be treated as first degree felonies on the sentencing guidelines scoresheet. This resulted in a recommended sentencing range of seven to nine years. The judgment of conviction referred to the two aggravated battery charges as first degree felonies, and Senterfitt was sentenced for those offenses to two concurrent terms of nine years in prison. Senterfitt was sentenced to concurrent terms of ten years probation, to run consecutive to the prison terms for the other two counts. Finding error in classifying the two aggravated battery charges as first degree felonies, we vacate the sentences and remand for resentencing.
The information explicitly charged, in each count, that Senterfitt “in commit ting said battery used a deadly weapon, towit: a firearm, in violation of Sections 784.045(l)(b) and 775.087(2), Florida Statutes.” Section 784.045, Florida Statutes (1985), defines aggravated battery to be a second degree felony. Adjudging Senterfitt guilty of first degree felonies on these two counts and sentencing him on that basis was patent error unless the charges could be reclassified to a higher degree felony under section 775.087, Florida Statutes (1985). When a weapon is used or possessed in committing an offense, section 775.087(l)(b) specifies circumstances under which second degree felonies are to be reclassified as first degree felonies. However, this statute precludes reclassification if the crime charged requires use of a weapon as one of its essential elements. Since Senterfitt’s use of a deadly weapon was an essential element of the aggravated battery charges, these two charges could not be reclassified as first degree felonies. Cuthbert v. State, 459 So. 2d 1098 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984) pet for rev. denied, 467 So. 2d 1000 (Fla.1985).
The state concedes that Cuthbert v. State is on point and supports Senterfitt’s assertion that his aggravated battery charges could not be reclassified under section 775.087. Even though Senterfitt’s counsel in the trial court erroneously agreed that these offenses were first degree felonies, Senterfitt is permitted to challenge this error on appeal because the error is apparent from the face of the record. State v. Whitfield, 487 So. 2d 1045 (Fla.1986). Therefore, the sentence on these two counts must be vacated. In view of the fact, however, that all sentences imposed were interrelated under the sentencing guidelines and the erroneous classification of these two charges has a material effect upon the total sentence to be imposed on all counts, we find it necessary to vacate the entire sentence on all counts and remand for resentencing in accordance with the guidelines.
The state argues that the error below does not require reversal because Strickland v. State, 437 So. 2d 150 (Fla. 1983), allows reclassification of a felony to the next higher degree when use of a weapon or firearm is not an essential element of the crime. Section 784.045, which defines aggravated battery, contemplates alternate elements of either (1) intentional or knowing infliction or great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement, or (2) use of a deadly weapon. The state argues that use of a weapon is not an essential element of the crime of aggravated battery but, rather, was an optional charge that the prosecution could have made. Consequently, the state suggests that we reexamine Cuthbert since use of a firearm is not an essential element of the crime of aggravated battery.
This argument is patently frivolous. Regardless of whether the prosecution could have made such an alternative charge in this case, the fact remains that the charge actually made specifically alleged a violation of section 784.045(l)(b) by use of a deadly weapon. Thus, we need not revisit the Cuthbert decision in view of the charge made in this case. Strickland v. State, 437 So. 2d 150 (Fla.1983), is not applicable because it involved a charge of attempted first degree murder under section 782.04. Use of a firearm is not an essential element of the crime defined in that statute as it contains no mention of a firearm or weapon.
Sentences VACATED and REMANDED for resentencing.
SHIVERS and THOMPSON, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Dozier v. State, 677 So. 2d 1352 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)…eclassifying the aggravated battery offense from a second degree felony to a first degree felony. Further, we reject the state’s contention that the appellant waived the reclassification issue by agreeing to the instruction. See Senterfitt v. State, 515 So. 2d 411 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), rev. denied, 523 So. 2d 578 (Fla.1988). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for resentencing. The information charged that the appellant committed aggravated battery, a first degree felony, in that the appellant: [D]id unlawful…
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Piesus Reynolds v. State, 116 So. 3d 558 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013)…run consecutive to another. Moreover, this is not a case where an erroneous classification of an offense, or some other error in the sentencing guidelines scoresheet, affected all counts of an information or judgment. See, e.g., Senterfitt v. State, 515 So. 2d 411 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987) (erroneous classification of two counts affected guidelines on other counts). In support of his argument that I should vacate his legal sentences on [*562] counts two and three in this case, Mr. Reynolds cites to certain Federal…
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Bogdanon v. State, 763 So. 2d 376 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)…Bogdanon used a deadly weapon, we are unable to say that the jury did not utilize that alternative. The State argues that we should affirm because this issue was not presented below. We rejected this argument in Dozier, citing Senterfitt v. State, 515 So. 2d 411 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for resentencing. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for resentencing. CAMPBELL, A.C.J., and ALTENBERND, J., Concur.…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Whitfield, 487 So. 2d 1045 (Fla. 1986)
- Strickland v. State, 437 So. 2d 150 (Fla. 1983)
- Cuthbert v. State, 459 So. 2d 1098 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)