EUGENE JENKINS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court held that a sentence for a capital felony is illegal if it omits the statutory 25-year mandatory minimum, even if the statute is self-executing.
Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, but the sentence did not expressly include the 25-year mandatory minim…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Self-Executing Statute cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
This is an appeal from an order denying appellant’s motion to correct illegal sentence filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). We reverse and remand for resentencing for reasons which follow. Appellant was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Section 775.082(1), Florida Statutes (1977) provided that:
A person who has been convicted of a capital felony shall be punished by life imprisonment and shall be required to serve no less than 25 years before becoming eligible for parole unless the proceeding held to determine sentence ... results in findings by the court that such person shall be punished by death, and in the latter event such person shall be punished by death.
Appellant was not sentenced to death, but rather life in prison, with no express mention of any mandatory minimum.
Appellant argues that his sentence is illegal because it omitted the 25 year mandatory minimum requirement imposed under this statute. Failure to include the mandatory minimum language in the sentence is not fatal to implementation of section 775.-082(1). Rather, we believe that the statute is self-executing, so that a defendant convicted thereunder is not eligible for release from prison prior to serving the mandatory minimum sentence provided. See, e.g., D’Alessandro v. Shearer, 360 So. 2d 774 (Fla.1978); Kelly v. State, 414 So. 2d 1117 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982).
Therefore, we reverse the sentence and remand with instructions to the trial court to amend the original sentence to expressly impose the mandatory minimum period.
REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.
HERSEY, C.J., and LETTS and GLICKSTEIN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Gomez v. State, 137 So. 3d 1037 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014)…a. 3d DCA 2008). Thus, whether or not the sentencing order contains language reflecting the eligibility for parole after serving twenty-five years is immaterial to the legality of the sentence, as the statute is self-executing. See Jenkins v. State, 556 So. 2d 427, 428 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989) (holding that the failure to include the twenty-five year mandatory minimum language is not fatal to implementation of section 775.082(1), as the statute is self-executing). [*1039] Additionally, we note that the Florida Dep…
-
Navarrete v. State, 707 So. 2d 803 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)…tten order was merely an omission of a ministerial duty. Section 775.087, Florida Statutes (1995), automatically attaches once a defendant is convicted of using a firearm during the commission of one of the enumerated felonies. See Jenkins v. State, 556 So. 2d 427 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989). Thus, we affirm the trial court’s [*805] imposition of the three-year minimum mandatory portion of appellant’s sentence. Accordingly, we AFFIRM in part, REVERSE in part, and REMAND for proceedings consistent with this opinion.…
Authorities Cited
- Daniels v. State, 414 So. 2d 1117 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982)
- D'Alessandro v. Shearer, 360 So. 2d 774 (Fla. 1978)