JACQUELINE SCARPILLO, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1991-03-13
No. 88-1236
DOWNEY and GLICKSTEIN, JJ„ concur.
576 So. 2d 377 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1991)

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Synopsis

Appellant Scarpillo was convicted of both unlawful purchase of cocaine within 1000 feet of a school and unlawful possession of the same cocaine based on a single act committed on December 3, 1987. The court held that under the Carawan v. State standard applicable at the time of her crimes, a single act cannot form the basis for multiple convictions and sentences, requiring reversal of the possession conviction.


Holding

The court held that Carawan v. State applies to crimes committed on December 3, 1987, because the crime was committed after Carawan was decided on September 3, 1987 but before the July 1, 1988 statutory amendment. Under Carawan, a single act cannot form the basis for multiple convictions and sentences, so the conviction and sentence for possession of cocaine must be vacated.


Headnotes

[1] A single act cannot form the basis for more than one conviction and sentence if the offenses are not distinct.

[2] The legislature may amend a statute to restore a prior legal test for determining whether a single act can support multiple convictions and sentences.

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Key Quotes

“Our supreme court, in Carawan, basically held that a single act could not form the basis for more than one conviction and sentence.”

Establishes the Carawan rule that a single act cannot support multiple convictions, which is the controlling standard for the appellant's crimes.

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Facts & Procedural History

Scarpillo was convicted of two offenses arising from the same conduct: unlawful purchase of cocaine within 1000 feet of a school and unlawful possessi…

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Opinion of the Court
HERSEY, Chief Judge.

HERSEY, Chief Judge.

In this appeal from a conviction of unlawful purchase of cocaine within 1000 feet of a school, a conviction of unlawful possession of the same cocaine, and sentences rendered for those convictions, appellant raises three issues. The first two, the constitutionality of the statute and appellant’s due process argument, have been put to rest by Burch v. State, 558 So. 2d 1 (Fla.1990). The remaining issue is stated thusly by appellant:

Whether the trial court erred in Entering Judgment and Sentence for both purchasing cocaine and possession of cocaine where each offense was based on a single underlying act?

We answer the proffered question in the affirmative. The legal issue implicated in our analysis is whether the legislature may provide that a single act or transaction, violative of two or more statutory prohibitions, may be punished as two or more distinct crimes without violating the constitutional proscription against double jeopardy. Prior to the Florida Supreme Court’s pronouncement to the contrary in Carawan v. State, 515 So. 2d 161 (Fla.1987), on September 3, 1987, this issue would be determined by applying the test laid down by the United States Supreme Court in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932). That test asked whether each statutory offense required proof of a fact that the other did not, and, if so, then the offenses were considered separate crimes.

Our supreme court, in Carawan, basically held that a single act could not form the basis for more than one conviction and sentence. The court denied rehearing of Carawan on December 10, 1987.

The legislature then amended section 775.021(4), Florida Statutes (Supp.1988), effective July 1, 1988. The effect of the amendment was to supercede Carawan and to restore the law to its pre-Carawan status for all cases arising after the statute’s effective date.

Here, appellant committed the crimes of which she stands convicted on December 3, 1987. The question is which test applies. Under Blockburger, both convictions and sentences would be valid. Carawan would require that the conviction and sentence for the lesser offense be vacated.

To answer that question we make the following preliminary observations. For purposes of applying Carawan, it is not material that the court denied rehearing of that case on December 10,1987, seven days after the crimes involved in this appeal were perpetrated; rather, Carawan was operative from the time it was decided on September 3, 1987. The dates of a defendant’s trial are also immaterial. Application of the July 1988 amendment to the statute to a crime committed prior to that date (as here) would constitute a prohibited ex post facto application of that amendment. See article X, section 9, Constitution of Florida. Carawan was not to be applied retroactively. State v. Glenn, 558 So. 2d 4, 9 (Fla.1990). Finally, we reiterate that the practical effect of the amendment is to reinstate the Blockburger test.

Given these underlying considerations, we construct the following chart:

Crime committed before July 1, 1988 and

Appeal concluded before September 3, 1987: Blockburger

Appeal concluded thereafter: Cara-wan

Crime committed after July 1, 1988: Blockburger. Summarizing, the window for the application of Carawan has two dimensions: the crime must have been committed before July 1, 1988, and the appeal from conviction of that crime must not have been concluded before September 3, 1987.

Applying the foregoing to appellant’s circumstances, we conclude that Carawan applies. Thus, we reverse and remand with instructions to expunge the conviction and sentence for possession of cocaine. Because the sentences were to run concurrently, and the offending sentence is for the shorter term, it will not be necessary to resentenee appellant.

AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART; REMANDED.

DOWNEY and GLICKSTEIN, JJ„ concur.


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