STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
DONALD WALKER, RESPONDENT
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Florida Supreme Court dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction because the Fourth District's holding that life felonies are not subject to habitual offender enhancement was consistent with the First District's later decision in Johnson, eliminating the direct and express conflict required for review.
Life felonies are not subject to enhancement under the habitual offender statute, and no direct and express conflict exists between district courts when the First District's later decision aligns with the Fourth District's position.
[1] When a later decision from one district court overrules an earlier conflicting decision from the same district, no direct and express conflict exists between districts fo…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWalker was convicted and the Fourth District held that life felonies cannot be enhanced under the habitual offender statute, section 775.084, Florida …
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PER CURIAM.
We originally accepted for review Walker v. State, 580 So. 2d 281 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991), based on conflict jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. After further consideration, we have determined that jurisdiction was improvidently granted.
In Walker the Fourth District held that life felonies are not subject to enhancement under the habitual offender statute, section 775.084, Florida Statutes (1989). In 1986 the First District had reached the opposite conclusion in Watson v. State, 504 So. 2d 1267, 1270 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), review denied 506 So. 2d 1043 (Fla.1987). However, in 1990, the First District held in Johnson v. State, 568 So. 2d 519, 520 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990), that life felonies are not subject to the provisions of the habitual offender statute. This holding is consistent with the holding in Walker. Consequently, the cited decisions present no direct and express conflict as required by article V, section 3(b)(3) of the Florida Constitution. See Little v. State, 206 So. 2d 9, 10 (Fla.1968) (holding that in the result of intradistrict conflict, the decision later in time overrules the former as the decisional law in the district).
Accordingly, this Court is without jurisdiction to hear this cause and the case is hereby dismissed.
It is so ordered.
SHAW, C.J., and OVERTON, BARKETT, GRIMES, KOGAN and HARDING, JJ., concur. McDONALD, J., dissents.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Carter v. State, 786 So. 2d 1173 (Fla. 2001)…b]ecause Carter's sentences are currently under review by the Florida Supreme Court, we hold that Carter must wait until the court rules on the legality of his sentences in the earlier proceedings.” Carter II, 747 So. 2d at 484. Cf. State v. Walker, 593 So. 2d 1049 (Fla.1992) (dismissal of review proper where jurisdiction was improvidently granted because there was no express and direct conflict at the time the Court accepted jurisdiction). . The Legislature amended the habitual felony offender statute to app…
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Lamont v. State, 610 So. 2d 435 (Fla. 1992)…258 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992) (life felonies not subject to enhanced sentencing under the habitual offender statute); McKinney v. State, 585 So. 2d 318 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991) (same); Walker v. State, 580 So. 2d 281 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991) (same) review dismissed, 593 So. 2d 1049 (Fla.1992); Power v. State, 568 So. 2d 511 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990) (same). The district court rejected the petitioners’ construction of the Act. The court reasoned that such a construction would defeat the legislative intent, as expressed in sections 7…
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Bennie Lee Pearson v. State, 603 So. 2d 676 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)…0); SECOND DISTRICT: Ledesma v. State, 528 So. 2d 470 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988); FOURTH DISTRICT: Newton v. State, 581 So. 2d 212 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991), approved, 594 So. 2d 306 (Fla.1992); Walker v. State, 580 So. 2d 281 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991), rev. dismissed, 593 So. 2d 1049 (Fla.1992); FIFTH DISTRICT: Power v. State, 568 So. 2d 511 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990).…
Previewing 3 of 8 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Easter v. State, 568 So. 2d 519 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)
- Walker v. State, 580 So. 2d 281 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991)
- Watson v. State, 504 So. 2d 1267 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)
- Little v. State, 206 So. 2d 9 (Fla. 1968)