MATTHEW MARSHALL GAUTHIER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1992-09-02
No. 91-443
ERVIN, MINER and WEBSTER, JJ., concur.
605 So. 2d 1284 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1992) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

Matthew Gauthier was convicted of sexual battery with a firearm, burglary with assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and was sentenced as a habitual felony offender. The First District Court of Appeal reversed his conviction for firearm possession on double jeopardy grounds, reversed his habitual offender sentence due to improper use of stale predicate offenses, and remanded for resentencing under the guidelines with proper scoring of legal constraint.


Holding

The court reversed Gauthier's conviction for possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony on double jeopardy grounds and reversed his habitual felony offender sentence because the prior burglary convictions could not legally support habitualization—one had expired before the current offenses and the others were too remote in time. The court also held that legal constraint points on the sentencing scoresheet must be scored but only once regardless of the number of offenses.


Headnotes

[1] A conviction for possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony may violate double jeopardy when the underlying felony also involves the use of a firearm.

[2] Prior offenses may not be used to support habitual offender status if the defendant was no longer on probation for those offenses at the time of the current offenses.

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Key Quotes

“appellant's conviction for possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony must be reversed on double jeopardy grounds”

Establishes the basis for reversing one of three convictions based on constitutional double jeopardy protections.

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Facts & Procedural History

On July 29, 1990, Gauthier broke into a female acquaintance's residence and, while armed, committed sexual battery on the grandmother. The trial court…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

In this criminal appeal, appellant, Mat-. thew Marshall Gauthier, raises several issues, including: (1) whether the trial court erred in sentencing him as an habitual felony offender upon conviction of the charges of sexual battery with a firearm, burglary with assault and while armed, and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony; (2) whether the trial court erred in scoring legal constraint on the guidelines scoresheet; and, (3) whether his conviction on the charge of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony is violative of double jeopardy. We reverse appellant’s conviction on the charge of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony and remand the case to the trial court for imposition of a guidelines sentence.

Appellant’s convictions stem from a July 29, 1990, incident where appellant, after a drinking bout, broke into the residence of a female acquaintance, therein arming himself while committing a sexual battery upon the grandmother of the acquaintance.

The trial court sentenced appellant as an habitual felony offender to concurrent terms of sixty years on the sexual battery charge, forty years on the burglary charge, and ten years on the charge of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. In sentencing appellant as an habitual felony offender, the trial court relied on the following prior offenses: burglary of a structure, for which adjudication was withheld and appellant placed on five years probation on April 24, 1981; burglary of a structure and burglary of a conveyance, for which appellant was placed on concurrent five year terms of probation on May 28, 1985.

Addressing the issues raised, we first find that appellant’s conviction for possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony must be reversed on double jeopardy grounds. See Cleveland v. State, 587 So. 2d 1145 (Fla.1991).

Turning now to the question of whether the trial court erred in sentencing appellant as an habitual felony offender, we note that appellant’s period of probation for his earliest predicate burglary was terminated on September 27, 1983. Appellant was no longer on probation for this offense at the time he committed the present offenses.

Therefore, this burglary may not be used to support habitualization. § 775.-084(2), Fla.Stat. (1989). Appellant’s concurrent five year terms of probation began more than five years prior to the commission of the present offenses. These prior offenses, too, may not be used to support habitualization. See Allen v. State, 487 So. 2d 410 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986).

Thus, the trial court erred in sentencing appellant as an habitual felony offender. Because, on remand, appellant is entitled to be sentenced under the sentencing guidelines, we must address a scoresheet error. Although appellant’s concurrent five year terms of probation were due to expire May 28, 1990, a violation of probation affidavit was filed April 9, 1990. Because the processes of the court had been set in motion, the trial court properly exercised jurisdiction over appellant, holding a violation of probation hearing on June 12, 1990, after the five year period had elapsed. See Fryson v. State, 559 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990).

At the hearing, the trial court extended appellant’s period of probation for two years. This action of the trial court was also permissible because appellant originally could have been sentenced to two consecutive five year terms of probation. See Green v. State, 392 So. 2d 333 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981).

Thus, appellant was lawfully on probation at the time of his present offenses, and legal constraint points should have been scored.

However, legal constraint may be scored only once, regardless of the number of offenses at conviction. Flowers v. State, 586 So. 2d 1058 (Fla.1991).

We reverse appellant’s sentence as an habitual felony offender, and remand the case to the trial court for imposition of a guidelines sentence. Upon remand, appellant’s guidelines scoresheet shall be corrected to reflect reversal of his conviction for possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and legal constraint may be scored but once. In light of this disposi tion, we find it unnecessary to address the other issues raised on appeal.

AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part, and REMANDED with instructions.

ERVIN, MINER and WEBSTER, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Evans v. State, 675 So. 2d 1012 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
    …fender status. We have also reviewed appellant’s point on appeal that the trial court erred by changing his concurrent sentence to a consecutive term in violation of his double jeopardy rights and find it to be without merit. See Gauthier v. State, 605 So. 2d 1284 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Green v. State, 392 So. 2d 333 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981). We also reject appellant’s final point on appeal that the trial court erred in sentencing him as an habitual offender following a violation of probation when the necessary steps…
  • Wright v. State, 691 So. 2d 1140 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)
    …he state concedes, prior offenses for which adjudication was withheld may not serve as a predicate for such habitual offender status where the prior probationary period was completed before the present offense was committed. E.g., Gauthier v. State, 605 So. 2d 1284 (Fla.App. 1st DCA 1992). The case is remanded for resentenc-ing. MINER, ALLEN and PADOVANO, JJ., concur.…

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