JONATHAN HILL, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Jonathan Hill was convicted of burglary of an unoccupied vehicle, grand theft of a motor vehicle, and possession of burglary tools, and sentenced as a habitual violent felony offender to consecutive sentences. The appellate court affirmed the convictions but vacated the sentences and remanded for resentencing under concurrent sentences based on Hale v. State, and certified a question to the Florida Supreme Court regarding whether consecutive sentences are ever permissible for habitual offenders arising from a single criminal episode.
The court affirmed Hill's convictions but vacated his consecutive sentences and remanded for resentencing with direction to impose concurrent sentences, as required by Hale v. State. The court also directed correction of the judgment form which erroneously referred to section 775.087, Florida Statutes.
[1] Sentences imposed consecutively for crimes arising from a single criminal episode are unlawful when the defendant is sentenced as an habitual offender.
[2] The habitual offender statute does not authorize an increase in the total penalty by ordering consecutive sentences for multiple crimes committed during a single criminal…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“We find nothing in the language of the habitual offender statute which suggests that the legislature also intended that, once the sentences from multiple crimes committed during a single criminal episode have been enhanced through the habitual offender statutes, the total penalty should then be further increased by ordering that the sentences run consecutively.”
Establishes the court's rationale for requiring concurrent rather than consecutive sentences for habitual offenders with crimes from a single criminal episode, quoting Hale v. State.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceHill was convicted of burglary of an unoccupied vehicle, grand theft of a motor vehicle, and possession of burglary tools. The trial court sentenced h…
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PER CURIAM.
Jonathan Hill appeals his convictions and sentences for burglary of an unoccupied vehicle, grand theft of a motor vehicle, and possession of burglary tools. We affirm his convictions,1 but for the following reasons we vacate his sentence, remand to the trial court for resentencing and certify a question to the Florida Supreme Court as one of great public importance.
Hill was sentenced as an habitual violent felony offender to ten years on each count, with the sentences to run consecutively. The court also imposed a five-year mandatory prison term under the habitual violent felony statute for the conviction of burglary of an unoccupied vehicle. Hill argues that the consecutive sentences were unlawful under Hale v. State, 630 So. 2d 521 (Fla.1993), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 278, 130 L.Ed.2d 195 (1994), where the court held that an individual sentenced as an habitual offender could receive only concurrent, not consecutive, sentences where the crimes arose from the same criminal episode. The State concedes that Hale would appear to apply to this case, but that its application renders the habitual offender statute meaningless because it allows the trial court to impose a lesser sentence for an habitual offender than for a regular offender. The State argues Hale should preclude the imposition of consecutive minimum mandatory sentences, but not consecutive sentences in all circumstances.
While we understand the State’s frustration, we have no choice but to apply Hale to this case, vacate the sentences, and remand for resentencing with directions to impose concurrent sentences. “We find nothing in the language of the habitual offender statute which suggests that the legislature also intended that, once the sentences from multiple crimes committed during a single criminal episode have been enhanced through the habitual offender statutes, the total penalty should then be further increased by ordering that the sentences run consecutively.” Hale, 630 So. 2d at 524. We also certify the following question to the Florida Supreme Court as one of great public importance:
Whether Hale v. State, 630 So. 2d 521 (Fla. 1993), cert. denied, Case No. 94-5612 [— U.S.—, 115 S.Ct. 278, 130 L.Ed.2d 195] (U.S. Oct. 3, 1994), precludes under all circumstances the imposition of consecutive sentences for crimes arising from a single criminal episode for habitual felony or habitual violent felony offenders?
Hill also argues, and the State concedes, that the trial court erred in referring on the judgment form to section 775.087, Florida Statutes (1993). The elements of the statute were neither proven by the State nor relied upon by the trial court in enhancing the defendant’s sentence. On remand, the trial court should correct the judgment form.
In summary, we hold that the trial court erroneously sentenced Hill as an habitual violent felony offender to consecutive prison terms. We affirm Hill’s convictions; vacate his sentences and remand with direction to impose concurrent sentences and correct the judgment form; and certify a question to the Florida Supreme Court as one of great public importance.
. The defendant claims he is entitled to a new trial because the prosecution improperly used a peremptory strike on an African-American potential juror. After reviewing the record, we find no merit in this argument.
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Hollice Lafleur v. State, 661 So. 2d 346 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)…)l). Whether Hale will also fall in the present context depends on the-Supreme Court’s answer to the question we certified in such cases as Parker v. State, 651 So. 2d 140 (Fla. 3d DCA), review granted, 661 So. 2d 825 (Fla. 1995), and Hill v. State, 645 So. 2d 90 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994). (Because of the relative insignificance of the two, now-required-to-be-concurrent aggravated assault habitual offender sentences which will be followed by three consecutive sentences for life felonies, see Robertson v. State, 661…
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Simmons v. State, 650 So. 2d 126 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)…cutively. Therefore, in the instant case, we vacate the defendant’s sentence and remand for resen-tencing with directions to impose concurrent sentences, except as to Count XII. Further, we also certify the same question certified in Hill v. State, 645 So. 2d 90 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), as being one of great public importance: Whether Hale v. State, 630 So. 2d 521 (Fla. 1993), cert. denied, [— U.S. —, 115 S.Ct. 278, 130 L.Ed.2d 195 (1994)], precludes under all circumstances the imposition of consecutive senten…
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Parker v. State, 651 So. 2d 140 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)…fender sentences where the crimes arose from the same criminal incident. See Hale v. State, 630 So. 2d 521 (Fla.1993), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 278, 130 L.Ed.2d 195 (1994); Simmons v. State, 650 So. 2d 126 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995); Hill v. State, 645 So. 2d 90 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994). Accordingly, we vacate appellant’s sentence and remand with instructions to the trial court to impose concurrent sentences. Finally, we certify the same question framed in Hill and Simmons to the supreme court. Affirmed in part…
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- Hale v. State, 630 So. 2d 521 (Fla. 1993)