WAYNE PULA, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that the legal sufficiency of written reasons for an upward departure sentence must be raised on direct appeal and cannot be raised in a subsequent collateral attack.
The appellant was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, exceeding the permissible guidelines range with departure reasons…
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W. SHARP, Judge.
Pula appeals from the summary denial of his motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). He asserts that the departure reasons given by the trial judge for his sentence, which exceeds the permissible range, were legally insufficient. We affirm.
Pula previously filed a direct appeal in this court after he was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. The judgment and sentence were affirmed. See Pula v. State, 578 So. 2d 1115 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991). Pula also collaterally attacked the judgment by filing a motion pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. The trial court’s denial was also affirmed by this court. See Pula v. State, 624 So. 2d 737 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993).
The validity of written reasons to support an upward departure from the permissible guidelines sentence is an issue that should and must be raised in the context of the direct appeal. Whether Pula challenged the departure reasons on direct appeal, the legal sufficiency of the reasons has been established as the “law of the ease” and this issue cannot be raised in a collateral attack on the sentence by using rule 3.850 or rule 3.800. Sanders v. State, 621 So. 2d 723 (Fla. 5th DCA), rev. denied, 629 So. 2d 135 (Fla.1993). See also Gartrell v. State, 626 So. 2d 1364 (Fla.1993); Blount v. State, 627 So. 2d 576 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993).
AFFIRMED.
HARRIS, C.J., and GRIFFIN, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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Raley v. State, 675 So. 2d 170 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)…ic claim of error which has been already raised and decided by an appellate court. For example, a defendant is not permitted to re-litigate in a rule 3.800(a) proceeding a claim of error which was raised and rejected on direct appeal. Pula v. State, 652 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995); White v. State, 651 So. 2d 726 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995), approved, 666 So. 2d 895 (Fla.1996). Likewise, a defendant is not entitled to successive review of a specific issue decided against him in an earlier post-conviction proceeding…
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Wood v. State, 867 So. 2d 590 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)…. 5th DCA 2000). The trial court attached a copy of the prior motion and the court’s prior order, which ruled that the validity of the departure reasons given for a departure sentence cannot be raised in a rule 3.800(a) motion, citing Pula v. State, 652 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995). The court, in that case, also ruled that the sentence imposed did not exceed the statutory maximum. In Pula, this court explained that the validity vel non of departure reasons given for departure sentences, which do not exceed…
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Demo v. State, 833 So. 2d 168 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002)…by the trial court. However, the basis for our affirmance in this cause was that a challenge to the validity of departure reasons cannot be raised in a rule 3.800(a) motion. See Williams v. State, 734 So. 2d 1113 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999); Pula v. State, 652 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995). Further, Demo’s Apprendi challenge to his sentence was also legally insufficient on its face because his sentence does not exceed the statutory maximum for the offense. See Hall v. State, 823 So. 2d 757 (Fla.2002); Henly v. Sta…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Gartrell v. State, 626 So. 2d 1364 (Fla. 1993)
- Sanders v. State, 621 So. 2d 723 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)
- Blount v. State, 627 So. 2d 576 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993)
- Pula v. Dixon, 578 So. 2d 1115 (Fla. 1st DCA 2024)