BRIAN LOCKE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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It is illegal to sentence a person convicted of both a felony and a misdemeanor to consecutive terms in county jail if the aggregated sentences exceed one year.
Appellant was sentenced at one hearing to two consecutive terms in county jail, one for a felony and one for a misdemeanor, aggregating over one year.…
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DAUKSCH, Judge.
This is an appeal from a sentence.
The question on appeal is whether it is legal to sentence a person convicted of both a felony and a misdemeanor to consecutive terms in the county jail, if the aggregated sentences exceed one year. We answer in the negative and certify the question as being one of great public importance.
In Dewitt v. State, 639 So. 2d 694 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994), this court held that “it was error to impose consecutive sentences on the felony and misdemeanor counts for an aggregate imposition exceeding one year in the county jail.” Id. at 695. Citing Singleton v. State, 554 So. 2d 1162 (Fla.1990) and Kline v. State, 509 So. 2d 1178 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), this court “reversed” the sentence.
Those cases are on point here because appellant was sentenced at one sentencing hearing to two sentences which exceed one year in the county jail. Because one conviction was for a felony and one for a misdemeanor, the sentences are illegal pursuant to Singleton. However, had both been misdemeanors then the sentences would have been legal. Obviously, this is logically indefensible and unjust, as is mentioned in Armstrong v. State, 656 So. 2d 455 (Fla.1995). Is it fair for one convicted of two misdemeanors to be subject to a greater penalty than one convicted of a felony and a misdemeanor? No. We certify the following question to the supreme court as one of great public importance:
CAN ARMSTRONG BE APPLIED TO A CASE IN WHICH A DEFENDANT IS CONVICTED OF A FELONY AND A MISDEMEANOR?
Sentence VACATED; REMANDED for resentencing in accordance with Dewitt v. State 639 So. 2d 694 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994).
W. SHARP and THOMPSON, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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State v. Bennie Troutman, 685 So. 2d 1290 (Fla. 1996)…sapproving sentences in the county jail where the aggregate exceeded one year if any of the convictions was a felony. See Singleton v. State, 554 So. 2d 1162 (Fla.1990) (approving Kline v. State, 509 So. 2d 1178 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)); Locke v. State, 656 So. 2d 571 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995). However, noting that in Armstrong this Court approved consecutive county jail sentences exceeding one year for a defendant convicted of two misdemeanors, the court certified the question quoted above. This case involves the int…
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Bennie Troutman v. State, 668 So. 2d 340 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)…250 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994), approved Armstrong v. State, 656 So. 2d 455 (Fla.1995). This court, however, has expressly disapproved sentences in the county jail where the aggregate exceeds one year, if any of the convictions is a felony. Locke v. State, 656 So. 2d 571 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995); see also Singleton v. State, 554 So. 2d 1162 (Fla.1990), approving Kline v. State, 509 So. 2d 1178 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). In the instant ease, because one of the convictions was a felony, the trial court must resentence Troutman.…1 / 2
Authorities Cited
- Singleton v. State, 554 So. 2d 1162 (Fla. 1990)
- Armstrong v. State, 656 So. 2d 455 (Fla. 1995)
- Kline v. State, 509 So. 2d 1178 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)
- Dewitt v. State, 639 So. 2d 694 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)