DANIEL L. WORTHAM, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that the trial court erred in denying the motion to vacate based on reliance on Lifred v. State, and that the defendant is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his challenge to consecutive mandatory minimum sentences.
[1] A trial court correctly denies a motion to vacate a conviction and sentence based on claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and involuntariness of a plea.
[2] Reliance on a prior case's analysis is misplaced when that case did not ultimately decide the issue it discussed.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDaniel Wortham appealed the denial of his motion to vacate his conviction and sentence, specifically challenging consecutive three-year minimum senten…
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PER CURIAM.
Daniel Wortham appeals the denial of his motion to vacate his conviction and sentence. The trial court correctly denied his motion with respect to his claims regarding ineffectiveness of counsel and the involuntariness of his plea.
Wortham raised one issue deserving more attention. He challenged his consecutive three-year minimum sentences pursuant to section 775.087, Florida Statutes (1989). The trial court denied the motion, citing Lifred v. State, 643 So. 2d 94 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994). In Lifred, the court en banc engaged in a detailed analysis of stacking mandatory minimum sentences, reasoning that separate shots from a firearm at different victims constituted separate and distinct crimes, irrespective of the time and space analysis historically associated with this issue. Id. As compelling as is the discussion in Lijred, the court ultimately did not decide the issue, and relied on the time and space tests enunciated first in Palmer v. State, 438 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1983), and later through a series of district court of appeal decisions. See Young v. State, 631 So. 2d 372 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994); Garrison v. State, 654 So. 2d 1176 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994); Gardner v. State, 515 So. 2d 408 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987).
Hence, reliance on the analysis in Lijred is misplaced. Accordingly, we reverse on that issue and remand to the trial court to grant an evidentiary hearing if a factual foundation cannot be established in the record which would support denying appellant’s motion using the standards set forth in Young v. State. In the alternative, if the record establishes that under that test appellant is in fact entitled to relief, the trial court may simply resentence him. If this alternative is utilized, the appellant need not be present for resentencing.
Any party aggrieved by the subsequent action of the trial court must file a timely notice of appeal to obtain further appellate review.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
THREADGILL, C.J., and RYDER and ALTENBERND, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Jamarr Lanard Scott v. State, 42 So. 3d 923 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)…this case involved only one episode, the trial court’s [consecutive mandatory minimum] sentences still were legal”). Mr. Scott also relies on this court’s earlier opinions in Young v. State, 631 So. 2d 372 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994), and Wortham v. State, 657 So. 2d 1256 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). Regarding Young, we note that our earlier decision predated the 1999 change to section 775.087, and the holding in that case has been effectively, if not directly, overruled by more recent opinions such as Christian and Sousa. Wo…
Authorities Cited
- Dean v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc., 438 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1983)
- Lifred v. State, 643 So. 2d 94 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)
- Gardner v. State, 515 So. 2d 408 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)
- Garrison v. State, 654 So. 2d 1176 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)
- Young v. State, 631 So. 2d 372 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)