KEVIN J. ECHELMEIER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Kevin Echelmeier appealed his convictions for crimes arising from a residential burglary and subsequent high-speed chase that resulted in a fatal collision. The appellate court reversed the trial court's imposition of consecutive habitual offender sentences, holding that the burglary and murder offenses constituted a single criminal episode.
The trial court erred by imposing consecutive habitual offender sentences because the burglary and murder offenses were committed during a single criminal episode. The court reversed and remanded with directions that concurrent sentences be imposed.
[1] Consecutive habitual offender sentences may not be imposed for multiple crimes committed during a single criminal episode.
[2] The determination of whether a criminal episode is single or separate for sentencing purposes depends on the specific facts of the case.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“once a defendant's sentences for multiple crimes committed during a single criminal episode have been enhanced through the habitual offender statutes, they may not be further increased by an order that they be served consecutively”
Establishes the controlling legal principle from Hale v. State that prohibits consecutive sentencing enhancements for crimes within a single criminal episode
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn January 6, 1993, an off-duty police officer discovered Echelmeier burglarizing a neighbor's residence. When the officer attempted to arrest him, Ec…
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PER CURIAM.
The defendant appeals his convictions for numerous charges arising out of a residential burglary and the defendant’s subsequent flight from the scene. We find merit only in his contention that the trial court erred by imposing consecutive habitual offender sentences.
On January 6, 1993, an off-duty police officer discovered the defendant burglarizing a neighbor’s residence. When the officer investigated and attempted to arrest the defendant, the defendant fled the scene in his car. The officer pursued him. During the high speed chase, the defendant’s car struck another car. The occupants of the other car, Mr. and Mrs. Andersen, were en route to purchase a ring for their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Mr. Andersen sustained serious injuries and died ninety-eight days after the accident.
After Mr. Andersen died, a grand jury indictment was returned charging the defendant with first degree felony murder (count I), vehicular homicide (count II), first degree burglary while armed (count III), grand theft (count IV), and resisting an officer with violence (count V). Before trial, the state filed a habitual offender notice pursuant to section 775.084, Florida Statutes (1993). The jury found the defendant guilty of second degree murder (a lesser included offense of count I), vehicular homicide (count II), burglary of a dwelling (a lesser included offense of count III), grand theft (count TV), and resisting an officer without violence (a lesser included offense of count V). The trial court did not adjudicate the defendant guilty of vehicular homicide. He was sentenced to time served on the misdemeanor offense (count V). As to the remaining offenses, the trial court sentenced the defendant as a habitual offender to a term of life in prison for second degree murder, thirty years prison for burglary of a dwelling to be served consecutively to the life sentence, and ten years prison for grand theft to be served concurrently with the burglary sentence.
The defendant asserts that the trial court erred by imposing consecutive habitual offender sentences because the offenses were all committed during a single criminal episode. In support of this argument, the defendant cites Hale v. State, 630 So. 2d 521 (Fla.1993), in which the supreme court held that once a defendant’s sentences for multiple crimes committed during a single criminal episode have been enhanced through the habitual offender statutes, they may not be further increased by an order that they be served consecutively. The state responds that because the burglary and the murder offenses involve different victims, occurred in separate locations and were separated in time, they are crimes occurring in separate criminal episodes for which consecutive sentences may be imposed. See Woods v. State, 615 So. 2d 197 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993).
There is no bright line rule for determining when a criminal episode can be denominated “single” or “separate” for purposes of consecutive sentencing. The focus must be directed to the facts of each case. See Parker v. State, 633 So. 2d 72 (Fla. 1st DCA), review denied, 639 So. 2d 980 (Fla.1994). In this case, count I of the indictment charged the defendant with first degree felony murder by alleging that he:
did unlawfully, while engaged in the perpetration of, or in the attempt to perpetrate a burglary, or while escaping from the immediate scene of a burglary, kill and murder Karl Andersen, a human being, by driving a motor vehicle in a manner. in which he inflicted fatal injuries upon said Karl Andersen,
Thus, the underlying basis of the felony murder charge was the state’s contention that the burglary and the subsequent automobile crash were part of the same criminal episode. Consequently, we conclude that, on these facts, the trial court erred by imposing consecutive sentences for separate offenses committed during a single criminal episode. Accordingly, we reverse and remand with directions that concurrent sentences be imposed.
Reversed and remanded with directions.
THREADGILL, C.J., and RYDER and FULMER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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Williams v. State, 804 So. 2d 572 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002)…ischarges of a firearm at multiple victims, there are, by definition, separate violations of each victim’s rights”). There is no bright line test for distinguishing a single criminal episode from separate criminal episodes. See Echelmeier v. State, 662 So. 2d 994 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). Rather, the court must focus on the facts of each case. Id. In making such determinations, courts have considered factors such as the nature, time, place and number of victims involved. See Smith v. State, 650 So. 2d 689, 691 (Fl…
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Clevenger v. State, 967 So. 2d 1039 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007)…harge in the amended information, but reversed the dismissal of the other charges. These cases allow prosecution if there was a single criminal episode. Therefore, the question is whether there was a single criminal episode. In Echelmeier v. State, 662 So. 2d 994 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995), the court addressed the criteria for determining when there is a single criminal episode. The court wrote that there is no bright line rule for determining when a criminal episode can be denominated single or separate, but that t…
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Wilcher v. State, 787 So. 2d 150 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)…of a single criminal episode. See Hale v. State, 630 So. 2d 521 (Fla.1993). There is, however, no bright line for determining whether a criminal episode is single for purposes of evaluating consecutive enhancement sentences. See Echelmeier v. State, 662 So. 2d 994, 995 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). In Smith v. State, 650 So. 2d 689 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995), the court recognized In determining whether multiple crimes arise out of one criminal episode for purpose of consecutive sentencing, courts have generally considered fac…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Hale v. State, 630 So. 2d 521 (Fla. 1993)
- Woods v. State, 615 So. 2d 197 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)
- Parker v. State, 633 So. 2d 72 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)