TONY BRIAN WALLACE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Tony Brian Wallace was convicted of four counts of robbery with a firearm, aggravated battery with a firearm, and grand theft of a motor vehicle. The Florida appellate court affirmed the convictions but reversed the sentencing, finding that the trial court erred by imposing consecutive life sentences as a habitual violent felony offender when the crimes occurred during a single criminal episode.
The trial court erred in imposing consecutive life sentences as a habitual violent felony offender for crimes that occurred during a single criminal episode. Concurrent life sentences must be imposed instead, as the sentencing court may not enhance penalties by ordering consecutive sentences when violations occur during a single criminal episode.
[1] A trial court errs in sentencing a defendant to consecutive habitual violent felony offender sentences when the underlying offenses occurred during a single criminal epis…
[2] The commission of multiple crimes against separate victims at the same time and location constitutes a single criminal episode for sentencing purposes.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“When a sentencing court enhances a sentence pursuant to the habitual offender statute, the court may not further enhance the penalty by ordering the individual sentences to be served consecutively if the violations occurred during a single criminal episode.”
Establishes the legal rule that prohibits consecutive sentencing enhancements for crimes committed in a single criminal episode
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWallace and two companions approached a parked vehicle where four victims were waiting and ordered them out at gunpoint, taking their money and person…
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PER CURIAM.
The appellant, Tony Brian Wallace, challenges the trial court’s judgments and sentences. We affirm the convictions without discussion, however, we find that the trial court erred in sentencing the appellant and, accordingly, reverse and remand for resentencing.
The appellant was charged with four counts of robbery with a firearm (counts IIV), in violation of section 812.13(1) and (2)(a), Florida Statutes (1991), aggravated battery with a firearm (count V), in violation of section 784.045, Florida Statutes (1991), and grand theft of a motor vehicle (count VI), in violation of section 812.014(2)(c)4, Florida Statutes (1991). The evidence at the jury trial established that the appellant and two other companions approached a parked vehicle where the four victims were waiting for their friends who had gone inside a restaurant. The appellant ordered the four victims out of the car at gunpoint and took their money and other personal belongings. One of the victims suffered injuries as a result of the appellant striking him in the face with the gun. The appellant and his companions subsequently stole the car that belonged to one of the victims.
The jury found the appellant guilty as charged and the trial court subsequently adjudicated him guilty and sentenced him as a habitual violent felony offender as follows: count I, life in prison, consecutive to count V; count II, life in prison, consecutive to count I; count III, life in prison, consecutive to count II; count IV, life in prison, consecutive to count III; count Y, life in prison, with a three year minimum mandatory and consecutive to count VI; and count VI, ten years in prison. The appellant filed a timely notice of appeal.
We find that under the facts of this case the trial court erred in sentencing the appellant to consecutive habitual violent felony offender sentences.
When a sentencing court enhances a sentence pursuant to the habitual offender statute, the court may not further enhance the penalty by ordering the individual sentences to be served consecutively if the violations occurred during a single criminal episode. Dietrich v. State, 635 So. 2d 148 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). The record in the instant case clearly shows that the four robberies and the aggravated battery occurred during a single criminal episode since the crimes occurred at the same time and in the same location. The fact that the crimes involved four separate victims does not negate the fact that they occurred in a single episode. See Koon v. State, 640 So. 2d 1226 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). See also Echelmeier v. State, 662 So. 2d 994 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for the imposition of concurrent life sentences.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
SCHOONOVER, A.C.J., and PARKER and ALTENBERND, JJ., concur.
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Clevenger v. State, 967 So. 2d 1039 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007)…re, time, place and number of victims involved. Id. citing Smith v. State, 650 So. 2d 689, 691 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995); Colson v. State, 678 So. 2d 1354 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996). See also Wilcher v. State, 787 So. 2d 150 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001); Wallace v. State, 673 So. 2d 910 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). Here, the State should have charged Clevenger within the speedy trial period for all crimes that occurred during the criminal episode, including the criminal charges involving the victim Tia Florin. They all happened at the same…
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Smith v. State, 967 So. 2d 937 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007)…tual felony offender sentences for each of the batteries on law enforcement officers which stemmed from a single criminal episode.2 See State v. Hill, 660 So. 2d 1384, 1385 (Fla.1995); Hale v. State, 630 So. 2d 521, 525 (Fla.1993); Wallace v. State, 673 So. 2d 910, 911 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996) (holding habitual felony offender sentence may not further be enhanced by ordering sentences to be served consecutively if the violations occurred during a single criminal episode). The courts have recognized that there is n…
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Lock v. State, 687 So. 2d 871 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)…the victims. The cases, however, do not support the court’s analysis. Robberies of multiple victims at the same location have historically been treated as classic examples of cases deserving of the advantages afforded by Hale. See Wallace v. State, 673 So. 2d 910 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); Koon v. State, 640 So. 2d 1226 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994); Dietrich v. State, 635 So. 2d 148 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994); Smith v. State, 632 So. 2d 95 (Fla.2d DCA 1994). Smith is especially instructive. There the defendant robbed three people i…
Authorities Cited
- Dietrich v. State, 635 So. 2d 148 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)
- Koon v. State, 640 So. 2d 1226 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)
- Echelmeier v. State, 662 So. 2d 994 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995)