REINHARDT ALEXANDER STUBBS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Improper prosecutorial comments were not so prejudicial as to constitute fundamental error, and the habitual violent felony offender sentence was validly imposed based on a predicate conviction from the "window period."
[1] Prosecutorial comments during closing argument that are not objected to at trial will only warrant a new trial if they constitute fundamental error, meaning they were so…
[2] Improper prosecutorial comments, even if not objected to, do not warrant a new trial if the evidence presented and the context in which they were made demonstrate they we…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant was convicted of armed robbery. The state sought habitual violent felony offender status based on a prior aggravated battery conviction. The…
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JOANOS, Judge.
Reinhardt Stubbs appeals his conviction of the offense of armed robbery and his fifteen-year sentence as an habitual violent felony offender. The issues presented are: (1) whether improper prosecutorial comment deprived appellant of a fundamentally fair trial; and (2) whether appellant’s sentence as an habitual violent felony offender is invalid, because the predicate aggravated battery conviction fell within the time period when the offense constituted an unconstitutional basis for determining habitual offender status. We affirm.
Appellant was charged with committing an armed robbery of the fast-food service estab lishment at which he was employed. The charged offense occurred July 13, 1994. On August 8, 1994, the state filed notice of its intention to have appellant classified and sentenced as an habitual violent felony offender. The notice stated that the state would rely upon appellant’s April 11, 1990, conviction and sentence for aggravated battery.
Following trial, the jury returned a verdict of guilty of the lesser included offense of robbery with a weapon. The trial court imposed a mandatory fifteen-year sentence as an habitual violent felony offender, predicated in part on appellant’s April 11, 1990, conviction for aggravated battery.
As his first issue, appellant complains of a number of improper prosecutorial comments during closing argument. Since appellant properly concedes that no objections were raised at any point to the prosecutorial improprieties, we must determine whether the comments were so prejudicial as to constitute fundamental error. Street v. State, 636 So. 2d 1297, 1303 (Fla.1994), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 115 S.Ct. 743, 130 L.Ed.2d 644 (1995); Jones v. Wainwright, 473 So. 2d 1244, 1245 (Fla.1985); Pacifico v. State, 642 So. 2d 1178, 1182 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994). The standard is whether the errors committed were so prejudicial as to vitiate the entire trial. State v. Murray, 443 So. 2d 955, 956 (Fla.1984); Pacifico, 642 So. 2d at 1184.
We do not condone the improper comments made by the prosecutor in this case. Nevertheless, we conclude under the circumstances of this case, the evidence presented, and the context in which they were made, the comments were not so egregious or inflammatory as to impair the jury’s ability to decide the case on the evidence presented. Therefore, we conclude a new trial is not warranted.
The second issue concerns appellant’s sentence as an habitual violent felony offender. The 1989 amendments to section 775.084, Florida Statutes, the habitual offender statute, included aggravated battery as a qualifying offense within the definition of habitual violent felony offender. Ch. 89-280, § 1, Laws of Fla. Subsequently, the supreme court held that Chapter 89-280 violated the single subject rule of the Florida Constitution. State v. Johnson, 616 So. 2d 1 (Fla.1993).
After the Johnson opinion was released, a different panel of this court concluded that trial courts were not authorized to impose habitual offender sentences based upon the 1989 amendments when imposing sentence for crimes committed after the invalid “window period,” if the predicate prior convicted offense was committed during the “window period.” See Donahue v. State, 616 So. 2d 65 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993). The Donahue panel vacated an habitual violent felony offender sentence based upon a January 1990 conviction for aggravated battery, and remanded the cause for a determination whether Donahue qualified for habitual violent felony offender sentencing without the January 1990 aggravated battery conviction.
We disagree with the rationale applied in Donahue. Here, as in Donahue, the state sought habitual violent felony offender classification based upon an April 1990 conviction for the offense of aggravated battery. The statute was amended to include aggravated battery as a valid qualifying offense for classification as an habitual violent felon before appellant committed the robbery for which he was being sentenced. See Perkins v. State, 583 So. 2d 1103, 1105 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991), approved, 616 So. 2d 9 (Fla.1993). We believe the Johnson ruling is concerned only with offenses committed during the single subject “window period” for which sentence is to be pronounced, not with prior offenses which led to the defendant’s classification as an habitual felon.
Accordingly, we recede from this court’s decision in Donahue, and affirm appellant’s conviction and sentence in all respects.
ERVIN, BOOTH, MINER, WOLF, WEBSTER, MICKLE, LAWRENCE, BENTON and VAN NORTWICK, JJ., concur.
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Johnson v. State, 177 So. 3d 1005 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015)…234, 1249 (Fla.2010). For improper prosecutorial remarks to constitute fundamental error, the jury must not have been able to reach the verdict absent the remarks. Id. The comments must be so egregious as to vitiate the whole trial. Stubbs v. State, 673 So. 2d 964, 965 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996). Courts consider the cumulative effect of objected-to and unobjected-to comments when reviewing whether a defendant received a fair trial. Merck v. State, 975 So. 2d 1054, 1061 (Fla.2007). Improper closing argument becomes f…
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Shelton v. Singletary, 727 So. 2d 310 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)…statute was entirely valid on the date of defendant’s current offense on May [*311] 21, 1995, it was permissible to use the 1990 aggravated, battery conviction as the basis for the habitual violent felony offender adjudication. See Stubbs v. State, 673 So. 2d 964 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996) (General Division en banc). Petition denied.…
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Wiley Laboo v. State, 715 So. 2d 1034 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)…e initial arguments by defense counsel, we conclude that any comments by the prosecutor which may not have been proper were not so egregious as to have impaired the ability of the jurors to decide the ease based on the evidence. See Stubbs v. State, 673 So. 2d 964 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996) (general division en banc). The second issue appears to be one of first impression in Florida: whether conviction for both workers’ compensation fraud under section 440.1051 and grand theft under section 812.014 is a double jeop…
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
- State v. Johnson, 616 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1993)
- State v. Murray, 443 So. 2d 955 (Fla. 1984)
- Pacifico v. State, 642 So. 2d 1178 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)
- Isaiah Perkins v. State, 583 So. 2d 1103 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)
- Street v. State, 636 So. 2d 1297 (Fla. 1994)
- Jones v. Louie L. Wainwright, 473 So. 2d 1244 (Fla. 1985)
- Isaiah Perkins v. State, 616 So. 2d 9 (Fla. 1993)
- Beaubrum v. State, 616 So. 2d 9 (Fla. 1993)
- Donahue v. State, 616 So. 2d 65 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)