TONY POZO, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1996-09-24
No. 95-1427
WEBSTER and LAWRENCE, JJ., concur.
682 So. 2d 1124 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1996) Positive Treatment
Cited by 9 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Tony Pozo appeals his conviction for second-degree murder and armed trespass. The court affirmed the convictions but vacated and remanded the sentences, holding that consecutive habitual felony offender sentences imposed for crimes committed during a single criminal episode constitute reversible error.


Holding

The court affirmed the convictions on all three pre-sentencing issues, finding any errors harmless. However, the court held that ordering consecutive sentences that were already enhanced under the habitual felony offender statute for crimes committed during a single criminal episode constitutes reversible error under Hale v. State and Brooks v. State, requiring the sentences to be vacated and remanded with directions to run concurrently.


Headnotes

[1] Errors, if any, in a trial court's pre-sentencing rulings are harmless when the defendant has not demonstrated an abuse of discretion.

[2] Consecutive habitual felony offender sentences are impermissible when the underlying offenses were committed during a single criminal episode.

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

Key Quotes

“once a defendant's sentences for multiple crimes committed "during a single criminal episode" are enhanced pursuant to the habitual felony offender statute, the total penalty cannot be increased further by ordering the sentences to run consecutively”

The court's holding establishing the legal principle that consecutive sentences cannot be imposed on top of enhanced habitual felony offender sentences for crimes in a single episode

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Pozo was convicted of second-degree murder and armed trespass. At trial, bloodied T-shirts worn by Pozo and the victim during a fatal stabbing were ad…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
MICKLE, Judge.

MICKLE, Judge.

In this direct appeal of a conviction for second-degree murder (Count One) and armed trespass (Count Two), the appellant asserts that the trial court reversibly erred 1) by allowing into evidence the putrid, bloodied T-shirts worn by the appellant and the stabbing victim during the fatal struggle; 2) by refusing to give a requested jury instruction on the justifiable use of deadly force in a defendant’s own home; 3) by failing to declare a mistrial after the prosecutor made two allegedly improper, inflammatory remarks in closing argument; and 4) by ordering the two habitual felony offender sentences to run consecutively even though the acts constituting the offenses occurred during a single criminal episode. We affirm the convictions, vacate the sentences and remand for resentencing, and direct the trial court to order the sentences to run concurrently.

In regard to the first three issues, we find that errors, if any, in the trial court’s pre-sentencing rulings are harmless. The appellant has not demonstrated an abuse of discretion. State v. DiGuilio, 491 So. 2d 1129 (Fla.1986). Therefore, we affirm the convictions for both counts without further discussion.

However, as to the fourth and final issue, we hold that under the facts admitted into evidence, the imposition of consecutive sentences, which already were enhanced pursuant to section 775.084, Florida Statutes (1993), constitutes reversible error under Hale v. State, 630 So. 2d 521, 524 (Fla.1993) (once a defendant’s sentences for multiple crimes committed “during a single criminal episode” are enhanced pursuant to the habitual felony offender statute, the total penalty cannot be increased further by ordering the sentences to run consecutively), cert. den. — U.S. —, 115 S.Ct. 278, 130 L.Ed.2d 195 (1994), and Brooks v. State, 630 So. 2d 527 (Fla.1993), and requires both sentences to be vacated and the cause to be remanded for resentencing. Although Florida statutory law would permit the trial court to impose the same (or more severe or less severe) sentences on remand, see sections 782.04(2) (second-degree murder), 810.08(2)(e) (armed trespass) and 775.084(4)(a)l & 3 (providing for enhanced habitual felony offender sentencing), Florida Statutes (1993), we direct that the sentences be ordered to run concurrently in accordance with Hale.

We AFFIRM the conviction, VACATE both sentences, and REMAND for resentencing WITH DIRECTIONS to order the habitual felony offender sentences to run concurrently. Additionally, the trial court should correct a scrivener’s error on the judgment to cite the statutory chapter for second-degree murder as section 782.04(2), Florida Statutes (rather than § 784.04(2)).

WEBSTER and LAWRENCE, JJ., concur.

Other

ON APPELLANT’S AND APPELLEE’S MOTIONS FOR REHEARING OR CLARIFICATION

The appellant and the appellee filed motions for clarification and for rehearing. In the original opinion, we found no basis for reversal in any of the first three issues. In the interest of eliminating any confusion relating to our holding as to Issues I, II, and III, we grant the appellant’s motion for clarification. The appellant’s motion for rehearing is denied. We grant the appellee’s motion for clarification as to Issue IV and deny the appellee’s motion for rehearing.

On Issue I, we find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s allowing into evidence the putrid, bloodied T-shirts worn by the appellant and the stabbing victim during the fatal struggle. Preston v. State, 607 So. 2d 404, 410-11 (Fla.1992) (gruesome na ture of a limited number of photographs of victim’s body, relevant to circumstances of murder, did not render their admission an abuse of discretion), cert. den., 507 U.S. 999, 113 S.Ct. 1619, 123 L.Ed.2d 178 (1993); Straight v. State, 397 So. 2d 903, 906 (Fla.), cert. den., 454 U.S. 1022, 102 S.Ct. 556, 70 L.Ed.2d 418 (1981). The appellant has not demonstrated that any prejudicial effect substantially outweighed the probative value of this relevant evidence. See § 90.402 & 90.403, Fla.Stat. (1993).

On Issue II, in which the appellant challenges the trial court’s refusal to give a requested jury instruction on the justifiable use of deadly force in a defendant’s own home, we note that the granting or denial of a jury instruction lies within the sound discretion of the trial court. Williams v. State, 591 So. 2d 319, 320 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991). The lower court gave the standard instruction on self-defense. If we assume arguendo that the court erred in failing to give the additional “defense of home” instruction, we nevertheless would conclude that the appellee met its burden to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that the omission did not taint the verdict. State v. DiGuilio, 491 So. 2d 1129 (Fla.1991).

On Issue III, we find no abuse of discretion in the lower tribunal’s refusal to declare a mistrial. Harm, if any, resulting from the prosecutrix’s first challenged comment was removed by the court’s curative instruction and the prosecutrix’s subsequent explanation of her remarks. James v. State, 429 So. 2d 1362, 1363 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983) (“Any impropriety of the prosecutor’s comment was cured by the trial court’s admonishment and the follow-up explanations by the prosecutor.”). As the second challenged remark was brief and not inflammatory, it did not taint the verdict. King v. State, 623 So. 2d 486, 488 (Fla.1993) (“a conviction will not be overturned unless a prosecutor’s comment is so prejudicial that it vitiates the entire trial”); Heinz v. State, 615 So. 2d 238 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993).

On Issue IV, we vacated the two consecutive habitual felony offender sentences pursuant to Hale v. State, 630 So. 2d 521, 524 (Fla.1993) (once a defendant’s sentences for multiple crimes committed during a single criminal episode are enhanced via the habitual felony offender statute, the total penalty cannot be increased further by ordering the sentences to run consecutively), cert. den., — U.S. —, 115 S.Ct. 278, 130 L.Ed.2d 195 (1994), because the facts admitted into evidence showed that the multiple crimes were committed “during a single criminal episode.” In remanding for resentencing and directing the trial court to order the sentences to run concurrently, we did not intend (as the appellee supposes) to suggest that the trial court may not impose any lawful sentence for either of the two offenses.

GRANTING the appellant’s and the appel-lee’s motions for clarification, and DENYING the appellant’s and the appellee’s motions for rehearing.

WEBSTER and LAWRENCE, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Bozeman v. State, 714 So. 2d 570 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)
    …which was denied by the trial court. The jury found appellant guilty as charged. A trial court’s decision on the giving or withholding of a proposed jury instruction is reviewed under the abuse of discretion standard of review. See Pozo v. State, 682 So. 2d 1124, 1126 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996), rev. denied, 691 So. 2d 1081 (Fla.1997); see also Lewis v. State, 693 So. 2d 1055, 1058 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 700 So. 2d 686 (Fla.1997). Yet, as both parties have pointed out in their briefs, a defendant is entitled…
  • Worley v. State, 848 So. 2d 491 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003)
    …ion on entrapment. We disagree. The giving or withholding by a trial court of a requested jury instruction is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard of review. See Palmore v. State, [*492] 888 So. 2d 1222 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003); Pozo v. State, 682 So. 2d 1124 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996), rev. denied 691 So. 2d 1081 (Fla. 1997). In a criminal proceeding the discretion of the trial court in this regard is rather narrow, however, because a criminal defendant is entitled to have the jury instructed on his or her the…
  • Palmore v. State, 838 So. 2d 1222 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003)
    …ion). Finding the issue preserved for appeal, we agree with Appellant and reverse and remand for a new trial. The giving or withholding of a requested jury instruction is reviewed under the abuse of discretion standard of review. See Pozo v. State, 682 So. 2d 1124, 1126 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996), rev. denied, 691 So. 2d 1081 (Fla.1997); see also Bozeman v. State, 714 So. 2d 570 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). However, the trial judge’s discretion is fairly narrow because a criminal defendant is entitled, by law, to have the j…

Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited (12 total)

View all 12 cited authorities →

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw