KEITH A. SHEPHERD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1998-07-10
No. 98-01647
THREADGILL, A.C.J., and FULMER and CASANUEVA, JJ., concur.
713 So. 2d 1066 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1998) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Keith Shepherd appealed the denial of his post-conviction motion challenging his sentencing on first-degree murder and other felony convictions. The court reversed in part, holding that Shepherd's Hale-based sentencing claim was timely filed under Rule 3.850 because the retroactivity window established in Callaway did not apply to him.


Holding

Shepherd's post-conviction motion was timely filed, and the Callaway retroactivity window did not apply to him. The court reversed the trial court's denial and remanded for the trial court to conduct an evidentiary hearing on his Hale-based sentencing claim or provide the relief sought.


Headnotes

[1] A claim that sentences should run concurrently under the Hale doctrine is not subject to correction at any time as an illegal sentence under Florida Rule of Criminal Proc…

[2] Claims for relief under the Hale doctrine, which were otherwise time-barred under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, could be raised within a two-year window from…

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Key Quotes

“Callaway provided retroactive application of the Hale doctrine, and in so doing approved the mechanism advanced by this court in Callaway v. State, 642 So.2d 636 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994) (Callaway II), which allows — for those who are otherwise time-barred under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 from pursuing a remedy — a two-year window from the announcement of Hale by the supreme court to move for post-conviction relief.”

Explains the retroactivity window that the trial court mistakenly applied to Shepherd's claim

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Facts & Procedural History

Shepherd was convicted of first-degree murder and other felonies and received consecutive prison terms as a habitual felony offender. He filed a post-…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Keith Shepherd challenges the trial court’s denial of his posteonviction attack filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850on his convictions and sentences. Of the numerous claims he advances, only one assertion concerning his sentencing has merit, and upon that we reverse.

Shepherd was convicted of first-degree murder and other felonies and on these lesser charges he received consecutive prison terms of various lengths as a habitual felony offender. In his motion, Shepherd claimed that he was entitled to have these sentences structured to run concurrently under the dictates of Hale v. State, 630 So. 2d 521 (Fla.1993), arguing that all these convictions grew out of a single criminal episode. The trial court denied this claim, asserting that the issue was not raised timely as the window approved by the supreme court in State v. Callaway, 658 So. 2d 983 (Fla.1995) (Callaway I), for raising Hale claims had closed prior to the filing of Shepherd’s posteonviction motion.

Callaway provided retroactive application of the Hale doctrine, and in so doing approved the mechanism advanced by this court in Callaway v. State, 642 So. 2d 636 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994) (Callaway II), which allows — for those who are otherwise time-barred under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 from pursuing a remedy — a two-year window from the announcement of Hale by the supreme court to move for post-conviction relief.

Thus, applicants for Hale relief, who were otherwise time-barred, had a deadline of October 14, 1995, to file a rule 3.850motion. See Sikes v. State, 683 So. 2d 599 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); see also Dukes v. State, 703 So. 2d 498 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997).

The trial court, pointing out Shepherd’s rule 3.850filing date of September 17, 1997, declared his claim untimely, and pointed out that he could have raised the matter on plenary appeal.

Shepherd appealed his conviction and sentence to this court, which affirmed in part and reversed in part, and the mandate issued September 22, 1995. His posteonviction motion was timely filed. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.850(b). The treatments by this court and the supreme court of Callaway’s claims focused on the retroactive provision of relief to those time-barred from pursuit of a posteon-viction motion under rule 3.850. The supreme court rejected the notion that a sentence violative of Hale is “illegal” and hence subject to correction at any time pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). See Callaway I, 658 So. 2d at 988. There, the supreme court determined that an evidentiary question arose from the application of Hale, rendering it unsuitable for relief under rule 3.800(a).

Rule 3.850, the only vehicle authorized in Callaway I for attacking sentences contravening Hale, may be utilized to assail such sentences irrespective of the retroactivity issues. See, e.g., Laventure v. State, 695 So. 2d 859 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997).

The trial court’s denial of this claim imposes upon Shepherd a window approved by the supreme court to save those who procedurally had no other means of pursuing relief from a sentencing scheme which had been deemed unconstitutional. That window does not apply to Shepherd’s claim, and his timely rule 3.850motion presents a facially sufficient claim for relief. On remand, the trial court may again deny this portion of his motion by attaching portions of the record which refute the allegation. Absent that, the court must conduct an evidentiary hearing or enter an order providing Shepherd the relief he has sought on this one sentencing claim.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.

THREADGILL, A.C.J., and FULMER and CASANUEVA, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Shepherd v. State, 998 So. 2d 1164 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)
    …consecutive sentences. In 1998, we reversed the trial court as to this issue and remanded the ease for a determination of whether the offenses other than the capital offense could result in consecutive habitual offender sentences. Shepherd v. State, 713 So. 2d 1066 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). On remand from that appeal, the trial court determined that the murder, robbery, and grand theft of the automobile should be treated as a single occurrence, but that the arson and dealing in stolen property occurred at different…

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