MCKINLEY SCOTT, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1998-12-23
No. 98-0198
GUNTHER and WARNER, JJ., and OWEN, WILLIAM C., Jr., Senior Judge, concur.
721 So. 2d 1245 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1998) Negative Treatment
Cited by 50 cases

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Synopsis

Scott challenges his sentence as a violent career criminal under Florida's Prison Release Re-offender Act, arguing the statute violates the single subject requirement and that burglary of an unoccupied dwelling does not qualify under the Act. The Fourth District affirms, holding that once a chapter law is reenacted into the Florida Statutes, single subject challenges are barred, and that the Act applies to all burglary of dwellings regardless of occupancy.


Holding

The court held that Scott cannot challenge the statute on single subject grounds because his offense occurred after the statute was reenacted into the Florida Statutes, and that burglary of a dwelling qualifies under the Act regardless of whether the dwelling was occupied, as the statutory distinction between occupied and unoccupied applies only to structures and conveyances, not dwellings.


Headnotes

[1] A chapter law reenacted as part of the Florida Statutes is no longer subject to challenge on the grounds that it violates the single subject requirement of Article III.

[2] The Prison Release Re-Offender Act does not have an ex post facto effect on defendants who commit their crimes after the Act's effective date, even if they were released…

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Key Quotes

“[o]nce reenacted as a portion of the Florida Statutes, a chapter law is no longer subject to challenge on the grounds that it violates the single subject requirement of Article III.”

Establishes that Scott cannot challenge the statute on constitutional grounds because his offense occurred after reenactment.

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Facts & Procedural History

Scott was convicted of burglary of a dwelling committed within three years of his release from a state correctional facility. He was sentenced as a pr…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

[*1246] PER CURIAM.

Appellant asserts that chapter 95-182, Laws of Florida, violates the single subject requirement of Article III, section 6, of the Florida Constitution, as the second district has recently held in Thompson v. State, 708 So. 2d 315 (Fla. 2d DCA), rev. granted, 717 So. 2d 538 (Fla.1998). We have determined that appellant’s constitutional challenge to his sentence as a violent career criminal is not cognizable because his offense occurred subsequent to the reenactment of the chapter law into the Florida Statutes. See State v. Johnson, 616 So. 2d 1, 2 (Fla. 1993)(“[o]nce reenacted as a portion of the Florida Statutes, a chapter law is no longer subject to challenge on the grounds that it violates the single subject requirement of Article III.”).1 We also reject appellant’s attack on the Prison Release Re-offender Act, section 775.082(8)(a), Florida Statutes (1997), which we have recently held has no ex post facto effect on defendants who, although released from prison prior to the effective date of the Act, commit their crimes after that date. See Plain v. State, 720 So. 2d 585, 23 Fla. L. Weekly D2309, D2310 (Fla. 4th DCA Oct.14,1998).

Appellant also urges that his sentence under the Prison Release Re-Offender Act was error because his charged crime of burglary of a dwelling is not a qualifying offense bringing him under the Act. Section 775.082(8)(a)(l) provides the following, in pertinent part:

“Prison releasee reoffender” means any defendant who commits, or attempts to commit:

q. Burglary of an occupied structure or dwelling

within 3 years of being released, from a state correctional facility....

(emphasis added). Appellant contends that “occupied” modifies both structure and dwelling, and that since he burglarized an unoccupied dwelling, he was not within the Act for sentencing purposes.

The burglary statute, section 810.02(3), Florida Statutes (1997), expressly distinguishes between an occupied or unoccupied structure or conveyance, but makes no distinction between burglary of an occupied dwelling and burglary of an unoccupied dwelling. Cf. Howard v. State, 642 So. 2d 77, 78 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), rev. denied, 651 So. 2d 1194 (Fla.1995). Appellant was convicted of burglary of a dwelling, not a structure or conveyance, and therefore whether the dwelling was occupied or not has no legal effect for purposes of sentencing under the Act. Accordingly, the trial court correctly classified appellant under the Act.

Based on the foregoing, and, finding no error with regard to the denial of appellant’s motion for judgment of acquittal since the state presented substantial competent evidence from which the jury could reasonably conclude that appellant was guilty of the charged crimes, we affirm appellant’s conviction and sentence.

Affirmed.

GUNTHER and WARNER, JJ., and OWEN, WILLIAM C., Jr., Senior Judge, concur. . In Thompson, the second district noted that the window period to challenge chapter 95-182 on single subject grounds began on the effective date of chapter 95-182, which was October 1, 1995, and closed on May 24, 1997, when the 1995 amendments contained in chapter 95-182 were reenacted as part of the Florida Statutes' biennial adoption. See 70S So. 2d at 317 n. 1. The state argues that the 1996 enactment of chapter 96-388, Laws of Florida, with an effective date of October 1, 1996, cured any alleged single subject violation since the offending sections of chapter 95-182 were eliminated therein. However, we express no opinion as to the close of the window period since appellant's offenses occurred on July 16, 1997, which was clearly outside of the challenge period.


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Citator

Cited By (24 total)

  • Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla. 2000)
    …hapter 96-388, Laws of Florida, with an effective date of October 1, 1996, thereby curing the constitutional defect raised in this case.” Bortel, 743 So. 2d at 596 (relying on Salters v. State, 731 So. 2d 826 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999), and Scott v. State, 721 So. 2d 1245 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)). We note that whether the window period closed on October 1, 1996, or on May 24, 1997, in the present case Heggs would still have standing to raise his single subject rule challenge because he committed the offenses at issue on…
  • Xzavier Trapp v. State, 760 So. 2d 924 (Fla. 2000)
    …termined that the window period closed on October 1, 1996, when the relevant provisions of chapter 96-388, Laws of Florida, became effective. See 743 So. 2d at 596 (relying on Salters v. State, 731 So. 2d 826 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999), and Scott v. State, 721 So. 2d 1245 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)). We declined to resolve the conflict regarding the window period in our decision in Heggs, however, because the defendant there had standing to raise a single subject rule challenge whether the window period closed on October 1,…
  • State v. Thompson, 750 So. 2d 643 (Fla. 1999)
    …sentence imposed upon him because “the opportunity to challenge his sentence, based upon the constitutionality of the statute, ended on October 1, 1996.” Id. In support of this holding, the Fourth District cited its prior decision in Scott v. State, 721 So. 2d 1245, 1246 n. 1 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998), wherein the State argued that the enactment of chapter 96-388, Laws of Florida, with an effective date of October 1. 1996, cured any alleged single subject rule problems in chapter 95-182. Although the Scott Court exp…

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