DALE LEE LENOIR, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 2001-12-26
No. 3D01-2660
Before JORGENSON, GODERICH, and FLETCHER, JJ.
804 So. 2d 507 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2001) Positive Treatment
Cited by 11 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

Dale Lee Lenoir appeals the denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence under rule 3.800. The court affirms, rejecting his arguments that the last-minute amendment of the information to include a firearm statute prejudiced his defense and that the sentencing enhancement violated Apprendi.


Holding

The amendment caused no prejudice because the original information clearly stated that Lenoir shot the victim with a firearm, placing him on notice of the firearm element. The Apprendi argument fails because the verdict form specifically required the jury to find guilt with or without a firearm, and the jury found guilt with a firearm, satisfying the requirement established in State v. Overfelt that before applying a mandatory minimum for firearm use, the jury must make a finding that the defendant used a firearm.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court may substantively amend an information during trial, even over the defendant's objection, unless the amendment prejudices the substantial rights of the defe…

[2] The omission of a statutory citation in an information is not grounds for dismissal or reversal if the omission did not mislead the defendant to their prejudice.

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Key Quotes

“the state may substantively amend an information during trial, even over the objection of the defendant, unless there is a showing of prejudice to the substantial rights of the defendant.”

Establishes the legal standard for amending an information during trial and the requirement to show prejudice.

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Facts & Procedural History

Lenoir was charged with attempted murder and unlawful possession of a firearm while engaged in a felony. At the start of trial, the State moved to ame…

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Opinion of the Court
FLETCHER, Judge.

FLETCHER, Judge.

Dale Lee Lenoir appeals the summary denial of his rule 3.800 motion to correct an illegal sentence. We affirm.

At the start of trial, the State moved, over defense objection, to amend the information to include citation to Fla. Stat. 775.087 (reclassification of offense for possession or use of a weapon). The information originally cited 777.04 (attempt) and 782.04 (murder), as well as 790.07 for count two (unlawful possession of firearm while engaged in felony). The court granted the state’s motion to amend. Lenoir was convicted and was sentenced to 22 years with the mandatory 3-year minimum for use of the firearm. The court vacated the judgment of guilt on the charge of possession of firearm while engaged in a felony.

Lenoir first argues that the last-minute amendment of the information to include section 775.087, Florida Statutes raised his offense level from a second de gree to a first degree felony, which prejudiced his defense. It is true that “the state may substantively amend an information during trial, even over the objection of the defendant, unless there is a showing of prejudice to the substantial rights of the defendant.” State v. Anderson, 537 So. 2d 1373, 1375 (Fla.1989) (relying on Lackos v. State, 339 So. 2d 217 (Fla.1976)). However, the amendment did not prejudice Lenoir as to any claimed defense because the language of the original information stated that Lenoir attempted to kill the victim by “shooting him with a firearm. ...” [e.s.] The error in the omission of the citation is not a ground for dismissing the count or for a reversal of a conviction based thereon if the omission did not mislead Lenoir to his prejudice. Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.140(d) (2001).

Additionally, the language in the original information states that Lenoir “attempted to kill [the victim] ... by shooting him with a firearm in violation of § 775.04 and 782.04,” which citations refer to the offenses of attempt and murder. Amending the information to include the firearm statute causes the information to read correctly. There is no prejudice to Lenoir because he was always on notice that he was charged with committing the offense with a firearm. This claim is without merit and is also not the proper subject of a rule 3.800 petition; rather, Lenoir should have raised it on direct appeal.

Lenoir next makes a misplaced Appren-di1 argument. In Apprendi, the United States Supreme Court held that a defendant’s sentence cannot be increased beyond the statutory maximum by any fact, other than a prior conviction, that was not put before a jury and proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Here, Lenoir suggests that because the jury was not instructed in the elements of § 775.087 in order to find that a weapon was indeed used, the verdict therefore falls short of “proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” and the reclassification from a second to a first degree felony constitutes an illegal Apprendi enhancement. He suggests that without the instruction the jury would not have had any knowledge with which to make a finding that a weapon was used.2

In State v. Overfelt, 457 So. 2d 1385 (Fla.1984), the Supreme Court held that before a trial court may apply the mandatory minimum sentence for use of a firearm, the jury must make a finding that the defendant committed the crime while using a firearm either by finding him guilty of a crime which involves a firearm or by answering a specific question of a special verdict form so indicating. Here the record shows that the verdict form specifically sets forth the choice of finding the defendant guilty as charged with or without a firearm. The jury was properly on notice of the firearm element and chose to find Lenoir guilty of the offense of attempted second degree murder with a firearm. See also State v. Delva, 575 So. 2d 643 (Fla.1991)(“Failing to instruct on an element of the crime over which the record reflects there was no dispute is not fundamental error and there must be an objection to preserve the issue on appeal”).

Affirmed.

. Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000).

. This issue should have been raised on direct appeal; it is also not cognizable in a rule 3.800 petition and is thus procedural!/ barred.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Erickson, 852 So. 2d 289 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003)
    …mendment. Indeed, at the continued hearing on the matter, Erickson was prepared to argue why he did not come under provisions of section 775.21, the added statute violation referred to. in the State’s amended information. See, e.g., Lenoir v. State, 804 So. 2d 507 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001) (amendment of information to include citation to reclassification of offense for use of firearm statute did not prejudice defendant as to any claimed defense, and thus was harmless, where language of original information stated th…
  • Wille J. Hunter v. State, 828 So. 2d 1038 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)
    …ee also Bowser v. State, 638 So. 2d 1042, 1043 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994). Such a finding satisfies the Apprendi requirement that the element of use of a firearm was charged, submitted to the jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. See Lenoir v. State, 804 So. 2d 507, 509 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002); see also New York v. Rhodes, 281 A.D.2d 225, 225, 723 N.Y.S.2d 2 (N.Y. 2d 2001); Clark v. North Dakota, 621 N.W. 2d 576, 581-82 (N.D.2001); Parker v. Indiana, 754 N.E. 2d 614, 618-19 (Ind.Ct.App.2001); New Jersey v. McLean,…
  • Johnson v. State, 857 So. 2d 218 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003)
    …PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See Lenoir v. State, 804 So. 2d 507 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001).…

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