GENE REED ROBBINS, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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Gene Reed Robbins petitioned for a new appeal after his direct appeal counsel failed to argue that his written sentence did not conform to his oral pronouncement and that he was entitled to reconsideration of his minimum mandatory sentence under State v. Hudson. The court granted the petition, finding appellate counsel was ineffective, and remanded for resentencing where the trial court could exercise discretion regarding the ten-year minimum mandatory sentence.
The court granted the petition and found appellate counsel was ineffective. The court reversed the portion of the sentence imposing the minimum mandatory and remanded for the trial court to reconsider whether to impose the ten-year minimum mandatory sentence. Robbins was entitled to the benefit of Hudson under the pipeline rule, whereby the disposition should accord with the law at the time of the appellate court's decision rather than at sentencing.
[1] Ineffective assistance of appellate counsel may be established by the failure to argue that a written sentence does not conform to the oral pronouncement.
[2] A defendant is entitled to the benefit of a change in the law under the pipeline rule, even if the change occurs after the trial court's judgment but before the appellate…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Robbins was entitled to the benefit of Hudson under the pipeline rule. See, e.g., Bledsoe v. State, 764 So.2d 927 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) (holding that under the pipeline rule the disposition of a case on appeal should be made in accord with the law in effect at the time of the appellate court's decision rather than the law in effect at the time judgment was entered).”
Establishes that Robbins was entitled to benefit from the Hudson decision changing the law regarding discretionary minimum mandatory sentencing, even though his original sentence preceded that decision.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRobbins was convicted of aggravated battery and sentenced on August 13, 1997, to fifteen years' imprisonment as a habitual violent felony offender. Th…
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GREEN, Judge.
Gene Reed Robbins petitions this court for a new appeal pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.141(c). He alleges that his appellate counsel was ineffective in failing to argue on direct appeal that the written sentence entered in his case did not conform to the oral pronouncement of sentence or that he was otherwise entitled to have the minimum mandatory portion of his sentence revisited pursuant to State v. Hudson, 698 So. 2d 881 (Fla.1997). We agree, grant the petition, and remand to the trial court for resentencing as described below.
Robbins was convicted of aggravated battery, and on August 13, 1997, he was sentenced to fifteen years’ imprisonment as a habitual violent felony offender. The oral pronouncement of sentence did not include the ten-year minimum mandatory sentence provided for by section 775.084, Florida Statutes (1995), although at the time of sentencing, trial courts in this district were required to impose it. See Sims v. State, 605 So. 2d 997 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992), disapproved by State v. Hudson, 698 So. 2d 831 (Fla.1997). The written sentence however did include the ten-year minimum mandatory.
Robbins timely appealed, and the initial brief was filed October 29, 1998. Appellate counsel did not address the discrepancy between the oral and written pronouncement or otherwise argue that Robbins was entitled to have the trial court reconsider the minimum mandatory sentence.1 This is a significant error because by the time Robbins’ initial brief was filed, the supreme court had held that imposition of the minimum mandatory sentence under the habitual violent felony offender statute was discretionary. Hudson, 698 So. 2d at 838. Robbins was entitled to the benefit of Hudson under the pipeline rule. See, e.g., Bledsoe v. State, 764 So. 2d 927 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) (holding that under the pipeline rule the disposition of a case on appeal should be made in accord with the law in effect at the time of the appellate court’s decision rather than the law in effect at the time judgment was entered).
Pursuant to Hudson, Robbins was entitled to either have the written judgment corrected to conform to the oral pronouncement, see Winchell v. State, 740 So. 2d 572 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999) (holding that where trial court failed to orally pronounce permissive minimum mandatory sentence it would be stricken) or to have the trial court reconsider whether to impose the minimum mandatory sentence. See Kelly v. State, 727 So. 2d 1084 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999) (reversing and remanding for the trial court to consider whether to impose the minimum mandatory sentence where the trial court erroneously believed at sentencing that it had no discretion in the matter).
Because at the time Robbins was sentenced the trial court need not have orally pronounced the minimum mandatory in order for Robbins to serve it, see Moody v. State, 696 So. 2d 797, 798 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997), quashed, 699 So. 2d 1009 (Fla. 1997), we do not think that it is fair to the State to simply strike it. Instead, we reverse that portion of the sentence and remand for the trial court to decide whether to impose the minimum mandatory ten-year sentence. Robbins shall be present and represented by counsel at the resentencing hearing.
We reject without comment Robbins’ argument that he is entitled to have the nonmandatory portion of his sentence reconsidered.
Petition denied in part, granted in part, sentence vacated in part, and case remanded for resentencing.
COVINGTON, J., and THREADGILL, EDWARD F., Senior Judge, Concur. . Although the error was not preserved it could, at the time of the appeal, be raised as fundamental error. See Maddox v. State, 760 So. 2d 89 (Fla.2000); Wright v. State, 779 So. 2d 399 (Fla.2d DCA 2000).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Maddox v. State, 760 So. 2d 89 (Fla. 2000)
- State v. Hudson, 698 So. 2d 831 (Fla. 1997)
- Darrin L. Bledsoe v. State, 764 So. 2d 927 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)
- Sims v. State, 605 So. 2d 997 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992)
- Moody v. State, 699 So. 2d 1009 (Fla. 1997)
- Kelly v. State, 727 So. 2d 1084 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999)
- Moody v. State, 696 So. 2d 797 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)
- Wright v. State, 779 So. 2d 399 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)
- McCUTCHEON v. State, 740 So. 2d 572 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)
- Winchell v. State, 740 So. 2d 572 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999)