WALTER RIVERA, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Walter Rivera appealed his convictions for possession and delivery of cocaine and his thirty-year habitual felony offender sentence. The court affirmed the convictions and the possession sentence but reversed the delivery sentence because the State failed to properly prove Rivera's identity as the person convicted of the predicate offenses required for habitual felony offender sentencing.
The court held that the State failed to provide proper proof that Rivera qualified for habitual felony offender sentencing. The State was required to offer fingerprint evidence or other supporting evidence to connect the prior judgments to Rivera but did not do so, necessitating reversal of the habitual felony offender sentence and resentencing within the guidelines.
[1] A habitual felony offender sentence must be reversed and remanded when the State fails to provide sufficient proof connecting prior convictions to the defendant.
[2] The State bears the burden of proving that a defendant qualifies for habitual felony offender sentencing.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“It is the State's responsibility to prove that the defendant qualifies for sentencing as a habitual felony offender. In this case the State failed to offer the proper proof that Rivera qualified as a habitual felony offender. A fingerprint expert or some other supporting evidence was required to connect the earlier judgments to Rivera.”
Establishes the burden of proof on the State and the inadequacy of the certification documents without additional identifying evidence
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRivera was convicted by jury of possession and delivery of cocaine based on selling one cocaine rock to an undercover officer. At sentencing, the Stat…
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BLUE, Chief Judge.
Walter Rivera appeals his convictions for possession and delivery of cocaine resulting from a jury finding that he sold one cocaine rock to an undercover officer. He also appeals his thirty-year habitual felony offender sentence for the delivery of cocaine. We affirm both convictions and the sentence imposed for possession of cocaine, but reverse and remand the sentence imposed on the delivery count.
The State noticed Rivera as a habitual felony offender several months before his trial. At the sentencing hearing, the State filed certified copies of numerous judgments and sentences dating from 1983 to 1993, which the State claimed to be Rivera’s prior record. None of these certified judgments identify ‘Walter Rivera” as the defendant. Most of the judgments identify the defendant as “Walter Revear,” Walter Revere,” or Walter Reveer.” Some of the judgments include a “Jr.” after the name. One of the convictions lists the defendant as “Kenny Buie.” The quality of some of the certified copies is poor. Rivera’s attorney objected and correctly maintained that the State must prove that the convictions were in fact Rivera’s convictions. The trial court noted the objection and proceeded to sentence Rivera as a habitual felony offender to thirty years’ incarceration without affirmative evidence of his identity as the person previously convicted of the predicate offenses.
It is the State’s responsibility to prove that the defendant qualifies for sentencing as a habitual felony offender. In this case the State failed to offer the proper proof that Rivera qualified as a habitual felony offender. A fingerprint expert or some other supporting evidence was required to connect the earlier judgments to Rivera. The State did not argue in the trial court that it had sufficiently proven the prior offenses or offer additional proof.
Under the facts of this case, we conclude that the State’s failure to prove the existence of the predicate offenses requires reversal and resentencing under' the guidelines. See Reynolds v. State, 674 So. 2d 180 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996).
Accordingly, we affirm Rivera’s convictions and his sentence for possession, but we reverse his habitual felony offender sentence for delivery of cocaine and remand for resentencing within the guidelines.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
WHATLEY and KELLY, JJ., Concur.
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State v. Ransom Louis Collins, 985 So. 2d 985 (Fla. 2008)…trial court at sentencing, this court has not afforded the State a second opportunity on remand to demonstrate that the defendant meets the habitual felony offender criteria. See Wallace v. State, 835 So. 2d 1281 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003); Rivera v. State, 825 So. 2d 500 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002); Reynolds v. State, 674 So. 2d 180 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). Accordingly, we remand for resentencing under the Criminal Punishment Code. Collins v. State, 893 So. 2d 592, 594 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (footnotes omitted). Instead of applying…
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Ransom Louis Collins v. State, 893 So. 2d 592 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)…ial court at ’sentencing, this court has not afforded the State a second opportunity on remand to demonstrate that the defendant meets the habitual felony offender criteria.2 See Wallace v. State, 835 So. 2d 1281 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003); Rivera v. State, 825 So. 2d 500 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002); Reynolds v. State, 674 So. 2d 180 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996).3 Accordingly, we remand for resentencing under the Criminal Punishment Code. We acknowledge that the position we have adopted on this issue is in conflict with decisions of t…
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Katoya L. Wallace v. State, 835 So. 2d 1281 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)…agree that the State did not provide the necessary documents to support habitualization, we reverse and remand. “It is the State’s responsibility to prove that the defendant qualifies for sentencing as a habitual felony offender.” Rivera v. State, 825 So. 2d 500 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002). Application of the habitual felony offender statute requires the State to provide the court with: “(1) the date of the current felony offense, (2) the date of the conviction for the last prior felony, and (3) the date that the de…
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- Reynolds v. State, 674 So. 2d 180 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)