EDDIE JEFFERSON, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Eddie Jefferson appealed the denial of his post-conviction motion challenging the voluntariness of his no-contest plea to attempted first-degree murder and the propriety of his sentence. The court affirmed the denial of the plea challenge as procedurally time-barred but reversed the sentencing by striking the fifteen-year minimum mandatory sentence as unconstitutional.
The court affirmed the trial court's denial of the voluntariness of plea claim as procedurally time-barred. The court reversed the sentencing portion, finding the fifteen-year minimum mandatory sentence improper and unconstitutional, and remanded for correction of the sentence.
[1] A claim regarding the voluntariness of a plea may be procedurally time-barred when raised in a motion for post-conviction relief.
[2] A defendant's reliance on a subsequent supreme court decision is misplaced if that decision did not alter the sentencing provisions applicable to habitual violent felony…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Jefferson is procedurally time barred from raising the issue of the voluntariness of his plea by motion for post conviction relief.”
Establishes the procedural bar to the plea challenge claim
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJefferson was charged with attempted first-degree murder on September 9, 1996. He entered a no-contest plea on November 17, 1997, and was adjudicated …
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PER CURIAM.
Appellant Eddie Jefferson appeals the denial of his motion for post conviction relief pursuant to rule 3.850, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. We affirm the trial court’s denial of the voluntariness of plea claim and remand the case to the trial court to correct sentence.
Jefferson was charged with attempted first degree murder on September 9, 1996. He entered a plea of no contest on November 17, 1997, was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to twenty years in Florida state prison with a fifteen year minimum mandatory term followed by ten years probation. He was also adjudicated an habitual violent felony offender and awarded 457 days as credit for time served.
On or about March 2, 1998, Jefferson filed a notice of belated appeal which was dismissed as untimely on April 9, 1998. See Jefferson v. State, 717 So. 2d 1024 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998). He filed his motion for post conviction relief on August 11, 2000, which the trial court denied, and timely filed a notice of appeal in which he raises two issues: the voluntariness of his plea and the propriety of his sentence' under the 1995 sentencing guidelines. We find that the trial court properly denied the voluntariness of plea claim as procedurally time barred. The fifteen year minimum mandatory sentence, however, is improper and should be stricken.
Jefferson is procedurally time barred from raising the issue of the voluntariness of his plea by motion for post conviction relief. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.850; § 924.051, Fla. Stat. (1999). Additionally, his reliance on Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla.2000) is misplaced because the Heggs decision did not change the sentencing provisions for habitual violent felony offenders. See McKenzie v. State, 738 So. 2d 436 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999).
The State concedes, however, that under the authority of Everett v. State, 770 So. 2d 192 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000), Jefferson’s minimum mandatory sentence of fifteen years is improper. The life felony was added to section 775.082(4)(b)l, Florida Statutes (1995), by chapter 95-182, Laws of Florida, which has since been declared unconstitutional. Jefferson’s offense occurred within the time frame applicablé for challenges to chapter 95-182. See Johnson v. State, 763 So. 2d 283 (Fla.2000); Salters v. State, 758 So. 2d 667, 671 (Fla.2000)(applicable window period for challenges to chapter 95-182 commenced on or after October 1,1995 and before May 24, 1997). Therefore, the fifteen year minimum mandatory sentence provided by section 775.082(4)(b)l is not applicable to Jefferson.
Accordingly, we affirm the denial of Jefferson’s motion for post conviction relief as to the voluntariness of plea issue and remand to the trial court to correct the sentence by removing the fifteen year minimum mandatory sentence..
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
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DE LA Rosa v. State, 979 So. 2d 1089 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008)…er held to be unconstitutional in Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla.2000). This Court, however, has previously determined that the Heggs ruling does not affect those properly sentenced as a habitual violent felony offender. See Jefferson v. State, 826 So. 2d 1006 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001); McKenzie v. State, 738 So. 2d 436, 436 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999); see also Arce v. State, 762 So. 2d 1003 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) (holding that a habitual offender sentence is not subject to the sentencing guidelines; therefore, defendant w…
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Varela v. State, 990 So. 2d 595 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008)…obbery with a firearm. Thompson has no application to Varela’s sentence. See Johnson v. State, 763 So. 2d 283, 284 (Fla.2000). The trial court also correctly held that Heggs does not provide any basis for relief in this case. See Jefferson v. State, 826 So. 2d 1006, 1007 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001). Affirmed.…
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Gutierrez v. State, 239 So. 3d 144 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018)…sentenced as a habitual violent felony offender); Stanley v. State, 947 So. 2d 627 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007) (holding that defendant’s sentence was not illegal under Heggs where defendant was sentenced as a habitual felony offender); Jefferson v. State, 826 So. 2d 1006 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001) (affirming denial of a Heggs challenge to the legality of a sentence where defendant designated and sentenced as a habitual violent felony offender). Affirmed.…
Authorities Cited
- Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla. 2000)
- Salters v. State, 758 So. 2d 667 (Fla. 2000)
- Johnson v. State, 763 So. 2d 283 (Fla. 2000)
- Everett v. State, 770 So. 2d 192 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)
- McKENZIE v. State, 738 So. 2d 436 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)
- Renaissance Cruises, Inc. v. Glassman, 738 So. 2d 436 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)