JERRY DUCKSWORTH, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that a trial court cannot impose an equal sentence under the habitual felony offender statute when the Prison Release Reoffender Act only authorizes deviation to impose a greater sentence.
The defendant was convicted of robbery with a weapon and sentenced as a Habitual Violent Felony Offender, a Prison Release Reoffender, and a three-tim…
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PER CURIAM.
Jerry Ducksworth, Defendant below, appeals from a conviction and sentence for the offense of robbery with a weapon. We affirm in part, and reverse in part.
In the instant case, the trial court sentenced the Defendant to life in prison as a Habitual Violent Felony Offender, and concurrent 30-year minimum mandatory sentences as a Prison Release Reoffender and as a three-time violent felony offender. According to the Florida Supreme Court in Grant v. State, 770 So. 2d 655, 659 (Fla.2000), because Section 775.082, Florida Statutes, the Prison Release Reoffender Act (“the Act”), only authorizes the trial court to deviate from the Act’s sentencing scheme to impose a greater sentence of incarceration, the trial court lacks the authority to impose an equal sentence under the habitual felony offender statute. See Grant, 770 So. 2d at 659; see also Barge v. State, 789 So. 2d 972 (Fla.2001); Bloodworth v. State, 790 So. 2d 1032 (Fla.2001). Here, while the life sentence imposed as a Habitual Violent Felony Offender is clearly appropriate under the Act and Grant, we conclude that the trial court erred in imposing both a 30-year sentence under the Prison Release Reoffender Act and a concurrent 30-year sentence as a three-time violent felony offender. Accordingly, we reverse the sentencing order in part and strike the 30-year mandatory minimum sentence as a three-time violent felony offender. The remaining issues raised by the Defendant on appeal are without merit.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part.
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Ducksworth v. State, 26 So. 3d 74 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010)…ion, life sentence as a habitual violent felony offender, and thirty-year minimum mandatory sentence as a prison releasee reoffender, but struck the thirty-year minimum mandatory sentence as a three-time violent felony offender. Ducksworth v. State, 834 So. 2d 951, 952 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003). Several years later, this Court granted the defendant a belated appeal on the claim of vindictive sentencing. Ducksworth v. State, 998 So. 2d 614 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008), which is the subject of the present appeal. The defendant…
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Murphy Sinclair v. State, 994 So. 2d 1247 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008)…efendant-appellant Murphy Sinclair states that he was sentenced to twenty years as a habitual felony offender with a fifteen-year minimum mandatory sentence as a prison releasee reoffender. This sentence is a legal sentence. See Ducksworth v. State, 834 So. 2d 951, 952 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003) (sentence of life in prison as a habitual violent felony offender with concurrent thirty-year minimum mandatory sentence as a prison releasee reof-fender is a legal sentence). Affirmed.…
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Candido Luis Romero v. State, 21 So. 3d 133 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009)…ardy issue, the Florida Supreme Court has held that as a statutory matter, the PRR Act itself prohibits equal concurrent terms under the PRR Act and the habitual offender statute. Grant v. State, 770 So. 2d 655, 659 (Fla. 2000); Ducksworth v. State, 834 So. 2d 951, 952 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003). In the trial court, the State conceded the point but the trial court denied relief. The State response indicated that the designation as a three time violent felony offender should be vacated. In issue three, the defendant…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Grant v. State, 770 So. 2d 655 (Fla. 2000)
- Bloodworth v. State, 790 So. 2d 1032 (Fla. 2001)
- Barge v. State, 789 So. 2d 972 (Fla. 2001)