WARDELL M. SANDERS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Sanders appeals the summary denial of his third Rule 3.800(a) motion to correct an alleged illegal sentence for a 1998 conviction of lewd and lascivious assault on a child. The court affirms the denial but expresses doubt about whether Sanders legally qualifies as a sexual predator, suggesting a potential procedural avenue for relief remains available.
The court affirmed the denial of Sanders' third Rule 3.800(a) motion, finding that neither of his asserted issues had merit. However, the court expressed doubt about whether Sanders actually qualifies as a sexual predator under applicable law and suggested that a procedural avenue such as a belated appeal may remain available to challenge the sexual predator designation.
[1] A motion to correct an illegal sentence under Rule 3.800(a) is not the proper vehicle for challenging a sexual predator designation.
[2] A defendant's failure to appeal a sentence or designation at the time of original sentencing may limit subsequent procedural avenues for relief.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“He subsequently sought a writ of mandamus in this court, asking us to order the trial court to rescind the order entered at sentencing designating him a sexual predator. He explained in his petition that he sought mandamus because caselaw had established that there was no vehicle in Florida for a collateral attack on an illegal sexual predator designation.”
Establishes the procedural problem that led Sanders to seek mandamus relief—the lack of a clear collateral attack mechanism for challenging sexual predator designations.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSanders pleaded no contest in 1998 to a second-degree felony for lewd and lascivious assault on a child committed in August 1996. He was sentenced to …
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GRIFFIN, J.
Wardell M. Sanders [“Sanders”] appeals the summary denial of this third Rule 3.800(a) motion to correct an illegal sentence. Sanders pled no contest in 1998 to an August 1996 lewd and lascivious assault upon a child, a second-degree felony under section 800.04(1), Florida Statutes. He was sentenced on April 2, 1998, to 87.3 months, followed by five years of sex-offender probation. No direct appeal was filed.
He subsequently sought a writ of mandamus in this court, asking us to order the trial court to rescind the order entered at sentencing designating him a sexual predator. He explained in his petition that he sought mandamus because caselaw had established that there was no vehicle in Florida for a collateral attack on an illegal sexual predator designation. See generally Nicholson v. State, 846 So. 2d 1217 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003). He asserted that he did not meet the statutory requirements and lacked the necessary predicate convictions for designation as a sexual predator. His petition was denied without opinion.
Sanders then filed his first Rule 3.800(a) motion, seeking resentencing pursuant to Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla.2000). At a hearing, defendant argued he was entitled both to hold to his plea and receive the bottom of the new guidelines. The trial court did not agree, and the State took the opportunity to withdraw the plea offer. The State made a new offer to Sanders of seventy-eight months in prison, followed by five years of probation. Sanders decided to enter another plea and he was sentenced as the State had offered. He appealed and this court per curiam affirmed. Sanders v. State, 796 So. 2d 1189 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001).
He next filed his second Rule 3.800(a) motion, alleging only that the court erred in not honoring the decision of Buckingham v. State, 771 So. 2d 1206 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2000), and continuing to assert that he should have been sentenced at the bottom of the 1994 guidelines range, as he was originally under the 1995 guidelines. The trial court denied relief, he appealed, and this court affirmed with a cite to Banck v. State, 798 So. 2d 814 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001), Sanders v. State, 805 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002).
Sanders sought review in the Supreme Court of Florida, asking the court to review this court’s PCA with its cite to Banck. In an opinion addressing our defendant’s case and two others, the court held that its extraordinary writ jurisdiction could not be used to obtain review of per curiam decisions of the district courts of appeal which only affirm lower courts’ rulings with citations to opinions that: (1) are not pending before Supreme Court of Florida; (2) have not been reversed; and (3) do not note a contrary holding. Sanders’ petition was dismissed. Persaud v. State, 838 So. 2d 529 (Fla.2003).
Now, in his third Rule 3.800(a) motion, his fourth collateral attack here upon his sentence, defendant asserts:
1. His sentence does not comply with Fla. R.Crim. P. Rule 3.702(d)(19), when read in conjunction with § 921.001(5), Fla. Stat.; and
2. The court did not orally designate him as a sexual predator at sentencing.
Neither of these issues has any merit. In the course of examining this sentence, however, we see reason to doubt whether Sanders does qualify as a sexual predator. We do not have enough in this record to make this determination, however. It does not appear that this issue ever has been considered on the merits, in part for reasons that relate to a quirk of law, see Nicholson, supra, and in part due to Sanders’ failure to appeal after his original sentencing. If the sexual predator designation is not legal, there may be a procedural avenue, such as a belated appeal, that remains available to him, depending on the facts.
AFFIRMED.
PETERSON and PLEUS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla. 2000)
- Moreland Nicholson v. State, 846 So. 2d 1217 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003)
- Persaud v. State, 838 So. 2d 529 (Fla. 2003)
- Buckingham v. State, 771 So. 2d 1206 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)
- Wardell Sanders v. State, 805 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002)
- The Am. Auto. Ass'n. v. C.D.S. Towing & Recovery Inc., 805 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002)
- Banck v. State, 798 So. 2d 814 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001)