LAWRENCE STALEY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that the mandatory minimum sentences imposed were illegal because the offenses occurred within the window period for challenging the unconstitutionality of the relevant statute.
Lawrence Staley was adjudicated guilty of drug trafficking offenses committed in July 2001. He reserved the right to appeal the imposition of mandator…
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KELLY, Judge.
Following his no contest plea, Lawrence Staley was adjudicated guilty and sentenced for several offenses including trafficking in hydroeodone and trafficking in phenethylamines. Staley reserved his right to appeal the imposition of the three-year minimum mandatory sentences on each trafficking count, arguing that because his offenses occurred in July 2001, such mandatory terms of imprisonment are illegal based on this court’s opinion in Taylor v. State, 818 So. 2d 544 (Fla. 2d DCA), review dismissed, 821 So. 2d 302 (Fla.2002). We agree.
Taylor held that chapter 99-188, Laws of Florida, which provided for the imposition of mandatory minimum prison sentences for certain drug offenses, is unconstitutional because it violates the single subject rule of the Florida Constitution. In 2002, the legislature reenacted the provisions originally contained in chapter 99-188. See Green v. State, 839 So. 2d 748 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). However, in Green, this court held that the reenactment of the sentencing provisions of chapter 99-188 cannot be applied retroactively because this would violate the Ex Post Facto Clauses of the United States and Florida Constitutions.
The window period for asserting challenges based on the unconstitutionality of chapter 99-188 opened on July 1,1999, and closed on April 29, 2002, the effective date of chapters 02-208 through 02-212, Laws of Florida. See Green, 839 So. 2d at 750 n. 1. Because Staley committed his offenses in July 2001, within the Taylor window, we reverse his sentences and remand for re-sentencing under the valid law in effect at the time of Staley’s offenses. We certify that this decision conflicts with the Fifth and Fourth Districts’ decisions in Hersey v. State, 831 So. 2d 679 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002); Carlson v. State, 27 Fla. L. Weekly D2162, — So. 2d -, 2002 WL 31202145 (Fla. 5th DCA Oct.4, 2002); and Nieves v. State, 833 So. 2d 190 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002).
Reversed and remanded.
SALCINES and WALLACE, JJ„ Concur.
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State v. Strazdins, 890 So. 2d 334 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)…ial court imposed sentence, this district had decided that a mandatory minimum sentence for the offense of trafficking in MDMA during the window period of Taylor v. State, 818 So. 2d 544 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002), was unconstitutional. See Staley v. State, 860 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003); Gilbert v. State, 843 So. 2d 972 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). Thus the trial court lacked the discretion to impose a mandatory minimum sentence on Strazdins. This court receded, however, from Gilbert and Staley in Wright v. State, 869 So.…
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Wright v. State, 869 So. 2d 24 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)…sufficient claim which may entitle him to relief. This court remanded for the trial court to consider whether Gilbert was entitled to resentencing under the 1997 statute for both offenses. We were confronted with the same issue in Staley v. State, 860 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). In that case, the defendant challenged by direct appeal the three-year mandatory minimum sentences imposed on him for trafficking in hydrocodone and trafficking in phenethylamines. He argued that the mandatory minimum sentences w…
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Jacek Robert Zatyka v. State, 872 So. 2d 285 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)…king in phenethylamines and its mandatory minimum sentences were initially enacted into law by chapter 2000-320, Laws of Florida, which became effective October 1, 2000. Therefore, the holding of Taylor does not apply. Zatyka cites Staley v. State, 860 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003), as supporting his position. This court in Wright v. State, 869 So. 2d 24 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (en banc), has receded from Staley to the extent that Staley holds that a defendant convicted of trafficking in phenethylamines and sente…
Authorities Cited
- Taylor v. State, 818 So. 2d 544 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)
- Green v. State, 839 So. 2d 748 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)
- Hersey v. State, 831 So. 2d 679 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002)
- Eliezer Stern v. State, 833 So. 2d 190 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)
- Nieves v. State, 833 So. 2d 190 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)