CHESTLEY HIGGINS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Chestley Higgins appeals the denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence. The court affirmed the denial as to his two life sentences but reversed and remanded regarding his twenty-four year sentence for attempted armed robbery, which exceeded the statutory maximum for a second degree felony.
The court affirmed the denial of correction as to the two life sentences but reversed and remanded regarding the twenty-four year sentence for count V. Attempted armed robbery is a second degree felony with a fifteen-year statutory maximum, and the twenty-four year sentence exceeded that maximum. The motion was not untimely merely because filed more than two years after the Heggs opinion, as scoresheet errors may be corrected at any time. Higgins was entitled to be sentenced either pursuant to a properly prepared scoresheet or to a legally imposed departure sentence.
[1] A sentence exceeding the statutory maximum for a second-degree felony is an illegal sentence subject to correction.
[2] The use of a firearm in an attempted armed robbery is an essential element of the offense and does not independently elevate the felony to first degree.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“Attempted armed robbery is a second degree felony, §§ 777.04(4)(c) & 812.13(1) & (2)(a), Fla. Stat. (1995), and, contrary to the state's position below, it could not be enhanced to a first degree felony for use of a firearm because in an attempted armed robbery, the use of a firearm is an essential element of the offense.”
Establishes the statutory classification of attempted armed robbery and clarifies that firearm use cannot enhance it to first degree felony.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceHiggins was sentenced to two life sentences for counts I and II and a twenty-four year sentence for count V (attempted armed robbery). He filed a rule…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Rule 3.800(A) cases and more on FLexlaw
HAZOURI, J.
Chestley Higgins appeals the summary denial of his rule 3.800(a) motion to correct illegal sentence. We agree he was not entitled to correction of his two life sentences for counts I and II, challenged in ground one of his motion, but we reverse and remand as to the summary denial of the second and third grounds of his motion, both of which challenged his guidelines maximum twenty-four year sentence for count V, attempted armed robbery.
In ground two, he claimed that twenty-four years exceeded the fifteen-year statutory maximum for the offense, a second degree felony; and in ground three, he claimed that his scoresheet was miscalculated because his offense was committed within the window period for correction pursuant to Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla.2000) (sustaining a constitutional challenge to the 1995 sentencing guidelines, enacted by chapter 95-184, based on violation of the single subject rule). He is correct on both grounds.
Attempted armed robbery is a second degree felony, §§ 777.04(4)(c) & 812.13(1) & (2)(a), Fla. Stat. (1995), and, contrary to the state’s position below, it could not be enhanced to a first degree felony for use of a firearm because in an attempted armed robbery, the use of a firearm is an essential element of the offense. See State v. Tripp, 642 So. 2d 728, 730 n. 2 (Fla.1994); Perry v. State, 425 So. 2d 1195 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). Nor is his motion untimely merely because it was filed more than two years after issuance of the Heggs opinion. Scoresheet calculation errors may be corrected pursuant to rule 3.800(a) “at any time.”
The state now takes the position that Defendant is not entitled to Heggs relief because his open guilty plea was not conditioned on his receiving a guidelines sentence. On the contrary, because he entered no agreement with the state to receive any particular sentence, he was entitled to be sentenced either pursuant to a properly prepared scoresheet or to a legally imposed departure sentence.
We reject the state’s argument that, because Defendant will remain imprisoned on two life sentences even if he succeeds in reducing his twenty-four year sentence for count V, correction of his sentence for count V serves no purpose. See Leonard v. State, 760 So. 2d 114, 116 n. 4 (Fla.2000) (rejecting the argument that a defendant suffers no prejudice from an illegal sentence when it was imposed concurrent with other unchallenged sentences).
Accordingly, the order on appeal is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
STONE and TAYLOR, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Hutchinson v. State, 979 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008)…filed in 2006, [*378] addresses an illegal sentencing only for his kidnapping count. He is still under a sentence for life in prison, with a mandatory minimum of twenty-five years, for the concurrent first-degree murder count. In Higgins v. State, 890 So. 2d 519 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005), we rejected the state’s argument that a defendant suffers no prejudice from an illegal sentence when it is imposed concurrently with other unchallenged sentences. We relied on a footnote in Leonard which said: The State also a…
-
Trigg v. State, 900 So. 2d 674 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)…und that relief had to be requested within two years of the Heggs opinion. We recently determined that a rule 3.800 motion alleging scoresheet errors under Heggs is not untimely when filed more than two years after the opinion. See Higgins v. State, 890 So. 2d 519, 519-20 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005) (stating “[s]coresheet errors may be corrected pursuant to rule 3.800(a) ‘at any time’ ”). Nevertheless, because appellant’s sentence was the result of a negotiated plea, we still affirm. STONE, WARNER and MAY, JJ., con…
-
Carter v. State, 939 So. 2d 1170 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)…whether the error was harmless under the “would-have-been-imposed” test). The state’s argument that the motion is untimely because it was filed more than two years after Carter’s most recent sentence became final is without merit. Higgins v. State, 890 So. 2d 519, 519-20 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005) (“Scoresheet calculation errors may be corrected pursuant to rule 3.800(a) ‘at any time.’ ”). Reversed and Remanded for further proceedings. GUNTHER, STONE and MAY, JJ., concur. . See § 921.0012, Fla. Stat. (Supp.1994)…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla. 2000)
- Leonard v. State, 760 So. 2d 114 (Fla. 2000)
- State v. Vinney Tripp, 642 So. 2d 728 (Fla. 1994)
- Perry v. State, 425 So. 2d 1195 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983)