KEITH JAMES FLOWERS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2005-04-20
No. 4D03-1076
WARNER, GROSS and MAY, JJ, concur.
899 So. 2d 1257 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2005) Caution
Cited by 54 cases

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Holding

The court held that the defendant's original sentences were legal because the terms of community control and probation commenced upon his release from incarceration, thus not overlapping with the prison term.


Headnotes

[1] A sentence is legal when terms of community control and probation commence upon release from incarceration, thus not overlapping with the term of imprisonment.

[2] A defendant may raise the illegality of a sentence at any time pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a).

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Facts & Procedural History

The defendant was convicted of multiple felonies and sentenced. He later violated community control and was resentenced. The defendant appealed his se…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The defendant appeals his sentence for a violation of community control after admitting to the violation.1 He argues the original sentences in two of the three underlying cases, upon which the violation was filed, were illegal. We disagree and affirm.

In case number 93-19553 CF10A, the defendant was charged with escape, resisting arrest with violence, and two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer. In case number 93-21703 CF10A, the defendant was charged with strong armed robbery. In case number 93-18814 CF10B, the defendant was charged with four burglaries of structures. The defendant pled guilty to all of the charges. The court relied on a single scoresheet for sentencing. It provided a recommended sentencing range of 17-22 years, and a permitted range of 12-27 years.

In case number 93-19553 CF10A, the court sentenced the defendant to three years in prison on count one, to be served concurrently with three consecutive five year sentences for counts two through four, followed by two years community control and ten years probation. The defendant was credited with 142 days for time served.

In case number 93-21703 CF10A, the court sentenced the defendant to three years in prison, to run concurrent with the fifteen year sentence in the previous case, followed by two years community control and ten years probation, all of which ran concurrent with the probation and community control ordered in the previous case.

In case number 93-18814 CF10B, the court sentenced the defendant to serve two years community control and three years probation, to run concurrent with the probation and community control ordered in the other two cases.

The defendant filed a motion to correct his “illegal sentence,” pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). He argued the law did not permit a prison sentence to be followed by community control and probation. The trial court denied the motion. This court affirmed. Flowers v. State, 731 So. 2d 1291 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) (Table) (hereinafter ‘Flowers I”).

In February, 2002, the defendant was released from prison and placed on community control. Within a few months, the Department of Corrections filed an affidavit of violation of community control. The defendant admitted the violation. The court sentenced him to seventeen years on the escape count in case number 93-19533 CF10A, with a credit of 165 days served, to run concurrent with the sentence imposed in case number 93-21703. Subsequently, the court denied a new motion for post conviction relief, but corrected the seventeen-year sentence to fifteen years, the maximum allowable for the second degree felony.

The defendant requested, and this court granted, a belated appeal. The defendant also filed a motion to correct sentencing error under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b)(2). The court denied the motion. It is from the sentence on the violation of community control and the order denying his motion to correct the sen-fencing error that the defendant now appeals.

The legality of a sentence is a question of law and is subject to de novo review. See, e.g., Wardlaw v. State, 832 So. 2d 258 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002).

The defendant challenges his sentence on the basis that the original underlying sentences were illegal because the term of incarceration in case number 93-19553 CF10A necessarily overlapped the terms of community control and probation in case numbers 93-21703 CF10A and 93-18814 CF10B. The State responds the sentence is legal.2 We agree.

A defendant may not be sentenced to prison and community supervision where the community supervision is scheduled to commence prior to the completion of the term of imprisonment. Joseph v. State, 752 So. 2d 656 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). A review of the court’s oral pronouncement and written orders in this case, however, reveals the terms of community control and probation did not begin to run until the defendant’s release. Specifically, the orders of community control and probation state the terms are to “commence upon release” from incarceration. The term of imprisonment and the terms of community control and probation therefore do not overlap. Simply put, the sentence is legal.

AFFIRMED.

WARNER, GROSS and MAY, JJ, concur. . The defendant filed a motion to correct sentence, pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a) on case numbers 93-19553 CF10A and 93-21703 and raised the same issue. However, the notice of appeal listed only case number 93-19553 CF10A. As the issues are identical, and have been briefed by both sides, our holding in this case applies to both cases.

. The State also argues the defendant’s challenge is untimely, and is controlled by Flowers I. We disagree with the State on these points. First, a defendant may raise the illegality of his sentence at any time. Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.800(a). Second, the issue in Flowers I is not the same as the issue presented here and thus does not control the outcome of this case. See Owen v. State, 862 So. 2d 687 (Fla. 2003).


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Citator

Cited By (29 total)

  • Amos Bienaime v. State, 213 So. 3d 927 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017)
    …odily harm. Because the trial court did not enter an order on the motion within 60 days, the motion was deemed denied under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b)(2)(B). This appeal followed. Our review is de novo. See, e.g., Flowers v. State, 899 So. 2d 1257, 1259 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005) (“The legality of a sentence is a question of law and is subject to de novo review.”). To pursue an enhanced mandatory sentence as the 10-20-Life statute proscribes, the state must allege the grounds for enhancement in the…
  • Stoute v. State, 915 So. 2d 1245 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)
    …prison with an applicable 10 year minimum mandatory Florida State Prison sentence- under the 10-20-Life,” and sentenced the defendant accordingly. “The legality of a sentence is a question of law and is subject to de novo review.” Flowers v. State, 899 So. 2d 1257, 1259 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005). The defendant was convicted of attempted second degree murder with a firearm. Section 782.04(2), Florida Statutes (1999), defines second degree murder as [t]he unlawful killing of a human being, when perpetrated by any a…
  • Grosso v. State, 2 So. 3d 362 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008)
    …lorida Statute section 943.0436(3). Grosso appealed the modified sentence. “ ‘The legality of a sentence is a question of law and is subject to de novo review.’ ” Stoute v. State, 915 So. 2d 1245, 1247 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005) (quoting Flowers v. State, 899 So. 2d 1257, 1259 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)). Under section 948.30, Florida Statutes, the trial court was required to impose electronic monitoring as a mandatory condition of probation because of Grosso’s prior convictions for violations of Chapter 794 and Section 80…

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