MICHAEL WALLACE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Michael Wallace was convicted of attempted second-degree arson and making/possessing/discharging a destructive device, and sentenced to a twenty-year mandatory minimum under Florida's 10-20-life statute. On remand following an initial appeal, the trial court imposed a ten-year mandatory minimum based on possession, but the appellate court reversed because the jury verdict and instructions failed to distinguish between actual and constructive possession, which is required to support the mandatory minimum.
Only actual physical possession supports the 10-20-life statute's ten-year mandatory minimum, and the jury must make a specific finding of actual possession rather than constructive possession. The failure to obtain such a jury finding is not cured by the fact that evidence at trial was undisputed, nor can the charging instrument and verdict language equate to the necessary factual finding in the absence of a proper interrogatory verdict.
[1] A mandatory minimum sentence under the 10-20-life statute requires a jury finding of actual physical possession of a destructive device.
[2] The absence of a specific jury finding of actual possession is not cured by undisputed trial evidence supporting actual possession.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“There is no question that only actual physical possession will support the imposition of the 10-20-life statute's ten-year mandatory minimum.”
Establishes the fundamental legal requirement that actual, not constructive, possession is necessary for the mandatory minimum.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWallace was charged with throwing a Molotov cocktail at a vehicle. A jury found him guilty and determined in an interrogatory verdict that he had "pos…
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STEVENSON, C.J.
Believing Michael Wallace had thrown a Molotov cocktail at a vehicle, the State charged him with attempted second degree arson and making, possessing, throwing, projecting, placing or discharging a destructive device. A jury found Wallace guilty as charged and, in an interrogatory verdict, determined Wallace had “possessed” and “discharged” a destructive device. The so-called 10-20-life statute provides for a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence in the event the defendant possesses a destructive device during the commission of the crime and a twenty-year mandatory minimum in the event the defendant discharges the destructive device during the commission of the crime. § 775.087(2)(a)l.-2., Fla. Stat. (2000).
Relying upon the interrogatory verdict, the trial court imposed a twenty-year mandatory minimum sentence.
Wallace appealed the sentence, arguing the evidence could not have allowed the jury to find the destructive device was discharged. This court agreed and remanded the case for resentencing. See Wallace v. State, 860 So. 2d 494, 498 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003).
On remand, relying upon Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), clarified in Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), Wallace took the position that the 10-20-life statute’s ten-year mandatory minimum for possession of a destructive device was improper because neither the jury instructions nor the verdict itself made a distinction between actual and constructive possession and only actual possession justified imposition of the mandatory minimum. Despite Wallace’s arguments,1 the trial court im posed the ten-year mandatory minimum, which resulted in the instant appeal.
There is no question that only actual physical possession will support the imposition of the 10-20-life statute’s ten-year mandatory minimum. See § 775.087(2)(a)l., Fla. Stat. (requiring imposition of mandatory minimum where, during commission of enumerated offenses, defendant “actually possessed a ... ‘destructive device’ ”); James v. State, 868 So. 2d 1242 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004); Bundrage v. State, 814 So. 2d 1133 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002).
There is also no question that, here, neither the verdict nor the jury instructions made a distinction between actual possession and constructive possession. The State suggests the verdict’s failure is not fatal because there was no dispute at trial that the possession was “actual.” We disagree since the lack of the specific jury finding required to support imposition of a mandatory minimum sentence is not cured by the fact that the evidence on the issue was undisputed. See Bundrage, 814 So. 2d at 1135 (“Even if the facts presented to the jury would only support an actual possession theory, the supreme court’s decision in [State v.] Overfelt [, 457 So. 2d 1385 (Fla.1984),] and its progeny require a jury finding of actual possession to justify imposition of the ... minimum mandatory sentence.”); accord James, 868 So. 2d at 1245 (quoting this language in Bundrage with approval).
And, while the combination of the charging instrument and the language of the verdict can sometimes equate to the necessary factual finding in the absence of an interrogatory verdict,2 this is not the case here. We thus reverse the ten-year mandatory minimum sentence and remand for resentencing. In so holding, we have considered and reject the State’s claims that, for a number of procedural reasons, the merits of Wallace’s claim are not properly before this court.
Reversed and Remanded.
GUNTHER and TAYLOR, JJ., concur. . When appearing before the trial court, Wallace raised a number of arguments regarding why the jury had not adequately made a determination that he “actually possessed” a "destructive device” during the commission of the crime. On appeal, Wallace has abandoned all his claims save one — that there was no jury finding of actual possession.
. See, e.g., Tucker v. State, 726 So. 2d 768, 771 (Fla.1999); Hunter v. State, 828 So. 2d 1038, 1039 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002); Green v. State, 778 So. 2d 325 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000).
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Grant v. State, 138 So. 3d 1079 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014)…; Hough v. State, 448 So. 2d 628, 629 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984) (interpreting section 775.087(2) to mean that mandatory minimum sentencing may be imposed only if the defendant has actual, as against vicarious, possession of the firearm); Wallace v. State, 929 So. 2d 695, 697 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (holding that a finding of “possession,” as against “actual possession,” is insufficient). To “enhance a defendant’s sentence under section 775.087(2), the grounds for enhancement must be clearly charged in the information.…
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Issac Woods v. State, 314 So. 3d 683 (Fla. 3d DCA 2021)…e defined as “physical possession,” is a prerequisite to the imposition of the enhanced statutory penalty. Wilcox v. State, 522 So. 2d 1062, 1063 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); see Banks v. State, 949 So. 2d 353, 355 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007); Wallace v. State, 929 So. 2d 695, 697 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006); Bundrage v. State, 814 So. 2d 1133, 1134 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002); see also actual possession, Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019) (“Physical occupancy or control over property.”). 1 The words “possession” and “actual posse…
Authorities Cited
- Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (U.S. 2000)
- Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (U.S. 2004)
- State v. Overfelt, 457 So. 2d 1385 (Fla. 1984)
- Tucker v. State, 726 So. 2d 768 (Fla. 1999)
- Bundrage v. State, 814 So. 2d 1133 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)
- James v. State, 868 So. 2d 1242 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)
- Wallace v. State, 860 So. 2d 494 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)
- Smith v. State, 828 So. 2d 1038 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002)
- Green v. State, 778 So. 2d 325 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)