ALICIA GRIFFIN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Alicia Griffin appealed the summary denial of her motion to correct an illegal sentence under Florida Rule 3.800(a). The court found that her fifty-year sentences for kidnapping with a firearm were illegal because the firearm enhancement should have capped the sentence at forty years for a life felony, not fifty years.
The court held that Griffin's fifty-year sentences for kidnapping with a firearm were illegal. The use of a firearm should have enhanced the kidnapping offense to a life felony, which could not be punished by more than forty years under the applicable statute, not fifty years.
[1] A firearm enhancement statute does not apply to an offense if the use of a firearm or weapon is an essential element of the offense.
[2] The use of a firearm can reclassify a first-degree felony to a life felony.
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“The use of a firearm should have enhanced the kidnapping offense to a life felony.”
Establishes the core legal principle that the firearm enhancement applies to kidnapping offenses and upgrades the classification.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceGriffin was charged with sixteen counts including four counts of kidnapping with a firearm, all alleged to have occurred on December 13, 1990. She ent…
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PER CURIAM.
Defendant Alicia Griffin appeals from an order summarily denying her motion to correct illegal sentence, filed pursuant to rule 3.800(a), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
Defendant was charged by information with sixteen counts, all alleged to have occurred on December 13, 1990. She entered a nolo contendere plea to all the charges and received concurrent sentences, the longest being for fifty years. Among the charges were four counts (VI-IX) of kidnapping with a firearm, for each of which she was sentenced to fifty years in prison with a three-year mandatory minimum. In the instant motion, she claimed these sentences (as well as others) were illegal because the use of the firearm required a first degree felony to be reclassified-to a life felony, section 775.087(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1989), for which the maximum term of years at the time the offenses were committed was forty years.
The motion was denied because the enhancement statute does not apply to an offense if the use of a firearm or weapon is an essential element of the offense. § 775.087(1). However, as the state agrees in its response to this court’s order to show cause, use of a weapon or firearm is not an essential element of the offense of kidnapping a person.
Section 787.01(2), Florida Statutes (1989), makes kidnapping a person a first degree felony punishable by life. The use of a firearm should have enhanced the kidnapping offense to a life felony. § 775.087(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (Supp.1990); Price v. State, 838 So. 2d 587 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003); Corbitt v. State, 697 So. 2d 1310 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). Section 775.082(3)(a), Florida Statutes (1989), provided that a life felony committed on or after October 1, 1983, could be punished either by life in prison or by a term of years not exceeding forty years. It could not be punished by a term of fifty years. Price.
Accordingly, we reverse in part and direct the trial court on remand to resen-tence Defendant to a legal sentence for counts VI-IX. In all other respects, the order on appeal is affirmed.
Affirmed in part; Reversed in part and Remanded for further proceedings.
KLEIN, HAZOURI and MAY, JJ„ concur.
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Griffin v. State, 979 So. 2d 1253 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008)…fenses were committed. On appeal from the trial court’s summary denial of the motion, this court reversed in part, agreeing with Defendant’s position only with respect to her convictions for kidnapping with a firearm, counts VI-IX. Griffin v. State, 934 So. 2d 614 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). On October 11, 2006, Defendant was re-sentenced to forty years for some of her counts (presumably, the four counts of kidnapping with a firearm), and remains sentenced to fifty years for several other counts. On November 17, 2…
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Ryan v. State (Fla. 2d DCA 2022)…rs instead of a life sentence . . . it [could] not impose a sentence longer than forty years." Kellar v. State, 712 So. 2d 1133, 1133 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). Accordingly, the fifty-year sentence for armed kidnapping is illegal. See Griffin v. State, 934 So. 2d 614, 615 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). Similarly, Ryan's sentence in case number 94-CF-1189 for armed sexual battery is illegal. Ryan was convicted of armed sexual battery, "a life felony, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, s. 775.084, or s. 794.…
Authorities Cited
- Price v. State, 838 So. 2d 587 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003)
- Corbitt v. State, 697 So. 2d 1310 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)
- Ernie Williams v. State, 697 So. 2d 1310 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)