RAYMOND BERNARD ANDERSON, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT

Fla. 1st DCA | 2008-08-04
No. 1D08-2310
WOLF, LEWIS, and ROBERTS, JJ., concur.
988 So. 2d 144 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2008) Positive Treatment
Cited by 15 cases

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.

Synopsis

Anderson petitioned for relief based on ineffective assistance of appellate counsel for failing to challenge the enhancement of his third-degree murder conviction from a second-degree to first-degree felony based on firearm use. The court granted the petition, finding that appellate counsel should have preserved and pursued the claim that the conviction could not be enhanced where the firearm use was already factored into the underlying aggravated assault charge.


Holding

Appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge the conviction enhancement through a rule 3.800(b)(2) motion and on appeal. The court held that such enhancement claims are cognizable under rule 3.800(b) and that the trial court erred in enhancing the conviction when firearm use had already been factored into the aggravated assault element.


Headnotes

[1] A conviction for a lesser included offense cannot be enhanced to a higher felony classification based on an element that was already considered in the underlying charge.

[2] A claim that a conviction was improperly reclassified to a higher felony offense is cognizable under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b)(2).

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Key Quotes

“his conviction for third-degree murder, a second-degree felony, could not lawfully be enhanced to a first-degree felony based on the use of a firearm because the use of a firearm has already been taken into account in the underlying charge of aggravated assault”

Establishes the core legal principle that convictions cannot be enhanced based on factors already incorporated into the underlying offense

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Facts & Procedural History

Anderson was charged with second-degree murder but convicted by jury of the lesser included offense of third-degree murder, which is a second-degree f…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Raymond Bernard Anderson presents a timely claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel, arguing that his counsel was ineffective for failing to preserve two alleged errors through motion pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b)(2), and in failing to pursue those issues on appeal if necessary.

We find no merit to petitioner’s contention that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge the imposition of a minimum mandatory term based on the jury’s finding that he had discharged a firearm during the commission of his crime.

However, we agree with petitioner that his appellate counsel should have pursued a claim that the trial court erred in enhancing his conviction for a second-degree felony to a first-degree felony based on the use of a firearm, and in imposing sentence accordingly.

Anderson was charged by information with second-degree murder, and the jury returned a verdict finding him guilty of the lesser included offense of third-degree murder. As to the lesser included offense, the jury was instructed that it could find Anderson guilty of third-degree murder if it concluded that the victim’s death occurred during the commission of an aggravated assault.

Petitioner asserts that under these circumstances, his conviction for third-degree murder, a second-degree felony, could not lawfully be enhanced to a first-degree felony based on the use of a firearm because the use of a firearm has already been taken into ac count in the underlying charge of aggravated assault. See, e.g., Gonzalez v. State, 585 So. 2d 932 (Fla.1991); Collazo v. State, 936 So. 2d 782 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006); Tunsil v. State, 797 So. 2d 651 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001).

The state does not dispute the merits of petitioner’s argument that his conviction was erroneously reclassified, asserting instead that this claim would not be cognizable in a rule 3.800(b)(2) motion, and appellate counsel therefore cannot be faulted for failing to identify, preserve, and pursue this issue.

We conclude that in so doing, the state ascribes too broad a reading to Jackson v. State, 983 So. 2d 562 (Fla.2008), which holds that the denial of counsel at sentencing is not a “sentencing error” cognizable under rule 3.800(b).

We decline to interpret Jackson as disapproving the body of case law involving instances in which claims similar to the one at issue here were the subject of motions under rule 3.800(b).

See, e.g., Freudenberger v. State, 940 So. 2d 551 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006); Blanc v. State, 899 So. 2d 455 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005); Rodriguez v. State, 885 So. 2d 1041 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004).

Consistent with these decisions and given that petitioner was sentenced to a term exceeding that authorized by law had his offense been classified as a second-degree felony, we find that the issue could have been raised by rule 3.800(b)(2) motion, and appellate counsel’s failure to do so constitutes ineffective assistance. See, e.g., Flowers v. State, 965 So. 2d 1233 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007); Jones v. State, 964 So. 2d 855 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007); Mack v. State, 955 So. 2d 51 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007); Evans v. State, 904 So. 2d 638 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005).

Finally, the state suggests that the remedy available to petitioner is limited to a new direct appeal in order to determine the merits of any issue that should have been raised in the original appeal. However, where a second appeal would be redundant or unnecessary, it is appropriate to simply grant petitioner the relief to which he would have been entitled had the issue been raised in the original appeal. See, e.g., Grimsley v. State, 967 So. 2d 1132 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007); Jones v. State, 964 So. 2d 855 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007); Evans v. State, 904 So. 2d 638 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005). Because the state has posited no meaningful argument refuting petitioner’s contention that his conviction was improperly enhanced, we deem a second appeal to be unnecessary.

Accordingly, the petition alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel is GRANTED, the sentence imposed with respect to petitioner’s third-degree murder conviction is REVERSED, and the matter is REMANDED for resentencing as to that count.

WOLF, LEWIS, and ROBERTS, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Martinez v. State, 123 So. 3d 701 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013)
    …have preserved Apprendi issue by filing 3.800(b)(2) motion before the first brief was served, it is no defense to petitioner’s claim of ineffective assistance that appellate counsel (like trial counsel) failed to do so”). See also Anderson v. State, 988 So. 2d 144, 146 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008) (“[G]iven that ... the issue could have been raised by rule 3.800(b)(2) motion, ... appellate counsel’s failure to do so constitutes ineffective assistance.”); Flowers v. State, 965 So. 2d 1233, 1234 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007) (sam…
  • Busbee v. State, 187 So. 3d 1266 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016)
    …ond through fifth counts in case number 12-CF-1254. Where a sentencing error could havé been preserved via a meritorious rule 3.800(b)(2) motion, appellate counsel’s failure to do so constitutes ineffective assistance. See, e.g., Anderson v. State, 988 So. 2d 144, 146 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008). Here, the petitioner received two manifestly illegal sentences in the second and third count of case number ll-CF-1166. Of the remaining 15 sentences, 14 of the written sentences were inconsistent with the oral pronouncemen…
  • Marshall v. State, 241 So. 3d 969 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018)

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