JOHN KNIGHT, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that even if a sentence enhancement was improper due to lack of a jury finding, the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and did not warrant relief.
[1] A jury finding that a defendant used a firearm is required to enhance the degree of a second-degree felony to a first-degree felony.
[2] An error in enhancing a defendant's sentence based on firearm use without a jury finding is subject to harmless error analysis.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe defendant was convicted of attempted second-degree murder. The trial court enhanced the felony degree to first-degree based on firearm use, despit…
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John Knight challenges the order of the postconviction court denying his motion to correct an illegal sentence filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). The trial court has twice considered and rejected Knight’s claim that his attempted second-degree murder conviction was illegally reclassified from a second-degree felony to a first-degree felony. Because this court determines that there exists no manifest injustice that would warrant reconsideration of the issue,1 we affirm the order of the postconviction court.
The trial transcript establishes that Knight and the victim argued over a bicycle. Knight shot the victim in the back. As the victim lay helpless on the ground, Knight walked up to him and continued to shoot. The victim was shot a total of eight times and was rendered a paraplegic. The State charged Knight with attempted first-degree murder with a firearm. At trial, the jury found him guilty of the lesser offense of attempted second-degree murder. The verdict form did not reference a firearm; nevertheless, pursuant to section 775.087(1), Florida Statutes (1993), and based on the evidence that Knight used a firearm in the commission of the offense, the trial court enhanced the degree of the offense from a second-degree felony to a first-degree felony and sentenced Knight to thirty years in prison. This court affirmed Knight’s judgment and sentence. Knight v. State, 678 So.2d 343 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996) (table decision).
Knight filed a Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion in which he argued that the enhancement was illegal because the jury did not make a finding that he used a firearm in the commission of the attempted second-degree murder.' We affirmed the denial of this claim. Knight v. State, 826 So.2d 299 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) (table decision). Knight then raised this exact claim in a rule 3.800(a) motion. Again, we affirmed the denial of the claim. *735 Knight v. State, 895 So.2d 419 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (table decision). Subsequently, Knight filed the present rule 3.800(a) motion in which he, for a third time, claimed the trial court illegally enhanced the degree of the offense based on his use of a firearm.
Without a jury finding that the appellant used a firearm, the enhancement of the degree of the offense of second-degree murder from a second-degree felony to a first-degree felony was improper. See, e.g., State v. Tripp, 642 So.2d 728 (Fla.1994). However, even if the trial court erred when it enhanced Knight’s sentence, he is not entitled to relief because the error was harmless. No rational jury would have found that Knight did not use a firearm in his attempt to murder the victim. See Galindez v. State, 955 So.2d 517, 523-24 (Fla.2007). Accordingly, we find the error harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See id.
We suspect Knight’s multiple attempts to obtain relief on this claim stem from a mistaken belief that such an error is, or was at one time, per se reversible. The supreme court, however, has never held that it is. In the absence of such a declaration by the supreme court, all judgments are subject to a harmless error analysis. See § 924.33, Fla. Stat. (1993); State v. Schopp, 653 So.2d 1016, 1020 (Fla.1995); State v. DiGuilio, 491 So.2d 1129, 1134 (Fla.1986).
Knight likely was misled because until recently the supreme court had not discussed the harmless error test in any of its decisions reversing an improper firearm enhancement. See, e.g., Tripp, 642 So.2d at 728; State v. Overfelt, 457 So.2d 1385 (Fla.1984). A reversal without a discussion of whether an error is harmless might suggest an error is per se reversible; however, it does not make it so. As for the error Knight raises, any question as to whether it is, or ever was, per se reversible was answered by the supreme court in Galindez:
Finally, in [Washington v. Recuenco, 548 U.S. 212, 126 S.Ct. 2546, 165 L.Ed.2d 466 (2006) ], the Supreme Court reversed the Washington Supreme Court’s holding that harmless error analysis does not apply to [Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000),] error. Accordingly, to the extent some of our pre-Apprendi decisions may suggest that the failure to submit factual issues to the jury is not subject to harmless error analysis, Re-cuenco has superseded them. See, e.g., State v. Estevez, 753 So.2d 1, 7 (Fla.1999) (holding that even where the evidence is uncontroverted, to sentence a defendant to a minimum mandatory sentence for trafficking, the jury must make express findings of the amount of cocaine involved); State v. Hargrove, 694 So.2d 729, 730 (Fla.1997) (holding that even where evidence regarding the use of a firearm is unrebutted, to impose mandatory minimum sentence, a jury must make that finding); State v. Overfelt, 457 So.2d 1385, 1387 (Fla.1984) (holding that to enhance a sentence because of the defendant’s use of a firearm, the jury must find the defendant guilty of a crime involving a firearm or otherwise specifically find that a firearm was used).
955 So.2d at 522-23 (emphasis added).
Accordingly, we conclude that Knight did not demonstrate a manifest injustice and the postconviction court properly refused to consider his claim for a third time.
Affirmed.
NORTHCUTT, C.J., and LaROSE, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (13 total)
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LEE v. State, 130 So. 3d 707 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013)…r jury finding” was established by a verdict and information very similar to those in this case. Gentile and other cases have extended the harmless error analysis in Galindez v. State, 955 So. 2d 517 (Fla.2007), to this context. See Knight v. State, 6 So. 3d 733, 735 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009); Lindsay v. State, 1 So. 3d 270 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009); see also Gentile, 87 So. 3d at 58 (“[A]ny error in the jury’s failure to make a more specific finding is clearly harmless because of the overwhelming evidence that he used…
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Ellis v. State, 135 So. 3d 478 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)…s a result, the victim suffered “death or great bodily harm”). Ideally, an interrogatory verdict form should be used to address an enhancement. See id. But the harmless error analysis has also been extended to this context. See id.; Knight v. State, 6 So. 3d 733, 735 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009). In Lee, the court was “convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the actual jury made a clear finding that Mr. Lee discharged a firearm causing great bodily harm” even though the verdict form did not mention “discharging” the…
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Plasencia v. State, 170 So. 3d 865 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015)…s addresses the impact of the harmless error rule on Mr. Plasencia’s claim of an illegal sentence. However, an Apprendi/Blakely error is subject to a harmless error analysis. See Galindez v. State, 955 So. 2d 517, 521-23 (Fla.2007); Knight v. State, 6 So. 3d 733, 735 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009). Thus, Mr. Plasencia will not be entitled to relief if a review of the record demonstrates that the Apprendi/Blakely violation was harmless. We express no opinion on this issue, which the postconviction court has not yet addr…
Previewing 3 of 13 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. DiGUILIO, 491 So. 2d 1129 (Fla. 1986)
- Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (U.S. 2000)
- State v. Schopp, 653 So. 2d 1016 (Fla. 1995)
- State v. Overfelt, 457 So. 2d 1385 (Fla. 1984)
- Galindez v. State, 955 So. 2d 517 (Fla. 2007)
- Washington v. Recuenco, 548 U.S. 212 (U.S. 2006)
- State v. Vinney Tripp, 642 So. 2d 728 (Fla. 1994)
- State v. Hargrove, 694 So. 2d 729 (Fla. 1997)
- State v. Estevez, 753 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1999)
- Cillo v. State, 913 So. 2d 1233 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005)