EDDIE TURNER, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Eddie Turner appealed the denial of his petition to correct an illegal sentence imposed under Florida's habitual offender statute. The court affirmed, holding that although a felony littering conviction cannot itself be enhanced as a habitual offender offense, it may properly serve as a qualifying predicate offense for enhancing a different current offense such as manslaughter.
The felony littering conviction can properly serve as a predicate offense for habitual offender sentencing on the current manslaughter conviction. Although section 403.413 (the Florida Litter Law) does not authorize habitual offender enhancement when felony littering is the offense being sentenced, the statutory omission applies only when felony littering is the offense itself being enhanced, not when it serves as a predicate offense for a different current offense.
[1] A felony littering conviction does not qualify as a predicate offense for habitual offender sentencing under section 775.084, Florida Statutes.
[2] A prior felony conviction may be used as a qualifying offense for habitual offender sentencing if it occurred within five years of the date of the current offense.
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“Of the three prior felony offenses that the State proffered as predicate offenses for habitual offender sentencing, only the felony littering conviction qualifies under the habitual offender statute.”
Establishes that the littering conviction meets the statutory requirements for use as a predicate offense
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceTurner was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced as a habitual offender. The State relied on three prior felony convictions as predicate offenses: a…
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Eddie Turner appeals from the denial of his petition to correct an illegal sentence filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800. We affirm.
Of the three prior felony offenses that the State proffered as predicate offenses for habitual offender sentencing, only the felony littering conviction qualifies under the habitual offender statute. § 775.084(l)(a), Fla. Stat. (2011).1 The statute governing violation of the Florida Litter Law, section 403.413, Florida Statutes (2008), does not authorize a habitual offender sentence enhancement under section 775.084. The omission of section 775.084 penalties from section 403.413 pertains, however, only to the offense of felony littering then before the court for sentencing. See McFadden v. State, 732 So.2d 335, 337 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998), approved, 737 So.2d 1073 (Fla.1999). The offense for which the defendant is currently convicted is manslaughter, not felony littering. Accordingly, the third degree felony littering conviction, occurring within five years of the date of the current manslaughter offense, was properly used as a qualifying prior offense for purposes of habitual offender sentencing.2 Id. Cf. Hope v. State, 751 So.2d 657 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) (finding that enhanced sentencing was improperly applied to an offense that did not statutorily provide for habitual offender sentencing under section 775.084); Berch v. State, 691 So.2d 1148 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997) (same).
Affirmed.
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Singletary v. State, 202 So. 3d 445 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016)…084(1)(a)(2)(b), Fla. Stat. (2004); Johnson v. State, 60 So. 3d 1045 (Fla.2011); Hughes v. State, 22 So. 3d 132 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009); Ward v. State, 946 So. 2d 33 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006); Brown v. State, 827 So. 2d 1054 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002); Turner v. State, 91 So. 3d 219 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012); Ives v. State, 993 So. 2d 117 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008); Rangel v. State, 937 So. 2d 1218 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006); Johnson v. State, 917 So. 2d 1011 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006); Gutierrez v. State, 854 So. 2d 218 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003); Sampson v. Stat…
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Mari v. State (Fla. 3d DCA 2022)…tatute ‘requires only that a defendant’s last prior felony [or release from imprisonment] . . . be within five years of the date of the current felony offense.’” (quoting Clark v. State, 681 So. 2d 816, 816 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996))); Turner v. State, 91 So. 3d 219, 220 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012) (“[T]he third- degree felony littering conviction, occurring within five years of the date of the current [felony] offense, was properly used as a qualifying prior offense for purposes of habitual offender sentencing.”).…
Authorities Cited
- Middleton v. State, 721 So. 2d 792 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)
- Gutierrez v. State, 854 So. 2d 218 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003)
- Berch v. State, 691 So. 2d 1148 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)
- McFADDEN v. State, 737 So. 2d 1073 (Fla. 1999)
- Tavano v. Suely Meire Abbate Tavano, 681 So. 2d 816 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)
- Prim v. State, 732 So. 2d 335 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)
- McFADDEN v. State, 732 So. 2d 335 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)
- Hope v. State, 751 So. 2d 657 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)