GREGORY DURANT, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2012-08-10
No. 5D10-3915
EVANDER and COHEN, JJ., concur.
94 So. 3d 669 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2012) Negative Treatment
Cited by 8 cases

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Holding

The court held that the defendant's prior conviction under section 800.04(1), Florida Statutes (1995), does not have similar elements to the offenses listed in section 794.0115(2)(e), Florida Statutes, and therefore he does not qualify as a Dangerous Sexual Felony Offender (DSFO).


Headnotes

[1] A prior conviction for violating section 800.04(1), Florida Statutes (1995), does not have similar elements to sections 800.04(4) or (5), Florida Statutes, for the purpos…

[2] A conviction for lewd or lascivious battery under section 800.04(4), Florida Statutes, requires evidence of sexual activity, which is not an element of section 800.04(1),…

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Facts & Procedural History

Gregory Durant was convicted of an unnatural or lascivious act and solicitation of a child. The trial court imposed a mandatory minimum sentence based…

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Opinion of the Court
JACOBUS, J.

JACOBUS, J.

Gregory Durant challenges the judgment and sentence entered after a jury found him guilty of committing an unnatural or lascivious act and solicitation of a child under eighteen years of age to engage in an act that constitutes sexual battery by a person who is in a position of familial or custodial authority.1 On appeal, Durant contends the trial court erred in allowing the State to orally amend count three of the information at the close of its case and in permitting three witnesses to make damaging statements in front of the jury. We find these arguments to be mer-itless and affirm Durant’s conviction without further comment. We must, however, reverse Durant’s sentence because the trial court erroneously found he was a dangerous sexual felony offender (“DSFO”) and imposed a twenty-five year minimum mandatory incarceration term.

Section 794.0115, Florida Statutes, requires mandatory sentencing when a defendant qualifies as a DSFO. That statute states, in relevant part:

(2) Any person who is convicted of a violation of s. 787.025(2)(c); s. 794.011 (2), (3), (4), (5), or (8); s. 800.04(4) or (5); s. 825.1025(2) or (3); s. 827.071(2), (3), or (4); or s. 847.0145; or of any similar offense under a former designation, which offense the person committed when he or she was 18 years of age or older, and the person:
(e) Has previously been convicted of a violation of s. 787.025(2)(c); s. 794.011(2), (3), (4), (5), or (8); s. 800.04(4) or (5); s. 825.1025(2) or (3); s. 827.071(2), (3), or (4); s. 847.0145; of any offense under a former statutory designation which is similar in elements to an offense described in this paragraph; or of any offense that is a felony in another jurisdiction, or would be a felony if that offense were committed in this state, and which is similar in elements to an offense described in this paragraph, *671is a dangerous sexual felony offender, who must be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of 25 years imprisonment up to, and including, life imprisonment.

§ 794.0115, Fla. Stat. (emphasis supplied).

In the current case, Durant was convicted of violating section 794.011(8)(a), Florida Statutes. Therefore, he would qualify as a DSFO under section 794.0115(2) if he met the other requirements of the statute. Durant does not have a previous conviction for violations of any of the statutes set forth in section 794.0115(2)(e). He was, however, convicted of violating section 800.04(1), Florida Statutes (1995), which provides that a person who “handles, fondles, or assaults any child under the age of 16 years in a lewd, lascivious, or indecent manner ... without committing the crime of sexual battery, commits a felony of the second degree.” § 800.04(1), Fla. Stat. (1995).

The State argues that section 800.04(1), Florida Statutes (1995), has similar elements to sections 800.04(4) and (5), Florida Statutes, which are listed in section 794.0115(2)(e). It, therefore, contends Durant would qualify as a DSFO under section 794.0115(2)(e). We disagree.

Sections 800.04(4) and (5) read as follows:

(4) Lewd or lascivious battery. — A person who:
(a) Engages in sexual activity with a person 12 years of age or older but less than 16 years of age; or
(b) Encourages, forces, or entices any person less than 16 years of age to engage in sadomasochistic abuse, sexual bestiality, prostitution, or any other act involving sexual activity
commits lewd or lascivious battery....
(5) Lewd or lascivious molestation.—
(a) A person who intentionally touches in a lewd or lascivious manner the breasts, genitals, genital area, or buttocks, or the clothing covering them, of a person less than 16 years of age, or forces or entices a person under 16 years of age to so touch the perpetrator, commits lewd or lascivious molestation.

(emphasis in original).

After reviewing each of these crimes, we do not believe that the 1995 version of section 800.04(1) is similar in elements to sections 800.04(4) and (5). In particular, section 800.04(4) requires evidence of sexual activity,2 whereas there is no sexual activity requirement contained in section 800.04(1), Florida Statutes (1995). Likewise, section 800.04(5) requires evidence that the perpetrator intentionally touched “the breasts, genitals, genital area, or buttocks, or the clothing covering them” of the minor. Section 800.04(1), Florida Statutes (1995), contains no such requirement. Although section 800.04(5) and the 1995 version of section 800.04(1) contain other elements that are the same, we conclude they do not have similar elements for purposes of section 794.0115(2)(e). See Fike v. State, 68 So.3d 847 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011) (reversing designation as sexual predator where prior conviction in Michigan was not similar to lewd or lascivious offenses; Michigan offense did not include age requirement). Further, section 800.04(1), Florida Statutes (1995), shares similar elements with section 800:04(6), Florida Statutes, which is not a qualifying felony in the DSFO statute. See 794.0115(2)(e), Fla. Stat.; Abrams v. State, 971 So.2d 1033, 1037 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008) (reversing DSFO sentence because Abrams’ conviction for violating section 800.04(6) does not *672qualify him for sentencing pursuant to the DSFO statute).

Because Durant does not qualify as a DSFO, we must reverse his sentence and remand for resentencing. We affirm Durant’s conviction in all other respects.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.

EVANDER and COHEN, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Acevedo v. State, 174 So. 3d 437 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)
    …800.04(4)(b). We agree with the State, while not identical, the statutes are similar. The court did not err in finding the defendant to be a DSFO and imposing a twenty-five-year mandatory minimum sentence. The defendant relies on Durant v. State, 94 So. 3d 669 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012), to support his position that the statutes are not similar. We understand that by focusing on the dissimilarities of two statutes, a court can conclude the statutes are dissimilar. But, we disagree that the focus should be on the…
  • Acevedo v. State, 218 So. 3d 878 (Fla. 2017)
    …decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Acevedo v. State, 174 So. 3d 437 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015). The district court certified that its decision is in direct conflict with the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Durant v. State, 94 So. 3d 669 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. For the reasons that follow, we [*879] approve the decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal and disapprove of the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal to…
    1 / 2
  • Myron J. Montgomery v. State, 183 So. 3d 1042 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)
    …§ 794.011(5), Fla. Stat. (1993). Based on the broad definition of “forcible compulsion,” the Pennsylvania statute is similar to both provisions and, thus, cannot definitively qualify Montgomery for a sexual predator designation. See Durant v. State, 94 So. 3d 669, 671-72 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012) (reversing dangerous felony sexual offender designation because statute defendant was convicted of violating not only contained elements similar to statute that qualified for the designation, but also had elements similar…

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