MARK ANTHONY SMITH, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2013-08-16
Nos. 5D12-2603, 5D12-2604, 5D12-2605
PALMER and WALLIS, JJ., concur.
119 So. 3d 530 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2013) Negative Treatment
Cited by 3 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

Mark Anthony Smith, convicted as a juvenile of multiple burglary and assault offenses, appeals the denial of postconviction relief arguing his 40-year concurrent sentence constitutes a de facto life sentence violating the Eighth Amendment under Graham v. Florida. The court affirms, holding that Graham applies only to sentences of life without parole for singular nonhomicide offenses, not aggregate term-of-years sentences.


Holding

Smith's sentence does not violate the Eighth Amendment because Graham v. Florida applies only to juvenile offenders sentenced to life without parole for a singular nonhomicide offense. Of the four necessary analytical factors from Graham, Smith's sentences satisfy only the first factor (juvenile status), failing on the remaining three factors, and therefore do not constitute de facto life sentences.


Headnotes

[1] A juvenile's aggregate term-of-years sentence does not violate Graham v. …

[2] A sentence of forty years for a juvenile convicted of kidnapping and robbery with a firearm does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment under Graham v. …

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

Key Quotes

“The Supreme Court itself limited the scope and breadth of its decision in Graham by stating that its decision "concern[ed] only those juvenile offenders sentenced to life without parole solely for a nonhomicide offense."”

Establishes the narrow scope of Graham and the four-factor test the court applies to determine if it applies to Smith's case

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Smith committed three counts of burglary of a dwelling with a weapon, assault or battery, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and kidnapping when …

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
ORFINGER, J.

ORFINGER, J.

Mark Anthony Smith appeals the denial of his second motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850.1 Relying on Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48, 130 S.Ct. 2011, 176 L.Ed.2d 825 (2010), Smith argues his aggregate forty-year concurrent prison term-of-years sentences for three counts of burglary of a dwelling with a weapon and an assault or battery, as well as aggravated assault, aggravated battery and kidnapping, committed when he was sixteen years old, amount to a de facto life sentence in violation of the prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. We disagree, as we do not believe Smith’s sentence amounts to a life sentence or that Graham is controlling.

*531As the Second District Court of Appeal explained in Walle v. State, 99 So.3d 967, 970 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012):

The Supreme Court itself limited the scope and breadth of its decision in Graham by stating that its decision “eon-cern[ed] only those juvenile offenders sentenced to life without parole solely for a nonhomicide offense.” Id. at 2028. From this statement we identify the four necessary analytical factors: (1) the offender was a juvenile when he committed his offense, (2) the sentence imposed applied to a singular nonhomicide offense, (3) the offender was “sentenced to life,” and (4) the sentence does not provide the offender with any possibility of release during his lifetime.

Only the first of these four enumerated factors, Smith’s status as a juvenile at the time of his offenses, is met here. The remaining factors lead us to conclude that Smith’s sentences do not amount to de facto life sentences, and consequently, do not violate the prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

As we explained in Henry v. State, 82 So.3d 1084, 1089 (Fla. 5th DCA), review granted, 107 So.3d 405 (Fla.2012):

If we conclude that Graham does not apply to aggregate term-of-years sentences, our path is clear. If, on the other hand, under the notion that a term-of-years sentence can be a de facto life sentence that violates the limitations of the Eighth Amendment, Graham offers no direction whatsoever. At what number of years would the Eighth Amendment become implicated in the sentencing of a juvenile: twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, some lesser or greater number? Would gain time be taken into account? Could the number vary from offender to offender based on race, gender, socioeconomic class or other criteria? Does the number of crimes matter? There is language in the Graham majority opinion that suggests that no matter the number of offenses or victims or type of crime, a juvenile may not receive a sentence that will cause him to spend his entire life incarcerated without a chance for rehabilitation, in which case it would make no logical difference whether the sentence is “life” or 107 years. Without any tools to work with, however, we can only apply Graham as it is written. If the Supreme Court has more in mind, it will have to say what that is.

(Footnotes omitted).

AFFIRMED.

PALMER and WALLIS, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw