JOSEPH F. HATTEN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Joseph Hatten appeals the trial court's summary denial of his post-conviction motion challenging his sentence. The appellate court reverses, holding that the motion was timely filed and that the trial court erred in scoring victim injury points for penetration when the charged offense alleged alternative elements rather than penetration alone.
The court held that Hatten's motion was timely filed under the mailbox rule because it was placed in the hands of prison officials for mailing on December 6, 2013, one day before the two-year deadline of December 7, 2013. The court further held that the trial court erred in scoring penetration points because the charged offense alleged alternative elements (penetration or union) rather than penetration as a sole element.
[1] A post-conviction motion is timely filed under the mailbox rule when the certificate of service shows it was placed in the hands of prison officials for mailing within th…
[2] A defendant's judgment and sentence become final for the purpose of filing a post-conviction motion within two years from the date of entry of the judgment and sentence,…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850(b) requires a motion under that rule to be filed within two years from the date the defendant's judgment and sentence become final.”
Establishes the applicable filing deadline for rule 3.850 post-conviction motions
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn November 7, 2011, Hatten entered a no-contest plea to sex charges (lewd/lascivious battery) in two circuit court cases. The charges alleged that he…
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Joseph F. Hatten (defendant) appeals the final order entered by the trial court summarily denying his post-conviction motion. Determining that the trial court erred in concluding that the motion was untimely filed, we reverse and remand for consideration as a timely-filed rule 3.850 motion.
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850(b) requires a motion under that rule to be filed within two years from the date the defendant’s judgment and sentence become final.
On November 7, 2011, the defendant entered a no contest plea to sex charges in two circuit court cases. Since he did not file a direct appeal in either case, the defendant’s judgments became final 30 days later, on December 7, 2011. See Walk v. State, 707 So.2d 933 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998). Pursuant to the mailbox rule, the defendant filed his second rule 3.850 motion on December 6, 2013, as evidenced by the certificate of service which indicates that it was placed in the hands of prison officials for mailing by the defendant on that date.1 See Thompson v. State, 761 So.2d 324 (Fla.2000) (holding that a certificate of service provides presumptive proof of filing date under the mailbox rule). As the defendant had until December 7, 2013, to file his motion, the trial court erred in concluding that his December 6th motion was untimely.
In his motion, the defendant asserted that he entered into a negotiated plea to receive the lowest permissible sentence under the Criminal Punishment Code (CPC) scoresheet. The CPC scoresheet stated that the defendant’s lowest permissible sentence was 10.5 years’ imprisonment, which corresponds to the total sentence he received. The defendant contended that his sentence was illegal because his scoresheet contained an error that improperly added 80 victim injury points for penetration.
The trial court considered the motion on its merits by treating it as a rule 3.800(a) motion to correct sentence. In determining whether the defendant’s sentence was illegal, the trial court acknowledged that, in charging the defendant with lewd/lascivious battery, the information alleged that the defendant caused “his penis to penetrate or unite with the vagina of’ the victim. The court concluded that, accordingly, the penetration points could be scored. This conclusion was incorrect.
*1105In the instant case, the defendant entered a plea to a sexual offense with the alternative elements of penetration or union; the charged offense did not specifically allege penetration alone. Under these circumstances, the penetration points cannot be scored. See Mann v. State, 974 So.2d 552 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008) (holding that a defendant who pled guilty to three counts of lewd/lascivious battery and one count of lewd/lascivious molestation was incorrectly sentenced pursuant to score-sheet that scored victim injury points for penetration as to all four counts; the information did not specifically allege penetration in three of the counts, but instead alleged either union or the alternative elements of penetration or union).2 Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s order and remand for the court to consider the defendant’s second rule 3.850 post-conviction motion on its merits.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
PALMER, LAWSON and LAMBERT, JJ., concur.
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Blair v. State, 201 So. 3d 800 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016)…n Chatman and found that although Chatman arose in a jury trial, the same principle applied in a plea case. As such, the court reversed and remanded for resentencing based on, a corrected; score-sheet. Relying on Mann, the court in Hatten v. State, 143 So. 3d 1103 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014), held that penetration points could not be scored where a defendant entered a plea to a sexual offense with the alternative elements of penetration or union. The .court noted that .“[a] defendant in entering a plea to a sexual of…
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Harden v. State (Fla. 2d DCA 2021)…bsent a specific finding that penetration occurred."). Neither occurred here. As a result, Mr. Harden's scoresheet was incorrectly calculated. See Alexis, 258 So. 3d at 473; Blair v. State, 201 So. 3d 800, 803 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016); Hatten v. State, 143 So. 3d 1103, 1105 & n.2 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014); Mann, 974 So. 2d at 554. Mr. Harden is not entitled to resentencing, however, because the record conclusively shows that the trial court would have imposed the same sentence regardless of the scoresheet error. See S…
Authorities Cited
- Thompson v. State, 761 So. 2d 324 (Fla. 2000)
- Mann v. State, 974 So. 2d 552 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008)
- Walk v. State, 707 So. 2d 933 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)