TIMOTHY THOMAS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Timothy Thomas challenged the trial court's correction of his sentencing documents from a habitual felony offender (HFO) designation to the originally imposed habitual violent felony offender (HVFO) designation. When correcting the documents, the trial court improperly added minimum mandatory sentences that had never before been imposed, which the appellate court held violated double jeopardy principles.
The court held that the trial court violated double jeopardy principles by adding minimum mandatory sentences that had never before been imposed. The portion of the trial court's order adding these minimum mandatory terms was reversed, and the court affirmed the correction of the HVFO designation itself.
[1] Double jeopardy principles may be raised for the first time in a motion for postconviction relief, even if not raised at trial or on direct appeal.
[2] Once jeopardy has attached at a sentencing hearing, the court generally lacks the authority to recall the defendant for resentencing to increase the sentence.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Once a sentence has been imposed and the person begins to serve the sentence, that sentence may not be increased without running afoul of double jeopardy principles.”
Establishes the controlling legal principle that prohibits increasing a sentence after it has begun to be served
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn 1996, Timothy Thomas was convicted of armed robbery, aggravated battery, and armed carjacking. The trial court orally pronounced an HVFO designatio…
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In 1996, Timothy Thomas was convicted and sentenced on charges of armed robbery (with a firearm or deadly weapon), aggravated battery, and armed carjacking (with a firearm or deadly weapon). The State sought to have Thomas sentenced as a habitual violent felony offender (“HVFO”) and the trial court orally pronounced that it was designating Thomas as an HVFO at sentencing. However, the sentencing documents erroneously stated that Thomas had been sentenced as an habitual felony offender (“HFO”). We previously addressed this issue, and remanded for correction of the sentencing documents to reflect the HVFO designation orally pronounced. Thomas v. State, 778 So.2d 429 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001). On remand, however, the trial court retained the erroneous HFO designation. In 2013, Thomas again sought relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800. On October 23, 2013, the trial court ordered the sentencing documents be corrected to reflect the HVFO designation but also added discretionary HVFO minimum mandatory sentences that had never before been imposed. Thomas correctly argues that this belated increase in his sentences violates double jeopardy principles. See, e.g., Ashley v. State, 850 So.2d 1265, 1267 (Fla.2003) (“Once a sentence has been imposed and the person begins to serve the sentence, that sentence may not be increased without running afoul of double jeopardy principles.”) (citations omitted).
*524Accordingly, we reverse the portion of the trial court’s order that added minimum mandatory terms to Thomas’ sentences, and remand with directions that the trial court strike the minimum mandatory sentences. We affirm in all other respects.
REVERSED IN PART, AFFIRMED IN PART; REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.
LAWSON, EVANDER and COHEN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Columbus Rickey Ashley v. State, 850 So. 2d 1265 (Fla. 2003)
- Thomas v. State, 778 So. 2d 429 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001)