MICHAEL J. RIGBY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Rigby's habitual felony offender sentence was reversed because the record showed only one prior felony, not the two required by statute.
A defendant sentenced as a habitual felony offender must have at least two prior felony convictions, and where the record shows only one, the sentence must be vacated.
[1] A habitual felony offender sentence imposed without the required minimum of two prior felony convictions is illegal and subject to correction under Florida Rule of Crimin…
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Statutory requirement for habitual felony offender designation under § 775.084(1)(a)
Rigby pled no contest to escape and received a 22-year sentence as a habitual felony offender, but the record showed only one prior felony conviction.…
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Michael J. Rigby appeals the summary denial of his motion to correct illegal sentence under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). Rigby pled no contest, open to the court, to the crime of escape. Rigby was given a twenty-two year sentence as a habitual offender. Rigby contends that he should not have been sentenced as a habitual felony offender because he only had one prior felony. The record in the instant case clearly demonstrates on its face Rigby’s entitlement to relief because it only shows one prior felony. See § 775.084(l)(a), Fla. Stat. (2010) (requiring that the- defendant must have been convicted of two or more felonies). Therefore, Rigby’s habitual felony offender sentence must be vacated and the case remanded for resentencing. See Bover v. State, 797 So.2d 1246, 1247 (Fla.2001) (holding that where it is apparent on the face of the record that the necessary predicate offenses to qualify a defendant as a habitual felony offender do not exist, the error may be corrected pursuant to rule 3.800(a)); Smith v. State, 616 So.2d 1116, 1117 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993) (vacating and remanding for resentencing after successful 3.800(a) appeal challenging habitual offender sentence). We note that the State concedes error.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
LAWSON, C.J., SAWAYA and EDWARDS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Bover v. State, 797 So. 2d 1246 (Fla. 2001)
- Smith v. State, 616 So. 2d 1116 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)