JOHNNY TREVON COOK, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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A juvenile nonhomicide offender's aggregate term-of-years sentence is unconstitutional if it does not afford a meaningful opportunity for release based on maturity and rehabilitation.
[1] A life-without-parole sentence for a juvenile nonhomicide offender is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment.
[2] Aggregate term-of-years sentences for juvenile nonhomicide offenders are unconstitutional if they do not afford a meaningful opportunity for release based on demonstrated…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJohnny Cook, a juvenile, was convicted of multiple non-homicide offenses and received an aggregate sentence of ninety-three years imprisonment, with m…
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Johnny Cook appeals his conviction of four counts of attempted second-degree murder, one count of aggravated assault, one count of shooting a deadly missile, and one count of possession of a firearm by a minor, and his sentence of an aggregate ninety-three years in prison. We affirm his conviction, but reverse the sentence and remand for resentencing.
A life-without-parole sentence for a juvenile nonhomicide offender is unconstitutional, under the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48, 82, 130 S.Ct. 2011, 176 L.Ed.2d 825 (2010), as modified (July 6, 2010). The Florida Supreme Court has recently held that Graham also applies to aggregate term-of-years sentences. See Gridine v. State, 175 So.3d 672, 674-75 (Fla.2015) (holding juvenile’s aggregate seventy-year sentence for attempted first-degree murder unconstitutional under Graham), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 136 S.Ct. 1387, 194 L.Ed.2d 380 (2016); Henry v. State, 175 So.3d 675, 679-80 (Fla.2015) (holding juvenile’s aggregate ninety-year sentence unconstitutional under Graham), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 136 S.Ct. 1455, 194 L.Ed.2d 552 (2016). Specifically, the court held “Graham is implicated when a juvenile nonhomicide offender’s sentence dobs not' afford any ‘meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and' rehabilitation.’ ” Henry, 175 So.3d at 679 (quoting Graham, 560 U.S. at 75, 130 S.Ct. 2011).
Cook was a juvenile at the time of the commission of the crimes. The trial court sentenced him to an aggregate of ninety-three years imprisonment for non-homicide offenses. The sentence for each count was a mandatory minimum. His sentence did not give him a “meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation,” and thus was unconstitutional. See Graham, 560 U.S. at 75, 130 S,Ct. 2011. We therefore reverse Cook’s sentence and remand for resentencing in accordance with Gridine and Henry,
Reversed and remanded for resentenc-ing.
GROSS and FORST, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Cook v. State, 225 So. 3d 268 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017)…Per Curiam. In Cook v. State, 190 So. 3d 215 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016), we affirmed appellant’s convictions but reversed for resentencing because appellant’s aggregate sentence of 93 years “did not give him a ‘meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation…
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Randolph v. State, 199 So. 3d 1127 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016)…er and its progeny. See Henry v. State, 175 So. 3d 675, 679-80 (Fla.2015) (reversing juvenile defendant’s aggregate 90-year sentence); Gridine v. State, 175 So. 3d 672, 675 (Fla.2015) (reversing juvenile defendant’s 70-year sentence); Cook v. State, 190 So. 3d 215, 216 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016) (reversing juvenile defendant’s 93-year sentence). Although .the sentencing court exercised discretion before imposing Appellant’s sentence, our supreme court has determined that discretionary sentences nonetheless implicate…
Authorities Cited
- Graham v. Florida (1st Cir. 2010)
- Leighdon Henry v. State, 175 So. 3d 675 (Fla. 2015)
- Shimeeka Daquiel Gridine v. State, 175 So. 3d 672 (Fla. 2015)
- Florida v. Leighdon Henry., 136 S. Ct. 1455 (U.S. 2016)
- Fromal v. Sink., 136 S. Ct. 1455 (U.S. 2016)
- Schwager v. Chana Ahuva Schwager., 136 S. Ct. 1364 (U.S. 2016)
- Troglin v. Cook, 136 S. Ct. 1387 (U.S. 2016)