JACKSON STALLINGS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2016-08-19
No. 5D16-1448
TORPY and'LAMBERT, JJ., concur.
198 So. 3d 1081 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2016) Negative Treatment
Cited by 22 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

Jackson Stallings appeals the denial of his postconviction relief motion filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. The court reverses and remands because recent Florida Supreme Court precedent in Atwell v. State establishes that Florida's parole system is incompatible with the Eighth Amendment protections required for juveniles sentenced to life with possibility of parole, entitling Stallings to an evidentiary hearing on potential resentencing.


Holding

Stallings is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on remand to determine his presumptive parole release date and whether he must be resentenced pursuant to chapter 2014-220, Laws of Florida. The postconviction court's reliance on the Extraordinary Review suspending his parole date is no longer sufficient to deny resentencing relief in light of Atwell's holding that Florida's parole guidelines do not adequately account for juvenile diminished culpability and may amount to a practical life sentence without parole.


Headnotes

[1] A life sentence with the possibility of parole for a juvenile convicted of a serious offense may violate the Eighth Amendment if the parole system does not afford individ…

[2] Florida's statutory parole system, which relies on objective guidelines that do not factor in the diminished culpability of youth, may be incompatible with the Eighth Ame…

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Key Quotes

“a life sentence with the possibility of parole fór a juvenile convicted of homicide violated the Eighth Amendment because Florida's statutory parole system does not afford the individualized consideration for juvenile defendants required by Miller v. Alabama”

Establishes the controlling legal principle from Atwell that triggered reversal of Stallings's case

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Facts & Procedural History

In 1973, Stallings pleaded guilty at age seventeen to sexual battery, robbery, and assault with intent to commit a felony. He was sentenced to life im…

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Opinion of the Court
EDWARDS, J.

*1082EDWARDS, J.

Jackson Stallings (“Appellant”) appeals the lower court’s order summarily denying his motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3,850. In light of Atwell v. State, 197 So.3d 1040, 41 Fla. L. Weekly S244, 2016 WL 3010795 (Fla. May 26, 2016), which was decided after the lower court ruled, we reverse and remand for the postconviction court to hold an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Appellant is entitled to resentencing pursuant to. Horsley v. State, 160 So.3d 393 (Fla.2015), and chapter 2014-220, Laws of Florida.

In 1973, when Appellant was seventeen years old, he pleaded guilty to sexual battery, robbery, and assault with the intent to commit a felony. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on the sexual battery charge because sexual battery was a capital offense at that time. See § 784.01(1), Fla. Stat. (1972). He was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment for the robbery charge, followed by a consecutive five-year term for the assault charge with intent to commit a felony charge. Both.sentences were ordered to run concurrently with Appellant’s life sentence. Appellant was not sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

The Florida Supreme Court recently held that a life sentence with the possibility of parole fór a juvenile convicted of homicide violated the Eighth Amendment because Florida’s statutory parole system does not afford the individualized consideration for juvenile defendants required by Miller v. Alabama, — U.S. —132 S.Ct. 2455, 183 L.Ed.2d 407 (2012). Atwell, 197 So.3d at 1042, 41 Fla. L. Weekly at S248. Under our parole system, a convicted juvenile defendant is given a hearing by the Commission on Offender Review. Id. at 1042, at S247. The Commission determines a presumptive parole date, which is the juvenile’s earliest possible release date from prison. Id. In making its determination, the Commission utilizes objective parole guidelines that give primary weight to the seriousness of the offender’s present offense and prior criminal record. Id. These guidelines, however, do not factor in the so-called diminished culpability of youth. Id. at 1042-43, at S247-48. Since the 'offender’s presumptive parole date, can be scheduled for decades beyond a natural lifespan, a life sentence with the possibility of parole may be the practical equivalent of á life sentence without the possibility of parole. Id. at 1042, at S247.

In 1999, following a review, the Commission established Appellant’s presumptive parole release date as December 11, 1999; however, that release date was suspended as a result of an “Extraordinary Review;,” which discussed a number of infractions accrued by Appellant during his incarceration. The Commission indicated that another review would be conducted in July 2004. We cannot determine from the record whether the Commission conducted a review in July 2004 and a new presumptive release date was ever calculated, or whether Appellant remains in limbo under the suspended 1999 release date. With the uncertainty of his .release daté and no information about any future reviews, there is a likelihood that the now sixty-one-year-old Appellant will spend the rest of his life in prison without ever having the “meaningful opportunity for early release.” Henry v. State, 175 So.3d 675, 680 (Fla.2015) (citing Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48, 75, 130 S.Ct. 2011, 176 L.Ed.2d 825 (2010)).

Because the Florida Supreme Court has stated that Florida’s parole system is incompatible with the mandate of Miller, the postconviction court’s reliance on the Extraordinary Review is no longer sufficient to conclude that Appellant is not eligible *1083for resentencing. Atwell, 197 So.3d at 1041, 41 Fla. L. Weekly at S244. Accordingly, we reverse the order summarily denying Appellant’s rule 3.850 motion and remand for the postconviction court to hold an evidentiary hearing to .determine Appellant’s presumptive, parole release date and the Commission’s recommendations for his parole release. On remand, the postconviction court, shall also determine whether, in light of Atwell, Appellant must be resentenced pursuant to chapter 2014-220, Laws of Florida, as discussed in Horsley. See Horsley, 160 So.3d at 395.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.

TORPY and'LAMBERT, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By (11 total)

  • State v. Budry Michel, 257 So. 3d 3 (Fla. 2018)
    …ision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Michel v. State , 204 So. 3d 101 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016), in which the Fourth District certified that its decision conflicts with the decisions of the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Stallings v. State , 198 So. 3d 1081 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016), and Williams v. State , 198 So. 3d 1084 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016).1 We quash the Fourth District's decision in Michel and approve the Fifth District's decisions in Stallings and Williams to the extent that they are consistent with thi…
    1 / 2
  • Budry Michel v. State, 204 So. 3d 101 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016)
    …ing appellant’s motion for postconviction relief and remand for resentencing pursuant to Atwell v. State, 197 So. 3d 1040 (Fla.2016). We also certify conflict with the Fifth District Court of Appeal. We respectfully disagree with Stallings v. State, 198 So. 3d 1081 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016), and Williams v. State, 198 So. 3d 1084 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016), to the extent that those decisions suggest that relief under Atwell is dependent on the defendant’s presumptive parole release date. Our reading of the Florida Suprem…
  • Stokes v. State, 231 So. 3d 464 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017)
    …3d at 453.1 We disagree with the State’s argument that defendant’s entitlement to relief under Atwell depends on his presumptive parole release date. Michel v. State, 204 So. 3d 101 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016) (certifying conflict with Stallings v. State, 198 So. 3d 1081 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016), and Williams v. State, 198 So. 3d 1084 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016)). Reversed and remanded for resentenc-ing. Gross, May and Levine, JJ., concur. , As to defendant’s 30-year sentence for aggravated battery on a person over 65 years o…

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