ROY BISSONETTE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2016-09-16
No. 5D16-713
SAWAYA, BERGER and WALLIS, JJ., concur.
201 So. 3d 731 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2016)

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Synopsis

Roy Bissonette, convicted of first-degree murder as a 16-year-old in 1973 and sentenced to life with parole eligibility after 25 years, challenged his sentence as violating Miller v. Alabama. The appellate court reversed the postconviction denial and remanded for resentencing, finding that Bissonette's presumptive parole release date of 2073 effectively constituted a life-without-parole sentence inconsistent with Miller's requirement of individualized consideration of juvenile status.


Holding

The court held that Bissonette's sentence violates Miller because although technically allowing for parole eligibility, the presumptive parole release date of 2073 effectively imposed a life-without-parole sentence. The proper remedy is to reverse and remand for resentencing in conformance with Florida's new juvenile sentencing structure codified in chapter 2014-220, Laws of Florida.


Headnotes

[1] A juvenile first-degree murder offender's mandatory sentence of life in prison, even with parole eligibility after 25 years, violates Miller v. …

[2] A sentence that effectively imposes life without parole on a juvenile offender violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

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Key Quotes

“Florida's parole system does not "provide for individualized consideration of [defendant's] juvenile status at the time of the murder, as required by Miller."”

Establishes that parole systems must consider juvenile status individually, a core Miller requirement

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Facts & Procedural History

In 1973, Bissonette was convicted of first-degree murder at age 16 and sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years. By 2015, wh…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Roy Bissonette (“Appellant”) appeals the postconviction court’s denial of his Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion for postconviction relief. We reverse the postconviction court’s order and remand for resentencing consistent with this opinion.

In 1973, Appellant, then 16 years old, was convicted of first-degree murder. The trial court sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. In 2015, Appellant.filed this rule 3.850 motion for postconviction relief, alleging that the Florida parole system does not provide him a meaningful.opportunity for early release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation as required by Miller v. Alabama, — U.S. —, 132 S.Ct. 2455, 183 L.Ed.2d 407 (2012), and Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48, 130 S.Ct. 2011, 176. L.Ed.2d 825 (2010). Appellant, who has now served over 42 years of his sentence, alleged that he has a presumptive parole release date (“PPRD”) of 2073, likely well after the end of his natural life. The postconviction court denied Appellant’s motion, reasoning that Miller applies only to a juvenile homicide offender sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Following the postconviction court’s decision, our supreme court determined that a juvenile first-degree murder offender’s mandatory sentence of life in prison, despite his eligibility for parole after 25 years, violated Miller and its progeny. Atwell v. State, 197 So.3d 1040, 41 Fla. L. Weekly S244, 2016 WL 3010795 (Fla. May 26, 2016). The court reasoned that Florida’s parole system does not “provide for individualized consideration of [defendant’s] juvenile status at the time of the murder, as required by Miller.” Id. Moreover, the court noted that the parole guidelines established a presumptive release date in the year 2130, approximately 140 years after the defendant committed his offense. Id. In reaching this conclusion, the court rejected the State’s assertion that the sentence was legal because it allowed for the possibility of parole. Id. at 1041, at S246. Therefore, the court reversed and remanded for resentencing with retroactive application of the new juvenile sentencing structure codified in chapter 2014-220, Laws of Florida. Id.

Although the postconviction court correctly denied Appellant’s motion at the time, that decision cannot stand in light of Atwell. Like Atwell, although Appellant technically did not receive a life-without-parole sentence, his PPRD recommends a release date in 2073, 100 years after his conviction and sentence. Thus, we find that Appellant’s sentence violates Miller because the sentencing court effectively imposed a life-without-parole sentence. As explained above, our supreme court has determined that the proper remedy for a Miller violation is to reverse and remand for resentencing in conformance with the new juvenile sentencing structure reflected in chapter 2014-220, Laws of Florida. See Horsley v. State, 160 So.3d 393, 405 (Fla. 2015). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for resentencing consistent with this opinion.

REVERSED and REMANDED for RESENTENCING.

SAWAYA, BERGER and WALLIS, JJ., concur.


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