RICHARD LEROY CONNOLLY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE.

Fla. 5th DCA | 2018-03-09
No. Case No. 5D17–1142
240 So. 3d 846 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2018)

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Synopsis

Richard Leroy Connolly appealed his convictions for sexual battery, lewd or lascivious battery, and lewd or lascivious molestation of a minor. The Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District, reversed the lewd or lascivious battery conviction on double jeopardy grounds and remanded for correction of a sentencing discrepancy, while affirming the other convictions.


Holding

(1) The convictions for sexual battery and lewd or lascivious battery violate double jeopardy principles; therefore, the lesser offense conviction for lewd or lascivious battery is reversed. (2) The sentencing error was not preserved for appeal because Appellant neither objected at sentencing nor filed a rule 3.800(b) motion; however, Appellant may pursue remedial relief by filing a rule 3.800(a) motion with the trial court.


Headnotes

[1] Dual convictions for sexual battery and lewd or lascivious battery based on the same criminal act violate the prohibition against double jeopardy.

[2] When dual convictions are impermissible due to double jeopardy, an appellate court should reverse the conviction for the lesser offense.

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Key Quotes

“When an appellate court determines that dual convictions are impermissible, the appellate court should reverse the lesser offense conviction and affirm the greater.”

Establishes the governing rule for addressing double jeopardy violations involving multiple convictions based on the same act

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellant was convicted after trial of three offenses against a minor: sexual battery upon a person aged twelve to eighteen years, lewd or lascivious …

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Appellant was convicted after trial of sexual battery upon a person aged twelve years or older but less than eighteen years without causing serious personal injury; lewd or lascivious battery upon a child aged twelve years or older but less than sixteen years of age; and lewd or lascivious molestation upon a child twelve years of age or older but less than sixteen years of age. Appellant raises two arguments on appeal.

First, he asserts that the convictions for the sexual battery and lewd or lascivious battery violate the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy1 because both convictions are based upon the same criminal act. The State concedes error. See Shipman v. State , 171 So.3d 199, 200 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015) (affirming defendant's conviction for sexual battery on a person aged twelve years or older, but reversing conviction for lewd or lascivious battery on a person aged twelve years or older but less than sixteen years of age based on double jeopardy principles because the record indicated that the charges were based upon the same event). Therefore, we reverse the conviction for lewd or lascivious battery. See State v. Shelley , 176 So.3d 914, 919-20 (Fla. 2015) ("When an appellate court determines that dual convictions are impermissible, the appellate court should reverse the lesser offense conviction and affirm the greater." (quoting Pizzo v. State , 945 So.2d 1203, 1206 (Fla. 2006) ) ).

Appellant's second argument is that there is a sentencing error in his conviction for lewd or lascivious molestation because the trial court's written sentence differs from its oral pronouncement of sentence on this count. The error has not been preserved for review. Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.140(e) provides that a sentencing error may not be raised on appeal unless the alleged error has first been brought to the attention of the lower tribunal at the time of sentencing or by a Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b) motion. "A written sentencing order that deviates from the [court's] oral pronouncement of sentence constitutes a 'sentencing error' subject to rule 3.800(b)." Brown v. State , 225 So.3d 319, 320 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017) (citing Jackson v. State , 983 So.2d 562, 572 (Fla. 2008) ). Because Connolly did not file a rule 3.800(b) motion or object to the error at the time of sentencing, his remedy is to file a legally sufficient motion with the trial court to correct the sentence pursuant to rule 3.800(a). See id. at 321 (citing Williams v. State , 957 So.2d 600, 601 (Fla. 2007) ).

Accordingly, we reverse Appellant's conviction for lewd or lascivious battery and *848remand with instructions that the trial court vacate this conviction and sentence. We affirm the remaining convictions and resulting sentences, but do so without prejudice to Appellant filing a legally sufficient motion under rule 3.800(a) to correct his sentence for the lewd or lascivious molestation conviction.

AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and REMANDED.

COHEN, C.J., BERGER and LAMBERT, JJ., concur.


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