ORION CHRISTOPHER GARDINER
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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The court affirmed Gardiner's convictions but reversed and remanded his sentences on counts one and three. The trial court improperly imposed consecutive sentences on multiple habitual violent felony offender (HVFO) sentences arising from a single criminal episode, violating the prohibition against further increasing penalties through consecutive sentencing once the HVFO designation has already enhanced the statutory maximum.
The court held that HVFO sentences from a single criminal episode may not run consecutively because the HVFO designation already increases the statutory maximum penalty, and further increasing the penalty through consecutive sentencing is prohibited absent specific legislative authorization.
[1] When multiple sentences from a single criminal episode are enhanced under the habitual violent felony offender statute, consecutive sentencing is prohibited absent specif…
[2] A trial court is prohibited from imposing consecutive habitual violent felony offender sentences for offenses that arose during the same criminal episode.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceGardiner was convicted on multiple counts, with sentences imposed on counts one and three that were enhanced under the habitual violent felony offende…
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run concurrently with count one. The sentence on count three was ordered to run consecutively to count one. We affirm Gardiner’s convictions without comment. However, we must reverse his sentences on counts one and three and remand with directions to run the sentences concurrently because Gardiner’s HVFO sentences on those counts may not run consecutively. See Cotto v. State, 139 So. 3d 283, 286-87 (Fla. 2014) (reaffirming the proposition stated in Hale v. State, 630 So. 2d 521 (Fla. 1993) that once multiple sentences from a single criminal episode are enhanced pursuant to the habitual offender statute, the total penalty may not be further increased by consecutive sentencing absent specific legislative authorization); Brashwell v. State, 171 So. 3d 199, 199 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015) (holding that a trial court is prohibited from imposing consecutive habitual offender sentences for offenses that arose during the same criminal episode); Preston v. State, 134 So. 3d 992, 994 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012) (reversing the trial court’s imposition of consecutive habitual offender sentences for offense that occurred during a single criminal episode). The HVFO sentences may not run consecutively because the HVFO designation increased the statutory maximum on counts one and three and both offenses occurred during a single criminal episode; thus, the trial court was not permitted to further increase the penalty for these offenses by running the sentences consecutively. Cotto, 139 So. 3d at 286. We, therefore, AFFIRM Gardiner’s convictions and REVERSE and REMAND for resentencing as to his convictions. WETHERELL, ROWE, and JAY, JJ., concur. _____________________________ Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331.
_____________________________ Andy Thomas, Public Defender, and Richard M. Bracey, III, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Virginia Harris, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Hale v. State, 630 So. 2d 521 (Fla. 1993)
- Cotto v. State, 139 So. 3d 283 (Fla. 2014)
- Braswell v. State, 171 So. 3d 199 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015)
- Causey v. State, 134 So. 3d 992 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012)
- Corry Jerod Preston v. State, 134 So. 3d 992 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012)