STATE OF FLORIDA
v.
DOMINIQUE WRIGHT
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The State of Florida appeals a trial court's decision to decline imposing a mandatory minimum sentence on a juvenile offender under section 775.087, Florida Statutes, based on the court's belief that doing so would violate constitutional requirements for individualized sentencing consideration. The appellate court reverses, holding that mandatory minimum sentences for juveniles do not violate Graham v. Florida and Miller v. Alabama, and that the mandatory minimum statute can be harmonized with the individualized sentencing requirements for juveniles.
The court holds that imposing mandatory minimum sentences on juveniles does not violate Graham v. Florida or Miller v. Alabama. The two statutes can be harmonized: trial courts must conduct individualized sentencing proceedings for juveniles but are still required to impose mandatory minimum sentences under section 775.087, while juveniles retain the right to judicial review of their sentences after twenty years with potential modification.
[1] Mandatory minimum sentences for juveniles convicted of discharging a firearm during enumerated felonies do not violate Graham v. …
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Reading the juvenile sentencing statutes and the 10–20–Life statute in pari materia, the following sentencing scheme emerges for nonhomicide juvenile offenders.”
Court's explanation of how to harmonize the mandatory minimum statute with individualized sentencing requirements
A juvenile was convicted of discharging a firearm during the commission of a felony, resulting in death or great bodily harm. At resentencing, the tri…
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PER CURIAM.
The State of Florida appeals from an order on resentencing of a juvenile, in which the trial court declined to impose a mandatory minimum sentence for discharging a firearm, ruling that it would be contrary to individualized consideration required by U.S. Supreme Court cases. The court declared section 775.087, Florida Statutes, the statute requiring a mandatory minimum, unconstitutional as applied to the appellee. In Martinez v. State, ___ So. 3d ___, 43 Fla. L. Weekly D2280 (Fla. 4th DCA Oct. 10, 2018), we held that the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences on juveniles does not violate Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010) and Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012). See also Young v. State, 219 So. 3d 206 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017). We thus reverse the trial court’s order and appellee’s sentence.
In his answer brief, appellee contends that section 921.1401, Florida Statutes, requiring individualized sentencing consideration for juveniles and periodic reviews, supersedes section 775.087, requiring mandatory minimum penalties. We disagree and align ourselves with the reasoning in Montgomery v. State, 230 So. 3d 1256 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017), which harmonized the two statutes:
Reading the juvenile sentencing statutes and the 10–20–Life statute in pari materia, the following sentencing scheme emerges for nonhomicide juvenile offenders. Under section 775.082(3), the court must provide a nonhomicide juvenile offender, who is convicted of certain serious offenses, an individualized sentencing hearing. If the nonhomicide juvenile offender is sentenced to more than twenty years, the court must provide a judicial review after twenty years, pursuant to section 921.1402(2)(d), to afford him or her a meaningful opportunity to obtain early release. However, if the nonhomicide juvenile offender, in the course of committing certain enumerated felonies, discharged a firearm and as the result of the discharge, inflicted death or great bodily harm, the juvenile must be sentenced to a twenty-five-year mandatory minimum. § 775.087(2), Fla. Stat. (2012). Nonetheless, he or she would still be entitled to a twenty-year statutory review of his or her sentence under section 921.1402(2)(d) with the possibility of early release. See generally Gridine v. State, 175 So. 3d 672, 675 (Fla. 2015) (reversing juvenile nonhomicide offender’s aggregate seventy-year sentence with twenty-five-year mandatory minimum because it failed to provide defendant with judicial review, and thereby, meaningful opportunity for future release). At that judicial review, after considering the enumerated factors of section 921.1402(6) along with any other factor it deems appropriate to review the juvenile’s sentence, the sentencing court is authorized to modify the sentence and impose a term of probation of at least five years if the court determines modification is warranted. § 921.1402(7), Fla. Stat. (2014). Id. at 1262-63.
Thus, after the individualized sentencing proceeding, the trial court is required to impose the mandatory minimum sentence under section 775.087. However, the juvenile is still entitled to review after twenty years, when the sentence may be modified in accordance with the statutory process.
Reversed and remanded for resentencing. GERBER, C.J., WARNER and FORST, JJ., concur. * * * Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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Citator
Cited By
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State v. Dominique Wright, 260 So. 3d 1076 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018)
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Labronx Bailey v. State (Fla. 2d DCA 2019)
Authorities Cited
- Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (U.S. 2012)
- Graham v. Florida (1st Cir. 2010)
- Shimeeka Daquiel Gridine v. State, 175 So. 3d 672 (Fla. 2015)
- Darrius Montgomery v. State, 230 So. 3d 1256 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017)
- Kendall Young v. State, 219 So. 3d 206 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017)
- Martinez v. State, 256 So. 3d 897 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018)
- State v. Dominique Wright, 260 So. 3d 1076 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018)