LEMUEL WARE
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA

Fla. 3d DCA | 2025-08-20
No. 2025-1069
Areces, J., Fernandez, J., Lobree, J., Gooden, J.
2025 FL 7219 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2025)

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Holding

Erlinger v. United States does not apply retroactively to cases that were final when decided and does not support vacating sentences in postconviction proceedings.


Headnotes

[1] A change in federal law announced in a direct-appeal case involving required jury findings does not apply retroactively to postconviction cases and does not provide groun…

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Key Quotes

“even if Erlinger v. United States, 602 U.S. 821 (2024), constitutes a change in law, it does not apply retroactively to cases that were final when it was decided”

Wainwright v. State, 411 So. 3d 392, 399 (Fla. 2025)

Facts & Procedural History

Lemuel Ware appealed from a circuit court decision in Miami-Dade County involving two lower tribunal case numbers (F09-24369 and F10-27826B).…

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Opinion of the Court
Gooden

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed August 20, 2025. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D25-1069 Lower Tribunal Nos. F09-24369, F10-27826B ________________

Lemuel Ware, Appellant,

vs.

State of Florida, Appellee.

An Appeal under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.141(b)(2) from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Ramiro C. Areces, Judge.

Lemuel Ware, in proper person.

James Uthmeier, Attorney General, for appellee.

Before FERNANDEZ, LOBREE and GOODEN, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

2

Affirmed. See Wainwright v. State, 411 So. 3d 392, 399 (Fla. 2025) (holding that, even if Erlinger v. United States, 602 U.S. 821 (2024), constitutes a change in law, it does not apply retroactively to cases that were final when it was decided); Ford v. State, 402 So. 3d 973, 981 (Fla. 2025) (“But Erlinger was a direct-appeal case—not a postconviction case like Ford’s—and it involved required jury findings regarding an element. Based on these fundamental distinctions, it is clear that Erlinger provides no support for vacating Ford's death sentences.”); Arias v. State, No. 3D25-0297, 2025 WL 1699998, at *1 (Fla. 3d DCA June 18, 2025).


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