STATE OF FLORIDA
v.
SHELTON JACKSON
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Orders denying a state's motions to rescind final resentencing orders are not appealable under Florida law because the postconviction relief was already granted in the original resentencing orders, which became final when not appealed within 30 days. The state's right to appeal in criminal cases depends entirely on statutory authorization, which sections 924.066 and 924.07 do not provide for such motions.
[1] A state's right to appeal in a criminal case is wholly dependent on statutory authorization, and appellate jurisdiction statutes must be construed narrowly.
[2] Orders denying a motion to rescind a final resentencing order are not appealable as orders granting postconviction relief when the postconviction relief was already grant…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The State's right to appeal in a criminal case is wholly dependent on statutory authorization, and this Court must construe the statute narrowly.”
Establishes the foundational principle that state appellate rights in criminal cases are strictly limited to those provided by statute.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSix juvenile offenders were sentenced to life in prison and later granted resentencing pursuant to Atwell v. State, which held that juvenile life sent…
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FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
_____________________________
No. 1D18-5224
_____________________________
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellant,
v.
SHELTON JACKSON,
Appellee.
_____________________________
On appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County. Mark Borello, Judge.
_____________________________
No. 1D18-5246
_____________________________
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellant,
v.
JACKIE LEE COGDELL,
Appellee.
_____________________________
On appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County. Bruce Anderson, Judge. _____________________________
No. 1D18-5247
_____________________________
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellant,
v.
CARNELL ERNEST GRAYER,
Appellee.
_____________________________
On appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County. Bruce Anderson, Judge.
_____________________________
No. 1D19-0111
_____________________________
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellant,
v.
KENNETH LOWE,
Appellee.
_____________________________
On appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County. Steven B. Whittington, Judge.
2 _____________________________
No. 1D19-0122
_____________________________
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellant,
v.
ALEXANDER JONES,
Appellee.
_____________________________
On appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County. Steven B. Whittington, Judge.
_____________________________
No. 1D19-0124
_____________________________
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellant,
v.
DARNELL SMITH,
Appellee.
_____________________________
On appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County. Steven B. Whittington, Judge.
3 July 22, 2019
PER CURIAM.
Appellees in these cases, which we consolidate for disposition, were each sentenced to life in prison for offenses committed as juveniles and were all later granted resentencing pursuant to Atwell v. State, 197 So. 3d 1040 (Fla. 2016) (holding that a juvenile life sentence with the possibility of parole violates the Eighth Amendment as it is effectively a life sentence without parole under Florida’s statutory parole process). The State did not appeal the orders granting resentencing. Prior to any of the Appellees being resentenced, the Florida Supreme Court issued an opinion in State v. Michel, 257 So. 3d 3 (Fla. 2018), which implicitly overruled Atwell, finding that a juvenile offender’s life sentence with the possibility of parole after 25 years does not violate the Eighth Amendment because the juvenile has a meaningful opportunity to receive parole. The Florida Supreme Court later held similarly in Franklin v. State, 258 So. 3d 1239 (Fla. 2018).
After the mandate issued in Michel but before Franklin became final, the State filed in each case a motion to rescind the order that granted resentencing. The State argued that the change in the law effected by Michel warranted this relief. Alternatively, the State sought to stay resentencing until the opinion in Franklin became final. In each case, the circuit court denied the State’s motion, finding that it lacked jurisdiction to rescind the order granting resentencing. The State then appealed. Appellees now file motions to dismiss arguing that this Court lacks jurisdiction to review the orders denying the State’s motions to rescind. We agree that the orders are not appealable. The State’s right to appeal in a criminal case is wholly dependent on statutory authorization, and this Court must construe the statute narrowly. Exposito v. State, 891 So. 2d 525, 527-28 (Fla. 2004). The plain language of sections 924.066 and 924.07, Florida Statutes (2018), does not authorize these appeals.
The State argues that the orders denying the motions to rescind are appealable as orders granting postconviction relief. See § 924.066(2), Fla. Stat. (2018); Fla. R. App. P. 9.140(c)(1)(J).
4 However, the postconviction relief in these cases had already been granted in the orders granting resentencing. As the circuit court has noted in the orders now appealed, the time for the State to seek review of the orders granting resentencing was within 30 days after those orders were rendered. The orders granting resentencing are now final. Simmons v. State, 2019 WL 2128216, *2 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019); Jordan v. State, 81 So. 3d 595, 596 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012). Rather than granting postconviction relief, the orders denying the State’s motions to rescind merely found that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to reconsider the orders granting resentencing.
The State also argues that the orders denying its motions to rescind are appealable as orders imposing an illegal sentence. See § 924.07(1)(e), Fla. Stat. (2018); Fla. R. App. P. 9.140(c)(1)(M). We reject this argument as resentencing has not yet taken place. Once the Appellees are resentenced, the State may appeal any sentence that it believes to be illegal.
Accordingly, these appeals are DISMISSED.
LEWIS, ROBERTS, and M.K. THOMAS, JJ., concur.
_____________________________
Not final until disposition of any timely and
authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331.
_____________________________
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tabitha R. Herrera and Kaitlin Weiss, Assistant Attorneys General, Tallahassee, for Appellant.
Charlie Cofer, Public Defender, and Elizabeth Hogan Webb, Assistant Public Defender, Jacksonville, for Appellees.
5
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Atwell v. State, 197 So. 3d 1040 (Fla. 2016)
- State v. Budry Michel, 257 So. 3d 3 (Fla. 2018)
- Franklin v. State, 258 So. 3d 1239 (Fla. 2018)
- Exposito v. State, 891 So. 2d 525 (Fla. 2004)
- Jordan v. State, 81 So. 3d 595 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012)