ERESTER MARKQUE ASHFORD
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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The appellate court affirmed a defendant's conviction and sentence for attempted carjacking, burglary, and assault. The defendant argued his sentence was unconstitutional because the judge, not a jury, determined he qualified as a prison releasee reoffender, citing a recent Supreme Court decision. The court found any potential error to be harmless.
The court affirmed the conviction and sentence, holding that any error in the judge determining the defendant's status as a prison releasee reoffender was harmless.
[1] A motion to correct sentencing error under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b)(2) must be served before the party's first brief is served.
[2] Once a party has served its initial brief, the opportunity to file a motion to correct sentencing error in the trial court during the pendency of an appeal is foreclosed.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Appellant Erester Markque Ashford was convicted of attempted carjacking, burglary of a conveyance, and assault (a lesser-included offense of the attempted carjacking charged in count III of the information).”
Establishes the defendant's convictions.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceErester Markque Ashford was convicted of attempted carjacking, burglary of a conveyance, and assault. The trial court designated him a prison releasee…
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March 7, 2025 SOUD, J.
Appellant Erester Markque Ashford was convicted of attempted carjacking, burglary of a conveyance, and assault (a lesser-included offense of the attempted carjacking charged in count III of the information). The trial court designated him a prison releasee reoffender pursuant to section 775.082(9), Florida Statutes (2021), and sentenced him to fifteen years in the Florida state prison system. Ashford appeals his judgment and sentence arguing, inter alia, that based on the recent United States Supreme Court decision in Erlinger v. United States, 602 U.S. 821 (2024), his sentence is unconstitutional because a jury—not the trial judge—was required to decide whether Ashford met the statutory requirements of a prison releasee reoffender.
We affirm in all respects and reject Ashford’s arguments based on Erlinger. While we do not reach the merits of his arguments as to Erlinger’s impact, if any, upon existing Florida Statutes and caselaw,* even if, arguendo, any error occurred here, such an error would be harmless. See Capra v. State, 50 Fla. L. Weekly D332 (Fla. 5th DCA Feb. 7, 2025) (quoting Britten v. State, 181 So. 3d 1215, 1218 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015)).
AFFIRMED.
It is so ordered.
MACIVER and PRATT, JJ., concur.
_____________________________ Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Erlinger v. United States, 602 U.S. 821 (U.S. 2024)
- Wilman Ramon Collando-Pena v. State, 141 So. 3d 229 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014)
- Hill v. State, 890 So. 2d 368 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)
- Hale v. Crosby, 921 So. 2d 9 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005)