LEROY BROWN BAKER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Leroy Brown Baker appealed his conviction and sentences for two counts of child molestation arising from the same criminal act. The court reversed in part and affirmed in part, holding that because both counts charged the same transaction, only one sentence could be imposed, and the sentence under the Child Molester Law superseded the sentence under the general statute.
A defendant cannot receive separate sentences for multiple counts charging the same criminal transaction; only one sentence is valid. When both the Child Molester Law and Section 800.04 apply to the same conduct, the penalty provisions of the Child Molester Law supersede those of Section 800.04. Therefore, the 6 months to 10 year sentence on count two is invalid, and only the 6 months to 15 year sentence on count one stands.
“on a second count, sentence may be entered either (sic) though the sentence * * * even though the act charged in Count Two is the same act in Count One under a different name. And as long as the sentences are concurrent the question is moot, since it constitutes in effect really only one sentence.”
Trial court's reasoning that the two counts constitute one criminal act and concurrent sentences cure any multiplicity problem
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBaker pleaded guilty to two counts: (1) committing a lewd and lascivious act in the presence of a female child under 14 years old, and (2) handling an…
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Leroy Brown Baker has filed an appeal, upon conviction, from two sentences imposed upon a two count information.
Baker pleaded guilty with counsel to the information which charged him with committing on the same day (1) a lewd and lascivious act in the presence of a female child under the age of fourteen years, and (2) handling and fondling a female child under the age of fourteen years.
The court sentenced Baker to serve 6 months to 15 years, under the child molester law, on the first count and 6 months to 10 years on the second count. The sentences run concurrently.
During the proceedings for reconsideration of sentence, the court, with reference to sentence on both counts, stated:
“I think that six months to 15 years under that child molester law is a valid sentence. I think the court also held, *688and I don’t have the citation at hand, that on a second count, sentence may be entered either (sic) though the sentence * * * even though the act charged in Count Two is the same act in Count One under a different name. And as long as the sentences are concurrent the question is moot, since it constitutes in effect really only one sentence.”
Section 800.04, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., the basis for the criminality charged in both counts, states:
“Lewd, lascivious or indecent assault or act upon or in presence of child. — Any person who shall handle, fondle or make an assault upon any male or female child under the age of fourteen years in a lewd, lascivious or indecent manner, or who shall knowingly commit any lewd or lascivious act in the presence of such child, without intent to commit rape where such child is female, shall be deemed guilty of a felony and punished by imprisonment in the state prison or county jail for not more than ten years.”
Chapter 801, the Child Molester Law, also brings lewd and lascivious acts within its provisions and Section 801.03 of the law empowers a judge, within his discretion, to sentence a defendant convicted of any of the acts included in Section 801.02 (as well as lewd and lascivious acts) to a maximum of twenty-five years.
Thus, Section 800.04, as well as the Child Molester Law, prohibits the offenses defined in Section 800.04 yet each statute provides a different penalty therefor.
Ross v. State, Fla.App.1959, 112 So.2d 69, dealt with the problem of different penalties and held that the penalty provision of Section 801.02 supersedes the conflicting provisions for penalty in Section 800.04.
Turning to the propriety of sentencing on both counts, we must adhere to the authority pf Buchanan v. State, Fla.App.1959, 111 So.2d 51. In Buchanan, the petitioner received, under the Child Molester Law, two consecutive twenty year sentences imposed upon two counts of an information similar to the information here. The court upheld the constitutionality of the Child Molester Law and remanded the case to the trial judge to determine whether the acts charged constituted part of the same transaction. If only one transaction occurred then petitioner could receive only one sentence.
Here the trial court has already determined that the two counts, in effect, only charged one criminal act and therefore, by our discussion, only one sentence is valid.
Since only one act is charged and the penalty provisions of the Child Molester Law supersede the penalty in Section 800.04, the six months to ten year sentence has no validity while the six months to fifteen year sentence imposed upon the first count stands uncorrected.
Reversed in part, affirmed in part.
SHANNON and PIERCE, JJ., concur.
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Baker v. State, 206 So. 2d 441 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968)…inal act and therefore “ * * * only one sentence is valid”. The sentence under the second count was thereupon vacated and the sentence under the first count or from six months to fifteen years imprisonment was affirmed. Baker v. State, Fla.App.1967, 194 So. 2d 687. The mandate from this Court was filed in the Circuit Court on February 24, 1967, and on August 7, 1967, Baker filed in said Court a Motion to Vacate the sentence under C.P.R. 1, as to the remaining first count. The gist of the motion is that the f…
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Wolf v. State, 282 So. 2d 668 (Fla. 2d DCA 1973)…Child Molester Act. Florida Statutes, Section 801.041, F.S.A., provides that one convicted under Florida Statutes, Section 800.04, F.S.A., is subject to the provisions of Chapter 801, supra, and, this court so held in Baker v. State, Fla.App. 1967, 194 So. 2d 687, and Baker v. State, Fla.App.1968, 206 So. 2d 441. Florida Statutes, Section 801.051, F.S.A., provides as follows: When a person has been convicted of an offense within the meaning of this chapter, the trial judge shall then appoint not less than…
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Schroeder v. State, 252 So. 2d 270 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971)…orida, 1955; and Chapter 57-1990, Laws of Florida, 1957. There is some dicta in other cases which suggest a contrary conclusion, hut we believe that those cases do not really squarely decide the issue. See for example, Baker v. State, Fla.App.1967, 194 So. 2d 687, wherein the Second District states that the Child Molester Law and F.S. section 800.04, F.S.A., both prohibit the offense defined in F.S. section 800.04, F.S.A. See also a like suggestion in Fritzberg v. State, 5 Cir. 1969, 416 F. 2d 917, and Baker…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Buchanan v. State of Fla. & Nathan Mayo, 111 So. 2d 51 (Fla. 1st DCA 1959)
- Ross v. State, 112 So. 2d 69 (Fla. 3d DCA 1959)