Opinion
No. 1D00-2305.
Opinion filed May 21, 2001.
An appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County, Brad Stetson, Judge.
Affirmed.
Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender; Edgar Lee Elzie, Jr., Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General; Alan R. Dakan, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
Appellant seeks review of his life sentence, pursuant to the Prison Releasee Reoffender Act, for robbery with a deadly weapon. He acknowledges that our prior decisions in Brown v. State, 24 Fla. L. Weekly D2753 (Fla. 1st DCA Dec. 8, 1999), and Knight v. State, 25 Fla. L. Weekly D828 (Fla. 1st DCA Mar. 27, 2000),rehearing granted in part, 25 Fla. L. Weekly D2025 (Fla. 1st DCA Aug. 22, 2000), review pending, No. SC-001987 (Fla. Sept. 21, 2000), mandate an affirmance unless we recede from them. We decline to do so. However, as in Knight, we certify the following question as one of great public importance:
DOES SECTION 775.082 (9)(A)3A, FLORIDA STATUTES (1999), WHICH MANDATES A LIFE SENTENCE FOR PRISON RELEASEE REOFFENDERS WHO COMMIT "A FELONY PUNISHABLE BY LIFE," APPLY BOTH TO LIFE FELONIES AND FIRST DEGREE FELONIES PUNISHABLE BY IMPRISONMENT FOR A TERM OF YEARS NOT EXCEEDING LIFE?
Appellant's sentence is affirmed.
ALLEN, WOLF and WEBSTER, JJ., CONCUR.