Opinion
Case Nos. 6D23-68 6D23-56
06-30-2023
Deondre L. POWELL, Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
Howard L. "Rex" Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Joanna Beth Conner, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant. Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Helene S. Parnes, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
Howard L. "Rex" Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Joanna Beth Conner, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Helene S. Parnes, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
MIZE, J.
In the trial below, Deondre L. Powell ("Defendant") was convicted of (1) burglary of a dwelling with an assault or battery while armed with a firearm; (2) attempted robbery; (3) aggravated battery; and (4) three counts of aggravated assault. In this consolidated appeal, Defendant appeals the trial court's rulings on the admission of certain evidence. The State appeals the trial court's imposition of a fifty-year sentence rather than life imprisonment on Defendant's conviction of burglary of a dwelling with an assault or battery while armed with a firearm.
This case was transferred from the Second District Court of Appeal to this Court on January 1, 2023.
As to the evidentiary issues raised by Defendant, we find no error and affirm without further discussion. As to the State's argument regarding the sentence on the conviction of burglary of a dwelling with an assault or battery while armed with a firearm, we reverse and remand with instructions for the trial court to enter a life sentence.
Pursuant to section 775.082(9)(a)1., Florida Statutes (2019), a "prison releasee reoffender" includes "any defendant who commits, or attempts to commit," one of certain enumerated felonies "within 3 years after being released from a state correctional facility operated by the Department of Corrections...following incarceration for an offense for which the sentence is punishable by more than 1 year in this state."
"If the state attorney determines that a defendant is a prison releasee reoffender..., the state attorney may seek to have the court sentence the defendant as a prison releasee reoffender." § 775.082(9)(a)3., Fla. Stat. (2019). "Upon proof from the state attorney that establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that a defendant is a prison releasee reoffender..., such defendant is not eligible for sentencing under the sentencing guidelines and must be sentenced" as set forth in the statute. Id. For a felony punishable by life, the statute requires a life sentence. § 775.082(9)(a)3.a., Fla. Stat. (2019).
Burglary of a dwelling with an assault or battery while armed with a firearm is one of the enumerated felonies for which a defendant may be designated a prison releasee reoffender and it is also a felony punishable by life. In the proceedings below, the State sought to have the trial court designate Defendant as a prison releasee reoffender, which the trial court did. Once Defendant was convicted of a felony punishable by life and designated as a prison releasee reoffender, section 775.082(9)(a)3.a mandated that the trial court impose a life sentence. See also Willingham v. State , 315 So. 3d 708, 712–13 (Fla. 4th DCA 2021) (holding that, under the plain language of the statute, "the trial court was therefore required to sentence the defendant to life imprisonment" and "there is no judicial discretion to impose a different sentence").
In his Answer Brief to the State's appeal, Defendant does not contest that the trial court was required to sentence him to life imprisonment. Defendant argues, however, that we should nevertheless affirm his sentence because, given Defendant's age, a sentence of fifty years is the functional equivalent of a life sentence.
Section 775.082(9)(a)3.a required the trial court to sentence Defendant to "a term of imprisonment for life," not the functional equivalent thereof. Accordingly, we reverse the sentence on the conviction of burglary of a dwelling with an assault or battery while armed with a firearm and remand this case to the trial court with instructions to enter a life sentence on this conviction.
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and REMANDED with instructions.
TRAVER, C.J., and SMITH, J., concur.