Bowers v. State

Full title: James BOWERS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

Date published: Apr 30, 2014

138 So. 3d 545 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2014)

Opinion

No. 4D12–1844.

2014-04-30

James BOWERS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; Thomas M. Lynch, IV, Judge; L.T. Case No. 93–15435 CF10C. Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and Anthony Calvello, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Melvin G. Mosier, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; Thomas M. Lynch, IV, Judge; L.T. Case No. 93–15435 CF10C.
Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and Anthony Calvello, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Melvin G. Mosier, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
PER CURIAM.

Affirmed. See Guzman v. State, 110 So.3d 480 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013). We certify conflict with Thomas v. State, 78 So.3d 644 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011), and certify the following questions to the Florida Supreme Court:

1. DOES GRAHAM V. FLORIDA, 560 U.S. 48, 130 S.Ct. 2011, 176 L.Ed.2d 825 (2010), APPLY TO LENGTHY TERM–OF–YEARS SENTENCES THAT AMOUNT TO DE FACTO LIFE SENTENCES?

2. IF SO, AT WHAT POINT DOES A TERM–OF–YEARS SENTENCE BECOME A DE FACTO LIFE SENTENCE?

Affirmed; conflict certified; questions certified. TAYLOR, CONNER and KLINGENSMITH, JJ., concur.