Opinion
No. 1D00-1132.
November 27, 2001.
An appeal from the Circuit Court for Alachua County. Wallace M. Jopling, Senior Judge.
Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, Carl S. McGinnes, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant/Cross-Appellee.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Charmaine M. Millsaps, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
We reverse and remand as to the State of Florida's cross-appeal for the trial court to sentence appellant as a prison releasee reoffender. Woods v. State, 740 So.2d 20 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999), aff'd sub nom., State v. Cotton, 769 So.2d 345 (Fla. 2000). As in Knight v. State, 791 So.2d 490 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000) (on mot. for reh'g and cert.), rev. granted, No. 796 So.2d 537 (Fla. 2001), we certify the following question to be of great public importance:
Appellant's direct appeal was voluntarily dismissed.
DOES SECTION 775.082(9)(a)(3)(a), 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?
REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings.
ERVIN, KAHN and DAVIS, JJ., CONCUR.