Chapa v. State

Full title: Daniel CHAPA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

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

Date published: Mar 11, 2015

159 So. 3d 361 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2015)

Opinion

No. 4D12–3138.

03-11-2015

Daniel CHAPA, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and John M. Conway, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Nancy Jack, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and John M. Conway, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Nancy Jack, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Appellant challenges his sentence under the Prison Releasee Reoffender Act, arguing that, under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), and Alleyne v. United States, ––– U.S. ––––, 133 S.Ct. 2151, 186 L.Ed.2d 314 (2013), the Act unconstitutionally allowed the judge, rather than the jury, to find appellant qualified as a prison releasee reoffender. We affirm, adopting the reasoning of Williams v. State, 143 So.3d 423 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014), and Lopez v. State, 135 So.3d 539 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014), which hold that the facts found by the judge under the Act are not elements of the offense and are within the “prior conviction” exception to Apprendi.

Affirmed.

WARNER, MAY and GERBER, JJ., concur.