Opinion
No. 4D11-2424
04-03-2013
JEROME KING, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee.
Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and James W. McIntire, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Mark J. Hamel, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
.
Appellant appeals his convictions for attempted first-degree murder and attempted robbery with a firearm and his sentences of thirty years in prison with a twenty-five year minimum mandatory. In the first two issues, appellant argues he should have been allowed to cross-examine witnesses concerning potential sentences they would face for uncharged crimes and that a detective's unobjected-to testimony constituted hearsay. We affirm these issues, as they are without merit. In the third issue, appellant contends that the trial court erred in reclassifying the attempted robbery with a firearm to a first-degree felony and sentencing him to thirty years in prison. Appellant does not challenge the imposition of the twenty-five year minimum mandatory sentence under section 775.087(2)(a)3., Florida Statutes (2009). We agree that the reclassification was in error. Because the use of a firearm is an essential element of attempted robbery with a firearm, the offense cannot be reclassified under section 775.087(1), Florida Statutes (2009). Higgins v. State, 890 So. 2d 519, 519 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for resentencing in accordance with this opinion. See Edwards v. State, 38 Fla. L. Weekly D433 (Fla. 5th DCA Feb. 22, 2013); Termitus v. State, 86 So. 3d 1179, 1181 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012).
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. DAMOORGIAN, CIKLIN and LEVINE, JJ., concur.
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Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; Michael Robinson, Judge; L.T. Case No. 10-2109CF10B.
Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and James W. McIntire, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Mark J. Hamel, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.