Colon v. State

909 So. 2d 484, 2005 WL 2043007
District Court of Appeal of Florida·Decided August 26, 2005·No. 5D04-943·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinion

909 So.2d 484 (2005)

Jose Antonio COLON, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 5D04-943.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

August 26, 2005.

*485 James S. Purdy, Public Defender, and Anne Moorman Reeves, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Timothy D. Wilson, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.

*486 SAWAYA, J.

The first issue we must resolve is whether, upon resentencing Jose Colon pursuant to Heggs v. State, 759 So.2d 620 (Fla.2000), it was appropriate for the trial court to use his two convictions for capital offenses to triple his primary offense score when he was originally sentenced for the capital offenses and the primary offense at the same time. The second issue is whether the trial court erred in summarily denying Colon's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. After the factual and procedural background, each issue will be discussed in the order presented.

Factual And Procedural Background

On January 28, 1999, Colon was found guilty of the offenses charged in the following twelve counts: Counts I, II, and III—sexual activity with a child; Counts IV and V—lewd act upon a child; Count VI—lewd act in the presence of a child; Counts VII and VIII—sexual battery; Counts IX, X, and XII—lewd act upon a child; and Count XI—attempted sexual battery. Counts I through X were committed between August 1, 1996, and June 15, 1997, while Counts XI and XII were committed on August 8, 1997. Because all of these convictions were pending before the court, Colon was sentenced on all counts at the same time and on the same date, March 5, 1999. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Counts VII and VIII, which are the two capital offenses, and sixty-six years on the remaining counts. All of the sentences were ordered to be served concurrently.

On March 4, 2002, Colon filed a motion for postconviction relief in accordance with Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, claiming that he was entitled to resentencing pursuant to Heggs[1] and that he was denied effective assistance of counsel. On September 24, 2003, the court granted the motion with regard to the Heggs claim, but summarily denied Colon's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.

Colon was resentenced on February 20, 2004. Because capital offenses are not subject to the sentencing guidelines, the life sentences imposed for the capital felonies charged in Counts VII and VIII were not disturbed. However, Counts I, II, III, IV, V, VI, IX, and X, which occurred between August 1, 1996, and June 15, 1997, were rescored on a 1994 scoresheet. Because Counts XI and XII were committed on August 8, 1997, they did not fall within the Heggs window,[2] and thus they were appropriately scored under the 1995 guidelines using a 1995 scoresheet. However, the 1995 scoresheet for those offenses had to be corrected to remove the points assigned to those counts that did fall within the Heggs window. On the recalculated 1995 scoresheet, the trial court tripled the primary offense points based upon the capital offenses, which were not subject to rescoring. Colon claims this was error, which forms the basis of the first issue we address.

Use Of Colon's Capital Felonies To Triple His Primary Offense Points

The 1995 scoresheet utilized in rescoring the two counts that did not fall *487 within the Heggs window contains a score for the following: "prior capital felony triples primary offense points." This multiplier is allowed by Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.703(d)(13), which provides, in pertinent part, that "[i]f the offender has one or more prior capital felonies, points shall be added to the subtotal sentence points of the offender equal to twice the number of points the offender receives for the primary offense and any additional offense." Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.850(d)(13). Colon claims that the trial court improperly increased the primary offense points using the two capital felonies because they do not qualify as "prior" offenses. Specifically, he argues that he was originally sentenced for the capital felonies and the primary offense at the same time and, therefore, the conviction date for the capital felonies does not precede the conviction date for the primary offense. The State contends that because the capital felonies were committed prior to the commission of the offenses scored on the 1995 guidelines scoresheet, the trial court properly tripled the points for the primary offense. Alternatively, the State argues that even if Colon is correct and the calculation is adjusted, the sentences would not change and, therefore, any error is harmless.

We agree with Colon that it was inappropriate to utilize the "prior capital felonies" multiplier because the two capital felonies Colon committed are not "prior" offenses. Rule 3.703(d)(15), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, gives the following definition: "`Prior record' refers to any conviction for an offense committed by the offender prior to the commission of the primary offense, excluding any additional offenses pending before the court for sentencing." Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.703(d)(15) (emphasis added). Because the two capital felonies were pending for sentencing at the same time as the offenses alleged in Counts XI and XII, they are not prior offenses. Further, rule 3.703(d)(15)(D) states that any uncertainty in the scoring of the offender's prior record should be resolved in favor of the offender.

Moreover, as we have previously indicated, it was appropriate to originally sentence Colon for Counts XI and XII using a 1995 scoresheet pursuant to the 1995 guidelines. The only reason the 1995 scoresheet had to be recalculated is because the Heggs-eligible offenses had to be removed and recalculated under a 1994 scoresheet. Based on the recalculated 1995 scoresheet, the corrected sentence was imposed on Colon nunc pro tunc to his original sentencing date of March 5, 1999.[3] The significance of this is that the date and time of the sentences and convictions for the offenses scored on the recalculated 1995 scoresheet and the capital felony offenses remained March 5, 1999. See Shorter v. State, 891 So.2d 1146, 1147 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005) ("The Court thus convicted and sentenced appellant nunc pro tunc to the earlier date of November 18, 1996, which was when, but for a mistake, it should have been done."); Brown v. State, 786 So.2d 1257 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001). In Briseno v. Perry, 417 So.2d 813 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982), review denied, 427 So.2d 736 (Fla.1983), we explained:

Nunc pro tunc means "now for then" and when applied to the entry of a legal order or judgment it normally refers, not to a new or de novo decision, but to the judicial act previously taken, concerning which the record is absent or defective. The later record-making act constitutes but later evidence of the earlier *488 effectual act. See Luhrs v. State, 394 So.2d 137 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981), citing Becker v. King, 307 So.2d 855 (Fla. 4th DCA), cert. dismissed, 317 So.2d 76 (Fla.1975), which was recently again cited with approval by this court in Blais v. Blais, 410 So.2d 1365 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982).

Id. at 814; see also Arnett v. State, 626 So.2d 308, 309 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993) ("On the final page of Appellant's July 24, 1992, Sentence

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