Cook v. State of Florida

District Court of Appeal of Florida

Cook v. State of Florida

CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida

DecidedJanuary 22, 2025

Docket2D2023-0665

StatusPublished

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Cook v. State of Florida, (Fla. Ct. App. 2025).

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Opinion

DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA SECOND DISTRICT

THOMAS CLYDE COOK,

Appellant,

v.

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Appellee.

No. 2D2023-0665

January 22, 2025

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Sarasota County; Donna M. Padar, Judge.

Blair Allen, Public Defender, and Dane K. Chase, Special Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Natalia Reyna- Pimiento, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.

ROTHSTEIN-YOUAKIM, Judge. Thomas Clyde Cook appeals from his judgment and sentence on forty counts of possessing, controlling, or intentionally viewing child pornography, arguing that the trial court incorrectly advised him of his sentencing exposure during its Faretta1 inquiry and improperly enhanced his sentence based on a fact that had not been found by the jury beyond a reasonable doubt, in violation of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466

1 Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975). (2000). We conclude that the court did not err in its advice and that defense counsel has failed to establish Apprendi error in Cook's sentence. Accordingly, we affirm. Affirmed.

KELLY and LABRIT, JJ., Concur.

Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.

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