Coppola v. State

938 So. 2d 507, 2006 WL 1699436
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJune 22, 2006
DocketSC01-2442
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 938 So. 2d 507 (Coppola v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coppola v. State, 938 So. 2d 507, 2006 WL 1699436 (Fla. 2006).

Opinion

938 So.2d 507 (2006)

SAMUEL A. COPPOLA, Petitioner,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, Respondent.

No. SC01-2442.

Supreme Court of Florida.

June 22, 2006.

Christine R. Davis of Carlton Fields, P.A., Tallahassee, Florida and John R. Blue of Carlton Fields, P.A., St. Petersburg, Florida, for Petitioner.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida and Kellie A. Nielan, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, Florida, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM.

We have for review Coppola v. State, 795 So. 2d 258 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001), which expressly and directly conflicts with the decisions in Murphy v. State, 773 So. 2d 1174 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000), and Jenkins v. State, 771 So. 2d 37 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. We hold that our decision in Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620 (Fla. 2000), does not constitute "newly discovered evidence" for purposes of Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850(b)(2); and because of his negotiated plea, we conclude that Coppola is barred from seeking relief under Heggs.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Samuel A. Coppola was indicted for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for crimes that occurred on March 19, 1997. On July 27, 1998, Coppola pled guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He was sentenced to thirty-five years for the second-degree murder charge and thirty years for the conspiracy charge, with the sentences to run concurrently.

On June 27, 2000, Coppola filed a pro se motion to correct illegal sentence pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). In this motion, Coppola alleged that his negotiated plea was for a sentence within the 1995 sentencing guidelines that were declared unconstitutional in Heggs. Coppola requested that he be resentenced under the correct guidelines. The trial court denied Coppola's motion, and the Fifth District affirmed in a per curiam order without opinion but citing legal authority. See Coppola v. State, 771 So. 2d 1177 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000) (table report of unpublished order).

On April 10, 2001, Coppola filed a pro se motion for postconviction relief pursuant to rule 3.850. In this motion, Coppola argued that his plea was not entered voluntarily because he entered the plea based on statements by his counsel that he would be sentenced "somewhere in the middle" of the 1995 sentencing guidelines. Coppola contended that his counsel showed him the sentencing guidelines scoresheet and explained where his points fell in relation to the sentence he would receive. Coppola alleged that he had little choice but to enter the plea because his sentence fell within the guidelines, but had he known that the guidelines were invalid, he would not have entered the plea. Based on these allegations, Coppola requested that the trial court vacate and set aside his judgment and sentence so that he could be resentenced under legal sentencing guidelines.

The trial court denied Coppola's rule 3.850 motion, ruling that the motion was untimely. The trial court also ruled that Coppola's claims were procedurally barred because the claims could have been raised on direct appeal. Finally, the trial court ruled that the record demonstrated that Coppola's plea was voluntarily entered and was not conditional or dependent upon the guidelines.

Coppola filed a pro se motion for rehearing, arguing that he should have two years from the date of the Heggs decision to raise a Heggs challenge. He argued that his rule 3.850 motion was timely because the motion was filed within two years of Heggs. The trial court denied Coppola's motion for rehearing.

Coppola appealed the trial court's order to the Fifth District Court of Appeal. According to the Fifth District, "[a] determination of the timeliness of Coppola's motion is dependent upon our determination as to whether the decision in Heggs is to be applied retroactively." See Coppola, 795 So. 2d at 259. The Fifth District adopted the reasoning of the First District in Regan v. State, 787 So. 2d 265 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001), and held that Heggs does not constitute newly discovered evidence and it does not apply retroactively. Coppola, 795 So. 2d at 259-60. The Fifth District also noted that even if Coppola's claim was timely filed, he would not be entitled to relief because he was not sentenced pursuant to a guidelines sentence, but was sentenced pursuant to a negotiated plea. See id. at 260 n. 2.

Coppola filed a notice to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court based on conflict between the decision below and Murphy v. State, 773 So. 2d 1174 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000), and Jenkins v. State, 771 So. 2d 37 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). This Court entered an order staying consideration of this case pending disposition of Banks v. State, 887 So. 2d 1191 (Fla. 2004). Thereafter, this Court accepted jurisdiction of the case.

ANALYSIS

In Heggs, we held that chapter 95-184, Laws of Florida, containing the sentencing guidelines and provisions addressing domestic violence injunctions, was unconstitutional because it violated the Florida Constitution's single-subject rule. Heggs, 759 So. 2d at 627; see also art. III, § 6, Fla. Const. Subsequent to our decision in Heggs, we explained which individuals would have standing to bring a challenge based on Heggs and defined the window period for challenging the constitutionality of the 1995 sentencing guidelines. See Trapp v. State, 760 So. 2d 924, 928 (Fla. 2000) (holding that the window for relief under Heggs was limited to those who committed their offenses between October 1, 1995, and May 24, 1997).

In Latiif v. State, 787 So. 2d 834 (Fla. 2001), we explained that "[g]enerally, the relief granted to those entitled to it under Heggs is automatic resentencing under the guidelines in effect prior to the 1995 guidelines." Id. at 836. In Latiif, the defendant's sentence was based on a plea that had been negotiated with the State. Id. at 835. The State dropped the main offense from a first-degree felony to a lesser included second-degree felony. Id. at 836. The defendant was sentenced pursuant to the 1995 sentencing guidelines and his sentence constituted an upward departure under the 1994 guidelines. Id. However, we concluded that the defendant was not entitled to automatic resentencing. Id. at 837. We held that in situations where the State has made a concession as part of the exchange for a negotiated plea, the State has the option of electing to have the defendant resentenced under the 1994 guidelines or proceeding to trial on the original charges. Id.

In Banks, we were again confronted with a defendant seeking relief pursuant to Heggs. In that case, we stated that "under Heggs, if a sentence imposed under the 1995 guidelines could have been imposed under the 1994 guidelines (without a departure), then that defendant is not entitled to relief." Banks, 887 So. 2d at 1194. We concluded that because Banks' sentence was valid under the 1994 guidelines, Banks had not raised a sufficient ground for postconviction relief. Id.

Currently, the district courts of appeal are in conflict concerning how to apply Heggs in specific circumstances.

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938 So. 2d 507, 2006 WL 1699436, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coppola-v-state-fla-2006.