McDonald v. State

957 So. 2d 605, 2007 WL 1437448
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMay 17, 2007
DocketSC05-2141
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 957 So. 2d 605 (McDonald 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
McDonald v. State, 957 So. 2d 605, 2007 WL 1437448 (Fla. 2007).

Opinion

957 So.2d 605 (2007)

Roy McDONALD, Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. SC05-2141.

Supreme Court of Florida.

May 17, 2007.

*606 Abe Bailey, Miami, Florida, and Clayton R. Kaeiser, Miami Beach, FL, for Petitioner.

Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, Celia A. Terenzio, Bureau Chief, and Joseph A. Tringali, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, FL, for Respondent.

BELL, J.

We review the decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in McDonald v. State, 912 So.2d 74 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005), in which it certified conflict on two issues. First, it certified conflict with the decisions of the Second District Court of Appeal in Hall v. State, 837 So.2d 1179, 1180 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003), and Helms v. State, 890 So.2d 1256 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005), on the issue of whether the mandatory minimum sentence under the Prison Releasee Reoffender (PRR) statute, section 775.082(9) Florida Statutes (2000), must be imposed concurrently with a lesser mandatory minimum sentence under section 775.087, Florida Statutes (2000) (the 10-20-LIFE statute). Second, the Fourth District certified conflict with the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal in Frazier v. State, 877 So.2d 838 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004), on the issue of whether the mandatory sentence for first-degree robbery with a firearm under the PRR statute is thirty years or life in prison.[1] As we explain, we approve the Fourth District's decision in McDonald. We hold (1) that a mandatory minimum 10-20-LIFE sentence must be imposed concurrently with a PRR sentence even when the 10-20-LIFE sentence is the lesser sentence and (2) that the mandatory sentence for first-degree robbery with a firearm under the PRR statute is life in prison. Accordingly, we disapprove the decisions in Hall and Helms as to the first conflict issue. To the extent it conflicts with McDonald, we disapprove Frazier as to the second conflict issue.[2]

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The background of this case was well summarized by the Fourth District in McDonald as follows:

*607 Roy McDonald appeals the denial of his Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a) motion which raised five claims of an illegal sentence. We affirm the trial court's denial of all five claims. We write to address two of the claims and sit en banc to recede from a series of prior decisions by this court which the state has shown are clearly contrary to the plain meaning and legislative intent of the 10-20-LIFE statute. § 775.087, Fla. Stat. (2000).
McDonald was convicted after jury trial of five felony counts: carjacking with a firearm, two counts of robbery with a firearm, aggravated fleeing and eluding, and grand theft auto. Because he committed these offenses just over two months after being released from prison, McDonald was properly designated and sentenced as a prison releasee reoffender (PRR) on the first three counts which are enumerated offenses under the PRR statute. § 775.082(9)(a)1, Fla. Stat. (2000). The trial court imposed concurrent mandatory life sentences on the carjacking with a firearm and robbery with a firearm counts. § 775.082(9)(a)3a, Fla. Stat. (2000). As a PRR, McDonald must serve 100 percent of his life sentences and is not eligible for any form of early release. § 775.082(9)(b), Fla. Stat. (2000).
In addition to these mandatory minimum life sentences as a PRR, the trial court imposed concurrent ten-year mandatory minimum sentences on these counts for McDonald's possession of a firearm during the offenses. § 775.087(2)(a)1, Fla. Stat. (2000) (10-20-LIFE statute).

912 So.2d at 74-75.

As stated above, the Fourth District considered two issues and certified conflict on each. First, the Fourth District considered "the legality of imposing mandatory minimum penalties under the PRR statute concurrently with the mandatory minimum penalties of the 10-20-LIFE statute." Id. at 75. It determined that the language of the 10-20-LIFE statute requires that "the mandatory minimum terms of incarceration be included even where those terms are less than the sentence authorized under the PRR statute or any other provision of law." Id. Accordingly, the Fourth District receded from its prior holdings in which it had extended this Court's decision in Grant v. State, 770 So.2d 655 (Fla.2000), to prohibit concurrent sentencing where the 10-20-LIFE statute would impose a sentence equal to or less than the sentence under the PRR statute. See McDonald, 912 So.2d at 75-76. On this issue, the Fourth District certified conflict with the decisions of the Second District in Hall and Helms.

Second, the Fourth District considered McDonald's claim "that he was improperly given mandatory life sentences for his convictions for robbery with a firearm" because, according to Frazier v. State, 877 So.2d 838 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004), "under the PRR statute the mandatory sentence for robbery is thirty years in prison." McDonald, 912 So.2d at 77 (citing §§ 812.13(2)(a), 775.082(9)(a)(3), Fla. Stat. (2000)). It determined that under this Court's precedent in Knight v. State, 808 So.2d 210, 212 (Fla.2002), "the PRR statute requires a mandatory life sentence be imposed for any felony punishable by life, including first degree felonies punishable by life." 912 So.2d at 77. On this second issue, the Fourth District certified conflict with Frazier.

We discuss each conflict issue in turn.

CERTIFIED CONFLICT ISSUES

I. Concurrent Sentencing Under the PRR Statute and the 10-20-LIFE Statute

We approve the Fourth District's determination that the mandatory minimum *608 sentence under the PRR statute must be imposed concurrently with a lesser mandatory minimum sentence under the 10-20-LIFE statute. To explain our reasoning, we first summarize the Fourth District's reasoning in receding from its prior decisions in which it had extended our holding in Grant as well as its analysis of the language of the 10-20-LIFE statute. We then conduct a de novo review and briefly explain why we agree with the Fourth District's analysis.

The Fourth District's Analysis in McDonald

In McDonald, the Fourth District receded from a series of its prior decisions extending this Court's holding in Grant to the question of whether the imposition of concurrent sentences under the 10-20-LIFE statute and the PRR statute was permissible.[3] The issue we addressed in Grant was whether a sentence under section 775.084, Florida Statutes (1997), the Habitual Felony Offender (HFO) statute, could be imposed concurrently with a sentence under the PRR statute where both sentences were of equal duration, but where the HFO sentence allowed for gain time and the PRR sentence did not. 770 So.2d at 659. Based on the language of the PRR statute expressing the Legislature's intent that "qualifying offenders be punished to the `fullest extent of the law,' including the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences," this Court held that the HFO sentence could be imposed concurrently with the PRR sentence only if the HFO sentence was greater than the PRR sentence. Id. (quoting § 775.082(8)(d)(1), Fla. Stat. (1997)).

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Bluebook (online)
957 So. 2d 605, 2007 WL 1437448, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcdonald-v-state-fla-2007.