Reeves v. State

957 So. 2d 625, 2007 WL 1437467
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMay 17, 2007
DocketSC06-504
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 957 So. 2d 625 (Reeves 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
Reeves v. State, 957 So. 2d 625, 2007 WL 1437467 (Fla. 2007).

Opinion

957 So.2d 625 (2007)

Leroy REEVES, Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. SC06-504.

Supreme Court of Florida.

May 17, 2007.

*626 James S. Purdy, Public Defender, and Susan A. Fagan, Assistant Public Defender, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Daytona Beach, FL, for Petitioner.

Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, Mary G. Jolley and Kellie A. Nielan, Assistant Attorneys General, Daytona Beach, FL, for Respondent.

BELL, J.

When multiple crimes arise out of the same criminal episode, may a sentence under the Prison Releasee Reoffender (PRR) statute be followed by a Criminal Punishment Code (CPC) sentence that is not enhanced beyond the statutory maximum? In Reeves v. State, 920 So.2d 724 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006), the Fifth District answered this question in the affirmative. Leroy Reeves seeks review of that decision based on its express and direct conflict with the Second District's decision in Rodriguez v. State, 883 So.2d 908 (Fla.2d DCA 2004). We have jurisdiction to resolve this conflict. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.

We agree with the Fifth District and hold that a PRR sentence followed consecutively by a CPC sentence not otherwise enhanced beyond the statutory maximum is a legal sentence, even if the crimes arose from a single criminal episode. Accordingly, we approve the Fifth District's decision in Reeves and disapprove the Second District's decision in Rodriguez. In addition to resolving this conflict issue, we also agree with the Fifth District that the four crimes Reeves committed arose from two separate criminal episodes.

*627 I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On January 29, 1999, Officer Denys Neff of the Leesburg Police Department was dispatched to the Chevron gasoline station at the intersection of Main Street and Jobbins Street after the burglary alarm sounded. She approached the station and noticed that the storefront glass had been broken and that two vehicles, a Cadillac and a Ford, were parked out front. Officer Neff observed one man run out of the store and drop a box. She then observed two other men behind the Cadillac, one of whom was Reeves. These two men began running in the same direction as the first individual, then changed direction and ran back behind the Chevron store. Next, Reeves entered the Ford vehicle and proceeded onto Jobbins Street, while his companion ran into the woods. Officer Neff pursued Reeves. As Officer Neff approached, the Ford began to slow down, and Reeves fled the still-moving vehicle. Officer Neff wrestled with Reeves in an attempt to apprehend him, but he was able to escape and run into the woods. Officer Neff returned to the Chevron store, set up a perimeter, and noticed that the trunk of the Cadillac was filled with stolen boxes of cigarettes. Two hours later, Reeves was taken into custody after being detected by a canine unit. The officers brought Reeves to the Chevron station where Officer Neff identified him.

A jury convicted Reeves of four third-degree felonies as charged: count (1) burglary of a structure; count (2) grand theft; count (3) resisting a law enforcement officer with violence; and count (4) battery on a law enforcement officer. At sentencing, the court imposed the five-year sentence mandated by the Prison Releasee Reoffender (PRR) statute, section 775.082(9), Florida Statutes (Supp.1998), for Count (3). This PRR sentence was followed by three consecutive five-year sentences under the Criminal Punishment Code (CPC) for counts (1), (2), and (4). Reeves, 920 So.2d at 725.

Subsequently, Reeves filed a Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a) motion to correct an illegal sentence. He argued that his consecutive sentences were illegal because they arose from a single criminal episode. The trial court denied the motion, determining that each of Reeves' offenses was separate and not part of the same criminal episode. See id.

On appeal, the Fifth District concluded that there were two criminal episodes, the first consisting of the burglary and grand theft charges, and the second consisting of the resisting with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer charges. Id. Further, the Fifth District held that "a PRR sentence, followed by a consecutive criminal punishment code sentence not otherwise enhanced beyond the statutory maximum, is not an illegal sentence, even if the crimes arise from a single episode." Id. at 726. The court reasoned that, "[u]nlike a habitual offender sentence, a PRR sentence is not enhanced beyond the statutory maximum; rather, the PRR statute establishes that the only lawful sentence for a PRR offender is the statutory maximum, which must be served in its entirety." Id. (citing § 775.082(9), Fla. Stat. (2004); Powell v. State, 881 So.2d 1180, 1182 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)). On this basis, the court affirmed in part but remanded solely to permit the trial court to clarify the sentencing documents to reflect that the PRR sentence must be served first to allow Reeves the opportunity to earn gain time and to preserve his entitlement to any possible early release. Id. at 725 (citing Powell, 881 So.2d at 1182).

Reeves filed a notice to invoke the discretionary jurisdiction of this Court properly citing conflict with the Second District's *628 holding in Rodriguez v. State, 883 So.2d 908 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004). In Rodriguez, the Second District determined that "consecutive sentences, which arise from one criminal episode and together exceed the maximum incarceration permitted for any individual count under the Prison Releasee Reoffender Punishment Act" are illegal. 833 So.2d at 909. We accepted jurisdiction to resolve the decisional conflict. However, prior to discussing this decisional conflict, we must resolve another issue Reeves raises in this case.

II. DISCUSSION

Reeves first claims that all four of his crimes arose from the same criminal episode. He then raises the conflict issue. He asserts that the sentences imposed for each of his four crimes must run concurrently because his sentence under the PRR statute is the maximum he can receive for the one criminal episode. If accepted, his argument is that his total sentence cannot exceed five years. We disagree and conclude (1) that there were two separate criminal episodes and (2) that the Legislature intended that courts have the discretion to impose PRR and CPC sentences consecutively for crimes arising out of the same episode.

A.

As to Reeves' first claim, we agree with the Fifth District that there were two distinct criminal episodes. See Reeves, 920 So.2d at 725. Episode one occurred at the Chevron station and involved count (1) burglary of a structure and count (2) grand theft. Episode two occurred at the church behind the Chevron station and involved count (3) resisting a law enforcement officer with violence and count (4) battery on a law enforcement officer. See State v. Paul, 934 So.2d 1167, 1173 (Fla.2006) (similar facts).

Reeves concedes that if he had received standard CPC sentences for the four offenses committed in these two episodes, the trial court would have had the discretion to impose his sentences consecutively, resulting in a twenty-year sentence. See § 775.021(4), Fla. Stat. (1997); Lifred v. State, 643 So.2d 94, 96 (Fla.

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Bluebook (online)
957 So. 2d 625, 2007 WL 1437467, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reeves-v-state-fla-2007.