Richard Rex Capra v. State of Florida

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: February 7, 2025
• Docket: 5D2024-0090
• Status: Published

Opinion

FIFTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA _____________________________

Case No. 5D2024-0090 LT Case No. 2022-CF-665 _____________________________

RICHARD REX CAPRA,

Appellant,

v.

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Appellee. _____________________________

On appeal from the Circuit Court for Nassau County. James Hunt Daniel, Judge.

Matthew J. Metz, Public Defender, and John M. Selden, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.

John M. Guard, Acting Attorney General, and Daren L. Shippy, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

February 7, 2025

PER CURIAM.

Appellant, Richard Rex Capra, appeals his judgment and sentence arguing, inter alia, that the United States Supreme Court decision in Erlinger v. United States, 602 U.S. 821 (2024), has overruled this court’s decision in Simmons v. State, 332 So. 3d 1129 (Fla. 5th DCA 2022), and that his habitual violent felony offender (“HVFO”) sentence is unconstitutional. We reject this argument because even if the HVFO sentence was rendered in error, the error is harmless on this record. See Britten v. State, 181 So. 3d 1215, 1218 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015) (“It is well-settled that Apprendi[1] and Blakely[2] errors are subject to a harmless error analysis . . . .” (citing Washington v. Recuenco, 548 U.S. 212, 220–21 (2006))).

AFFIRMED.

EISNAUGLE, BOATWRIGHT, and KILBANE, JJ., concur.

_____________________________

Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331. _____________________________

1 Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000).

2 Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004).