Canales v. State, 90-428
| Decision Date | 13 December 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 90-428,90-428 |
| Citation | 571 So.2d 87 |
| Parties | 15 Fla. L. Weekly D2990 Francisco CANALES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
James B. Gibson, Public Defender and Glen P. Gifford, Asst. Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee and Anthony J. Golden, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee.
On March 25, 1989 at around 1:20 a.m. Francisco Canales, while intoxicated, drove through a traffic signal at about 70 miles per hour hitting and killing two teenage boys properly crossing the intersection. He fled the scene and attempted to clean his car at the Econo Lodge, his place of employment, before returning to his room. He was observed by his employer who called the police.
Canales pled no contest to two counts of DUI manslaughter, one count of leaving the scene and one count of driving with a suspended driver's license. Based upon a prior New York conviction for manslaughter, 1 the trial court found that Canales was an habitual violent felony offender and sentenced him to consecutive terms of 30 years for each DUI manslaughter and five years each on the two remaining counts.
Since this offense occurred on March 25, 1989, the controlling statute is the 1988 version of section 775.084, Florida Statutes. Appellant argues that the plain wording of the habitual felony offender statute does not authorize an enhanced sentence when one of the two felonies was committed out of state.
Section 775.084(1)(a) defines an habitual felony offender as a defendant who has previously been convicted of two or more felonies in this state. Since this is appellant's first offense in Florida, he clearly does not fall within the definition; however, section 775.084(1)(b) defines an habitual violent felony offender as a defendant who has been convicted of one or more of the following offenses: arson, sexual battery, robbery, kidnapping, aggravated child abuse, aggravated assault, murder, manslaughter, unlawful throwing, placing, or discharging a destructive device or bomb, or armed burglary. Under the habitual violent felony provision there is no requirement that the prior violent felony be committed in Florida.
Canales urges that since the habitual violent felony offender provision does not specifically permit the enumerated offenses to have been committed outside Florida, we should apply the rule of lenity set out in section 775.021,...
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Smith v. Singletary
...a defendant's sentence as a habitual violent felony offender under Fla. Stat. § 775.084(1)(b) (Supp.1988). 3 See Canales v. State, 571 So.2d 87, 88 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1990). Smith contends that he would have accepted the state's plea offer if his counsel had properly advised him that the cour......
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Clark v. State
...using an out-of-state conviction as a predicate qualifying a defendant as a habitual violent felony offender. See Canales v. State, 571 So.2d 87, 88-89 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990). The court Section 775.084(1)(a) defines an habitual felony offender as a defendant who has previously been convicted o......
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Lock v. State
...See Rucker v. State, 626 So.2d 276 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993). But see Richardson v. State, 622 So.2d 1061 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993); Canales v. State, 571 So.2d 87 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990). We reverse and remand for resentencing. Although it is possible that Mr. Lock is now entitled to receive a sentence pur......
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White v. State, 94-1276
...as a violent felony offender based on a previous felony conviction approximately the equivalent of DUI/manslaughter. Canales v. State, 571 So.2d 87 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990). In the prior direct appeal, based on this court's records, White in fact challenged his violent habitual felony offender s......