Denson v. State, No. 1D12–5794.

• Court: Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
• Writing for the Court: BENTON
• Citation: 143 So.3d 1198
• Parties: Dalvin Lorenzo DENSON, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Decision Date: 18 August 2014
• Docket Number: No. 1D12–5794.

143 So.3d 1198

Dalvin Lorenzo DENSON, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 1D12–5794.

District Court of Appeal of Florida,
First District.

Aug. 18, 2014.

Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and Kathleen Stover, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.

[143 So.3d 1199]

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Jennifer J. Moore, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

BENTON, J.

Dalvin Lorenzo Denson appeals the imposition of consecutive mandatory minimum sentences aggregating seventy-five years, pursuant to section 775.087(2)(d), Florida Statutes (2011). We affirm on the basis of stare decisis. See Fleming v. State, 135 So.3d 531 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014); Smart v. State, 114 So.3d 1048 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013). See also Morgan v. State, 137 So.3d 1075 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014). But see Roberts v. State, 990 So.2d 671 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008); Perry v. State, 973 So.2d 1289 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008); Church v. State, 967 So.2d 1073 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007); Irizarry v. State, 946 So.2d 555 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006).

Mr. Denson stood trial on multiple charges alleged in connection with a marijuana transaction gone awry. Charged with two counts of attempted first-degree felony murder, two counts of attempted murder in the second degree, attempted robbery with a firearm, and carrying a concealed firearm, he was found guilty by the jury on all six counts.¹ Evidence the state adduced permitted the jury to find that, on September 1, 2011, when Suad Rizvanovic and Meho Pasic decided he lacked sufficient funds to close the deal and began to walk away, Mr. Denson opened fire and hit them both.

For each count of attempted first-degree felony murder, he was sentenced to life in prison, with a twenty-five-year mandatory minimum term. For carrying a concealed weapon, he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, with no minimum mandatory. The trial court ordered that the life sentences for the two attempted first-degree felony murder convictions and the five-year sentence for carrying a concealed weapon be served concurrently. For attempted robbery with a firearm, he was sentenced to twenty-five years' imprisonment, also with a twenty-five-year mandatory minimum term. The trial court ordered that he serve the twenty-five year sentence for attempted robbery with a firearm consecutively to the concurrent sentences. The trial court also ordered that the three twenty-five-year minimum mandatory terms, all imposed pursuant to section 775.087(2)(a), be served consecutively to one another.²

On the basis of controlling precedent, we reject Mr. Denson's argument that the

[143 So.3d 1200]

trial court erred in imposing consecutive mandatory minimum terms pursuant to section 775.087(2)(d), Florida Statutes (2011). See Fleming, 135 So.3d at 531 (“[W]ith regard to the mandatory minimum sentence for Count II (possession of a firearm by a convicted felon) imposed consecutively to Count I (attempted first degree murder), such a consecutive sentence is mandated.”); Walton v. State, 106 So.3d 522, 528 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013), review granted,No. SC13–1652, 2014 WL 1654326 (Fla. Apr. 3, 2014) (“[T]he statute is clear: any mandatory minimum term required by section 775.087(2)—whether the defendant fires a gun, or only carries or displays it—shall be imposed consecutively to any other term imposed for any other felony.”). See also Morgan, 137 So.3d at 1075 (“[S]ection 775.087(2)(d) unambiguously requires that ‘any mandatory minimum term required ... shall be imposed consecutively to any other term imposed for any other felony.’ ” (citation omitted)); Williams v. State, 125 So.3d 879, 880 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013), review granted, No. SC13–1080 (Fla. July 16, 2013) (concluding “the trial court was ...