Graham v. State

• Decision Date: 10 April 2008
• Docket Number: No. 1D06-3190.,1D06-3190.
• Citation: 982 So.2d 43
• Parties: Terrance Jamar GRAHAM, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

982 So.2d 43

Terrance Jamar GRAHAM, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 1D06-3190.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

April 10, 2008.

Rehearing Denied May 16, 2008.

Bryan S. Gowdy and John S. Mills of Mills & Creed, P.A., Jacksonville, for Appellant.

Bill McCollum, Attorney General, and Joshua R. Heller, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

WOLF, J.

Appellant raises a number of issues on appeal. We affirm as to all of the issues; however, we write to address appellant's assertion that his sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for a crime committed as a juvenile violates the federal and Florida prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment.

At the age of sixteen, appellant was charged with (1) armed burglary with assault or battery (a first-degree life felony) and (2) attempted armed robbery (a second-degree felony) for an incident involving the robbery of a local restaurant in which his codefendant assaulted the restaurant owner with a pipe. Appellant pled guilty to the offenses in return for the court withholding adjudication and three years' probation with the condition that he serve twelve months in a pre-trial detention facility.

Appellant served his twelve-month sentence and was released from jail on June 25, 2004. In December 2004, an affidavit of violation of probation was filed alleging appellant committed new law offenses to include armed home invasion robbery. At the violation of probation hearing, the State presented evidence establishing that appellant and two codefendants entered the victim's apartment forcefully and that, while appellant held the victim at gunpoint, his codefendants robbed the home. After completing the robbery, appellant and his codefendants locked the victim in a closet. Shortly after leaving the scene of the incident, appellant was involved in a lengthy car chase with the police through a residential neighborhood. After his arrest, appellant was asked about similar robberies in the same vicinity, and officers assert appellant conceded he was involved in "two or three before tonight."

Following the probation hearing, the trial court found appellant guilty of the alleged violations and sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Appellant was nineteen years old at the time of his sentencing. The trial court announced its reasoning behind the sentence and stated in pertinent part:

Mr. Graham, as I look back on your case, yours is really candidly a sad situation. You had, as far as I can tell, you have quite a family structure. You had a lot of people who wanted to try and help you get your life turned around including the court system, and you had a judge who took the step to try and give you direction through his probation order to give you a chance to get back onto track. And at the time you seemed through your letters that that is exactly what you wanted to do. And I don't know why it is that you threw your life away. I don't know why.

But you did, and that is what is so sad about this today is that you have actually been given a chance to get through this, the original charge, which were very serious charges to begin with. The attempted robbery with a weapon was a very serious charge.

. . . .

[I]in a very short period of time you were back before the Court on a violation of this probation, and then here you are two years later standing before me, literally the — facing a life sentence as to — up to life as to count 1 and up to 15 years as to count 2.

And I don't understand why you would be given such a great opportunity to do something with your life and why you would throw it away. The only thing that I can rationalize is that you decided that this is how you were going to lead your life and there is nothing that we can do for you. And as the state pointed out, that this is an escalating pattern of criminal conduct on your part and that we can't help you any further.

We can't do anything to deter you. This is the way you are going to lead your life, and I don't know why you are going to. You've made that decision. I have no idea. But, evidently, that is what you decided to do.

So then it becomes a focus, if I can't do anything to help you, if I can't do anything to get you back on the right path, then I have to start focusing on the community and trying to protect the community from your actions. And unfortunately, that is where we are today is I don't see where I can do anything to help you any further. You've evidently decided this is the direction you're going to take in life, and it's unfortunate that you made that choice.

I have reviewed the statute. I don't see where any further juvenile sanctions would be appropriate. I don't see where any youthful offender sanctions would be appropriate. Given your escalating pattern of criminal conduct, it is apparent to the Court that you have decided that this is the way you are going to live your life and that the only thing I can do now is to try to protect the community from your actions.

On November 5, 2002, the Florida voters amended article I, section 17 of the Florida Constitution mandating that Florida's ban on cruel and unusual punishment be construed in conformity with the United State Supreme Court's construction of the Eighth Amendment. In his initial brief, appellant asserts both a facial and an as applied constitutional challenge to his mandatory life sentence.

I. Facial Challenge

Appellant's facial challenge to the statute authorizing life imprisonment of juveniles is based on two main components. First, appellant asserts the use of true life sentences on juveniles should be per se banned pursuant to the United States Supreme Court's holding in Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551, 125 S.Ct. 1183, 161 L.Ed.2d 1 (2005), as well as other state court precedent striking similar sentences. Second, appellant asserts the use of the sentence violates international norms, as well as the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a treaty to which the United States has become a party.

A. Per se invalid based on Roper and other state precedent

Appellant relies heavily on dicta found in the United States Supreme Court's opinion Roper, 543 U.S. at 551, 125 S.Ct. 1183, to support his instant argument. In Roper, the Supreme Court found the imposition of the death penalty on juveniles to be per se unconstitutional for several reasons. First, the court determined that the use of the death penalty on juvenile offenders had become truly unusual as contemplated by the Eighth Amendment because of (1) the current trend by state legislatures to ban the use of the death penalty on juveniles and (2) the lack of the death penalty's use on juveniles in those states that did legalize the sentence. Roper, 543 U.S. at 561-68, 125 S.Ct. 1183. Second, the Supreme Court noted that the death penalty could be used only for those committing a "`narrow category of the most serious crimes' and whose extreme culpability makes them `the most deserving of execution.'" Id. at 568, 125 S.Ct. 1183 (citing Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 319, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002)). Based on the foregoing, the Supreme Court necessarily excluded juveniles from this category because juveniles, in the struggle to find themselves and determine their character, are more susceptible to morally reprehensible behavior, but are less likely to have "irretrievably depraved character." Roper, 543 U.S. at 570, 125 S.Ct. 1183. Third, the Supreme Court found that, while the overwhelming weight of international opinion against the juvenile death penalty is not controlling, it provided significant confirmation that the imposition of the death penalty on juveniles was a grossly disproportionate sentence for offenders under the age of eighteen. Id. at 576-77, 125 S.Ct. 1183.

Appellant ignores the largest and most evident distinguishing factor of the Roper opinion. As the State points out, "death is different." See also United States v. Feemster, 483 F.3d 583, 588 (8th Cir.2007); vacated on other grounds, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 880, 169 L.Ed.2d 718 (2008) (noting that life imprisonment for a juvenile is not cruel and unusual while acknowledging that the Eighth Amendment applies to death penalty cases with "special force") (citing Roper, 543 U.S. at 568, 125 S.Ct. 1183); United States v. Salahuddin, 509 F.3d 858 (7th Cir.2007) (limiting the holding of Roper to death penalty cases and upholding the imposition of a life sentence on a juvenile); Culpepper v. McDonough, 2007 WL 2050970, *4-5 (M.D.Fla. July 13, 2007) (holding that the imposition of a life sentence on a juvenile does not violate the holding of Roper); Douma v. Workman, 2007 WL 2331883, *3 (N.D.Okla.2007) (affirming appellant's juvenile sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and stating "the scope of Roper is narrow: it applies only where an individual under 18 years of age is sentenced to death"). Relying on the sound reasoning outlined in the foregoing precedent, we reject appellant's invitation to extend the holding of Roper to prohibit the sentencing of juveniles to life imprisonment in all situations.

The United States Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court have expressly stated that a challenge to the length of years sentenced must rest on a determination of whether the sentence is grossly disproportionate to the crime. In Adaway v. State, 902 So.2d 746, 749 (Fla.2005), the Florida Supreme Court held that "to violate the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause, a prison sentence must, at least, be grossly disproportionate to the crime." Specifically, in Adaway, the Florida Supreme Court considered and rejected a challenge to appellant's life sentence without the possibility of parole for sexual battery on a child under the age of twelve. Id. In considering appellant's Eighth Amendment argument, the supreme court noted:

The United...