McDonald v. State
| Decision Date | 17 May 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. SC05-2141.,SC05-2141. |
| Parties | Roy McDONALD, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Abe Bailey, Miami, Florida, and Clayton R. Kaeiser, Miami Beach, FL, for Petitioner.
Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, Celia A. Terenzio, Bureau Chief, and Joseph A. Tringali, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, FL, for Respondent.
We review the decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in McDonald v. State, 912 So.2d 74 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005), in which it certified conflict on two issues. First, it certified conflict with the decisions of the Second District Court of Appeal in Hall v. State, 837 So.2d 1179, 1180 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003), and Helms v. State, 890 So.2d 1256 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005), on the issue of whether the mandatory minimum sentence under the Prison Releasee Reoffender (PRR) statute, section 775.082(9) Florida Statutes (2000), must be imposed concurrently with a lesser mandatory minimum sentence under section 775.087, Florida Statutes (2000) (the 10-20-LIFE statute). Second, the Fourth District certified conflict with the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal in Frazier v. State, 877 So.2d 838 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004), on the issue of whether the mandatory sentence for first-degree robbery with a firearm under the PRR statute is thirty years or life in prison.1 As we explain, we approve the Fourth District's decision in McDonald. We hold (1) that a mandatory minimum 10-20-LIFE sentence must be imposed concurrently with a PRR sentence even when the 10-20-LIFE sentence is the lesser sentence and (2) that the mandatory sentence for first-degree robbery with a firearm under the PRR statute is life in prison. Accordingly, we disapprove the decisions in Hall and Helms as to the first conflict issue. To the extent it conflicts with McDonald, we disapprove Frazier as to the second conflict issue.2
The background of this case was well summarized by the Fourth District in McDonald as follows:
Roy McDonald appeals the denial of his Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a) motion which raised five claims of an illegal sentence. We affirm the trial court's denial of all five claims. We write to address two of the claims and sit en banc to recede from a series of prior decisions by this court which the state has shown are clearly contrary to the plain meaning and legislative intent of the 10-20-LIFE statute. § 775.087, Fla. Stat. (2000).
McDonald was convicted after jury trial of five felony counts: carjacking with a firearm, two counts of robbery with a firearm, aggravated fleeing and eluding, and grand theft auto. Because he committed these offenses just over two months after being released from prison, McDonald was properly designated and sentenced as a prison releasee reoffender (PRR) on the first three counts which are enumerated offenses under the PRR statute. § 775.082(9)(a)1, Fla. Stat. (2000). The trial court imposed concurrent mandatory life sentences on the carjacking with a firearm and robbery with a firearm counts. § 775.082(9)(a)3a, Fla. Stat. (2000). As a PRR, McDonald must serve 100 percent of his life sentences and is not eligible for any form of early release. § 775.082(9)(b), Fla. Stat. (2000).
In addition to these mandatory minimum life sentences as a PRR, the trial court imposed concurrent ten-year mandatory minimum sentences on these counts for McDonald's possession of a firearm during the offenses. § 775.087(2)(a)1, Fla. Stat. (2000) (10-20-LIFE statute).
As stated above, the Fourth District considered two issues and certified conflict on each. First, the Fourth District considered "the legality of imposing mandatory minimum penalties under the PRR statute concurrently with the mandatory minimum penalties of the 10-20-LIFE statute." Id. at 75. It determined that the language of the 10-20-LIFE statute requires that "the mandatory minimum terms of incarceration be included even where those terms are less than the sentence authorized under the PRR statute or any other provision of law." Id. Accordingly, the Fourth District receded from its prior holdings in which it had extended this Court's decision in Grant v. State, 770 So.2d 655 (Fla.2000), to prohibit concurrent sentencing where the 10-20-LIFE statute would impose a sentence equal to or less than the sentence under the PRR statute. See McDonald, 912 So.2d at 75-76. On this issue, the Fourth District certified conflict with the decisions of the Second District in Hall and Helms.
Second, the Fourth District considered McDonald's claim "that he was improperly given mandatory life sentences for his convictions for robbery with a firearm" because, according to Frazier v. State, 877 So.2d 838 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004), "under the PRR statute the mandatory sentence for robbery is thirty years in prison." McDonald, 912 So.2d at 77 (citing §§ 812.13(2)(a), 775.082(9)(a)(3), Fla. Stat. (2000)). It determined that under this Court's precedent in Knight v. State, 808 So.2d 210, 212 (Fla.2002), "the PRR statute requires a mandatory life sentence be imposed for any felony punishable by life, including first degree felonies punishable by life." 912 So.2d at 77. On this second issue, the Fourth District certified conflict with Frazier.
We discuss each conflict issue in turn.
We approve the Fourth District's determination that the mandatory minimum sentence under the PRR statute must be imposed concurrently with a lesser mandatory minimum sentence under the 10-20-LIFE statute. To explain our reasoning, we first summarize the Fourth District's reasoning in receding from its prior decisions in which it had extended our holding in Grant as well as its analysis of the language of the 10-20-LIFE statute. We then conduct a de novo review and briefly explain why we agree with the Fourth District's analysis.
In McDonald, the Fourth District receded from a series of its prior decisions extending this Court's holding in Grant to the question of whether the imposition of concurrent sentences under the 10-20-LIFE statute and the PRR statute was permissible.3 The issue we addressed in Grant was whether a sentence under section 775.084, Florida Statutes (1997), the Habitual Felony Offender (HFO) statute, could be imposed concurrently with a sentence under the PRR statute where both sentences were of equal duration, but where the HFO sentence allowed for gain time and the PRR sentence did not. 770 So.2d at 659. Based on the language of the PRR statute expressing the Legislature's intent that "qualifying offenders be punished to the `fullest extent of the law,' including the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences," this Court held that the HFO sentence could be imposed concurrently with the PRR sentence only if the HFO sentence was greater than the PRR sentence. Id. (quoting § 775.082(8)(d)(1), Fla. Stat. (1997)). This holding rested upon the conclusion that the imposition of an equal or lesser sentence under the HFO statute, which includes gain time, would violate the express provisions of the PRR statute mandating that the greater PRR sentence be served in full. Id.4
Prior to McDonald, the Fourth District had extended the holding in Grant to cases involving concurrent sentencing under the PRR and 10-20-LIFE statutes. McDonald, 912 So.2d at 75-76.5 It had held that equal or lesser 10-20-LIFE sentences could not be imposed concurrently with a greater PRR sentence. However, in McDonald, after thoroughly reviewing the language of the 10-20-LIFE statute, the Fourth District receded from its prior decisions.
The pertinent language of the 10-20-LIFE statute provides as follows:
775.087 Possession or use of weapon; aggravated battery; felony reclassification; minimum sentence.—
. . . .
(2)(a)1. Any person who is convicted of a felony or an attempt to commit a felony, regardless of whether the use of a weapon is an element of the felony, and the conviction was for:
. . . .
c. Robbery;
. . . .
n. Carjacking;
. . . .
and during the commission of the offense, such person actually possessed a "firearm" or "destructive device" as those terms are defined in s. 790.001, shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years. . . .
. . . .
(c) If the minimum mandatory terms of imprisonment imposed pursuant to this section exceed the maximum sentences authorized by s. 775.082, s. 775.084, or the Criminal Punishment Code under chapter 921, then the mandatory minimum sentence must be imposed. If the mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment pursuant to this section are less than the sentences that could be imposed as authorized by s. 775.082, s. 775.084, or the Criminal Punishment Code under chapter 921, then the sentence imposed by the court must include the mandatory minimum term of imprisonment as required in this section.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that offenders who actually possess, carry, display, use, threaten to use, or attempt to use firearms or destructive devices be punished to the fullest extent of the law, and the minimum terms of imprisonment imposed pursuant to this subsection shall be imposed for each qualifying felony count for which the person is convicted. The court shall impose any term of imprisonment provided for in this subsection consecutively to any other term of imprisonment imposed for any other felony offense.
(Emphasis added.)
In McDonald, the Fourth District reasoned that the plain meaning of this statutory language, in particular the emphasized language of subsection (c), clearly expresses the Legislature's intent that the mandatory minimum sentence under the 10-20-LIFE statute should be imposed where the criminal possessed a firearm during the commission of the crime regardless of whether a greater sanction may be imposed under another...
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