Priester v. State, 4-86-2943

Decision Date14 October 1987
Docket NumberNo. 4-86-2943,4-86-2943
Citation513 So.2d 796,12 Fla. L. Weekly 2419
Parties12 Fla. L. Weekly 2419 Charles PRIESTER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Marcy Allen, Asst. Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Jr., Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Georgina Jimenez-Orosa, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellee.

DOWNEY, Judge.

Appellant was placed on probation for burglary of a structure, a third degree felony. Thereafter, he was found guilty of violating his probation and the state filed notice of intent to request a sentence as an habitual felony offender. The trial court sentenced appellant as an habitual felony offender to a term of ten years, a sentence which exceeded the statutory maximum for the underlying crime, but which was within the recommended guidelines sentence.

Appellant contends on appeal that the Supreme Court of Florida, in Whitehead v. State, 498 So.2d 863 (Fla.1986), "repealed" the habitual felony offender statute and that it can no longer co-exist in this era of guideline sentencing.

We hold, as we did in King v. State, 511 So.2d 1131 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987), that the habitual felony offender statute remains viable in order to impose a sentence greater than the maximum provided by statute for the particular crime involved as long as it does not exceed the maximum range of the recommended guidelines sentence. This same conclusion has been reached in the following cases from the first and second district courts of appeal: Smith v. Wainwright, 508 So.2d 768 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987); Washington v. State, 508 So.2d 565 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987); Hoefert v. State, 509 So.2d 1090 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987); Winters v. State, 500 So.2d 303 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Myers v. State, 499 So.2d 895 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), wherein the respective courts certified to the Supreme Court of Florida the following question as one of great public importance:

IS THE HABITUAL OFFENDER STATUTE STILL AN EFFECTIVE BASIS ON WHICH TO EXCEED THE STATUTORY MAXIMUM AS LONG AS THE SENTENCE IMPOSED DOES NOT EXCEED

THE GUIDELINES RECOMMENDATION?

As in King, we join those courts in certifying said question as one of great public importance.

Having considered all of appellant's other contentions, we affirm the judgment and sentence appealed from.

HERSEY, C.J., and WALDEN, J., concur.

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4 cases
  • Inscho v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 4 Febrero 1988
    ...4th DCA 1987); Wooten v. State, 515 So.2d 331 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Johnson v. State, 513 So.2d 1388 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Priester v. State, 513 So.2d 796 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987); Bellinger v. State, 513 So.2d 732 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Sims v. State, 513 So.2d 671 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987); Reid v. State, ......
  • Jones v. State, 87-1144
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 30 Diciembre 1987
    ...as it remains within the recommended guidelines range. King v. State, 511 So.2d 1131 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987). See also Priester v. State, 513 So.2d 796 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987). The remaining issue is whether the trial court improperly used the habitual offender statute to enhance appellant's senten......
  • Wooten v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 10 Noviembre 1987
    ...3d DCA 1987); Bellinger v. State, 513 So.2d 732 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Reid v. State, 512 So.2d 1161 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Priester v. State, 513 So.2d 796 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987). On these holdings the sentence under review is reversed and the cause remanded for resentencing within the As in Condil......
  • Priester v. State
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • 10 Marzo 1988
    ...578 523 So.2d 578 Priester (Charles) v. State NO. 71,400 Supreme Court of Florida. MAR 10, 1988 Appeal From: 4th DCA 513 So.2d 796 Rev. ...

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