Stripling v. State

Decision Date14 July 1992
Docket NumberNo. 91-1512,91-1512
Citation602 So.2d 663
PartiesCharles B. STRIPLING, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee. 602 So.2d 663, 17 Fla. L. Week. D1705
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

J.C. Elso, Miami, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Joan L. Greenberg, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Before BASKIN, FERGUSON, and JORGENSON, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Stripling appeals from judgments of conviction and sentences for aggravated battery, armed robbery, aggravated assault, assault, and display of a firearm during the commission of a felony. For the following reasons we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand to the trial court for resentencing.

Stripling and three codefendants were charged with various offenses stemming from the armed robbery of a grocery store, store employees, and the shooting of its owner. The getaway was witnessed by detectives who were eating breakfast near the crime scene. The detectives chased the getaway car, eventually captured the car's occupants, and recovered stolen food stamps, cash and jewelry taken from the victims in the store.

Following a trial, Stripling was convicted as a habitual felony offender on the armed robbery counts and sentenced to life terms. The court also imposed a three-year minimum mandatory sentence on the armed robbery counts. In addition, Stripling was sentenced to thirty years for aggravated battery and display of a firearm during the commission of a felony and ten years for aggravated assault.

We affirm the convictions for armed robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and assault. However, the conviction and sentence for unlawful display of a firearm during the commission of a felony cannot stand.

[W]hen a robbery conviction is enhanced because of the use of a firearm in committing the robbery, the single act involving the use of the same firearm in the commission of the same robbery cannot form the basis of a separate conviction and sentence... (emphasis added).

Cleveland v. State, 587 So.2d 1145, 1146 (Fla.1991). We therefore reverse the conviction and vacate the sentence for unlawful display of a firearm.

In this case it appears that the trial court may have been operating under the misapprehension that it was required to sentence Stripling to life terms as a habitual felony offender for the armed robbery counts. Life sentences are permissive, not mandatory, under sections 775.084(4)(a)(1) and 775.084(4)(b)(1), Florida Statutes (1989). ...

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5 cases
  • Gracia v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 10 Octubre 2012
    ...on other grounds, State v. Sousa, 903 So.2d 923 (Fla.2005); Mosely v. State, 679 So.2d 287 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996); Stripling v. State, 602 So.2d 663 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992); Washington v. State, 597 So.2d 840 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992). The next and harder issue, however, and the only one which has practic......
  • Faria v. State, No. 95-1603
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 5 Octubre 1995
    ...three-year minimum mandatory sentence as to the robbery with a knife. State v. Rodriguez, 602 So.2d 1270 (Fla.1992); Stripling v. State, 602 So.2d 663 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992); Belcher v. State, 550 So.2d 1185 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989); Peck v. State, 425 So.2d 664 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983). As this issue was......
  • Stripling v. State, 94-2153
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 23 Noviembre 1994
    ...See State v. Rodriguez, 602 So.2d 1270, 1271-72 (Fla.1992); Earnest v. State, 351 So.2d 957, 958-59 (Fla.1977); Stripling v. State, 602 So.2d 663, 665 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992). ...
  • Johnson v. Singletary, 93-334
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 14 Septiembre 1993
    ...and that no evidence was introduced demonstrating he possessed one. Thus, the minimum mandatory sentence was improper. Stripling v. State, 602 So.2d 663 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992); Belcher v. State, 550 So.2d 1185 (Fla. 5th DCA Appellate counsel should have raised these points on appeal. His failur......
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