FLENOIL CROOK, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Flenoil Crook was convicted of attempted burglary with a firearm and aggravated battery and sentenced to ten years. The court held that the maximum sentence for attempted burglary with a firearm is five years, not fifteen years, because the firearm use is an essential element of the offense, making the enhanced penalty statute inapplicable.
The maximum sentence for attempted burglary with a firearm is five years, not fifteen years. The enhanced penalty statute under Section 775.087(1) does not apply when the use of a firearm is an essential element of the offense. However, the mandatory minimum sentence of three years applies under Section 775.087(2) because Crook had a firearm in his possession during the attempted burglary.
[1] An attempt to commit a felony of the second degree or any burglary constitutes a felony of the third degree.
[2] A third degree felony is punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“If the offense attempted . . . is a felony of the second degree or any burglary, the person convicted shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree.”
Establishes that attempted burglary is a third degree felony, not second degree, limiting the maximum sentence to five years.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCrook was charged with burglary with a firearm and aggravated battery. A jury found him guilty of attempted burglary with a firearm and aggravated bat…
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PER CURIAM.
Flenoil Crook was charged with burglary with a firearm and aggravated battery and was found guilty by a jury of attempted burglary with a firearm and aggravated battery. He challenges his sentence of ten years for the attempted burglary and urges that the maximum sentence for his offense is five years.1 We agree.
Section 810.02, Florida Statutes (1977), provides that burglary with a firearm is a first degree felony. The statute governing attempts to commit an offense provides generally that an attempt to commit a first degree felony constitutes a second degree felony, Section 777.04(4)(b), Florida Statutes (1977), but the offense of attempted burglary is an exception to the general provision because Section 777.-04(4)(c), Florida Statutes (1977), provides:
If the offense attempted . . . is a felony of the second degree or any burglary, the person convicted shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree . (emphasis supplied)
McQuay v. State, 368 So. 2d 908 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979). A third degree felony is punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years. Section 775.082(3)(d), Florida Statutes (1977).
The State contends that, although the penalty for attempted burglary is otherwise five years, under Section 775.087(1), Florida Statutes (1977), the use of a weapon or the commission of an aggravated battery during the commission of the felony reclassifies the offense from a third degree felony to a second degree felony, which is punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding fifteen years. Section 775.082(3)(c), Florida Statutes (1977). That this is erroneous can be seen by a careful reading of Section 775.087(1):
Unless otherwise provided by law, whenever a person is charged with a felony, except a felony in which the use of a weapon or firearm is an essential element, and during the commission of such felony the defendant carries, displays, uses, threatens, or attempts to use any weapon or firearm, or during the commission of such felony the defendant commits an aggravated battery, the felony for which the person is charged shall be reclassified . . . . (emphasis supplied)
That sentencing provision does not apply when the use of a firearm is an essential element of the offense. Here, the offense was attempted burglary with a firearm, and this section of the enhanced penalty statute does not apply. See Fowler v. State, 375 So. 2d 879 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979). Thus, the maximum sentence allowed by statute for this offense is five years.
There is another error in the sentencing, however, which neither party to this appeal called to our attention. Section 775.087(2), Florida Statutes (1977), requires that any person convicted of attempted burglary who had a firearm in his possession shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of three years, during which time he shall not be eligible for parole or statutory gain-time. This mandatory-minimum penalty must be assessed at resentencing.
We find no merit in Crook’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury verdict of attempted burglary. We do note that the written judgment erroneously shows the offense of conviction to be burglary rather than attempted burglary. The judgment must be corrected and, as corrected, is affirmed.
Accordingly, the judgment, as corrected, is AFFIRMED. The sentence is VACATED and REMANDED for resentencing in accordance with this opinion.
McCORD, BOOTH and LARRY G. SMITH, JJ., concur. . There is no challenge to the judgment or sentence on aggravated battery.
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LEE v. State, 400 So. 2d 1238 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)…alty is fifteen years in prison. Florida Statutes, Section 775.082(3)(c) (1979). The enhanced penalty statute, Florida Statutes, Section 775.087 (1979), does not apply when the use of a firearm is an essential element of the offense. Crook v. State, 385 So. 2d 1136, 1138 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). Other contentions raised on appeal are without merit. Accordingly, the sentence is VACATED and the cause REMANDED for resentenc-ing in accordance herewith. McCORD, BOOTH and SHIVERS, JJ., concur.…
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Vause v. State, 424 So. 2d 52 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)…s given a mandatory minimum sentence under section 775.087(2), Fla.Stat. (1979). Defendant’s third degree murder conviction with use of a firearm authorized the three year mandatory minimum sentence. Blanton v. State, supra; See also Crook v. State, 385 So. 2d 1136 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), in which this court held that a conviction of attempted burglary with a firearm required the trial court to impose a three year mandatory minimum sentence notwithstanding that the firearm was an element of the committed offense.…
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Fenn v. State, 398 So. 2d 1004 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981)…en if an assault takes place. Section 777.04(4)(c), Florida Statutes (1979), provides that the attempt to commit any burglary is a felony of the third degree, which is a crime punishable by a maximum term of five years imprisonment.3 Crook v. State, 385 So. 2d 1136 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980); McQuay v. State, 368 So. 2d 908 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979). Thus we note fundamental error in sentencing appellant on the first count to a term of imprisonment longer than five years. See Butler v. State, 343 So. 2d 93 (Fla. 3d DCA 19…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Fowler v. State, 375 So. 2d 879 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979)
- McQUAY v. State, 368 So. 2d 908 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)