DOUGLAS LORENZO FOWLER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court affirmed a departure from sentencing guidelines imposing life imprisonment for second-degree murder but vacated consecutive minimum mandatory sentences imposed for a single continuous criminal episode.
Consecutive minimum mandatory sentences are improper when imposed for a single continuous criminal episode.
[1] Consecutive minimum mandatory sentences are improper when imposed for crimes arising from a single continuous criminal episode.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFowler was convicted of second-degree murder and armed robbery arising from a single continuous episode of criminal conduct.…
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SHARP, Judge.
Fowler was charged with and convicted of second degree murder and armed robbery. The recommended guideline sentence was twenty years with a range of fifteen to twenty-two years. The trial court departed from the guidelines and sentenced Fowler to life imprisonment on the second degree murder conviction with a three-year minimum mandatory term and twenty-two years imprisonment on the armed robbery conviction, also with a three-year minimum mandatory term. The sentences were to run concurrently, except the two three-year minimum mandatory sentences were to be consecutive. We affirm the departure, State v. Young, 476 So. 2d 161 (Fla.1985), Albritton v. State, 476 So. 2d 158 (Fla.1985), but vacate the imposition of the consecutive three-year minimum mandatory sentences.
Fowler’s criminal conduct involved a single continuous episode for which consecutive minimum mandatory sentences are improper. State v. Ames, 467 So. 2d 994 (Fla.1985); Wilson v. State, 467 So. 2d 996 (Fla.1985); Palmer v. State, 438 So. 2d 1 (Fla.1983). Accordingly, we vacate the sentences and remand for the trial court to correct them by striking one of the minimum mandatory terms.
AFFIRMED IN PART; SENTENCES VACATED AND REMANDED.
DAUKSCH and COWART, JJ„ concur.
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Americo Junco and Ernesto R. Esquivel v. State, 510 So. 2d 909 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)…the victim’s home, then robbed her in one room and raped her in another. In Palmer the supreme court also found that there was one criminal episode since there was one robbery of several people at one time in one place. Finally, in Fowler v. State, 481 So. 2d 565 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986), the defendant was found to have engaged in one continuous crime when he committed an armed robbery and then murdered the victim. In contrast, the supreme court in State v. Enmund, 476 So. 2d 165 (Fla.1985), State v. Thomas, 487…
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Essie Andres Perez v. State, 524 So. 2d 720 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)…v. Ames, 467 So. 2d 994 (Fla.1985); Wilson v. State, 467 So. 2d 996 (Fla.1985); Palmer v. State, 438 So. 2d 1 (Fla.1983); Vickery v. State, 515 So. 2d 396 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987); Boatwright v. State, 512 So. 2d 955 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987); Fowler v. State, 481 So. 2d 565 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986); Walker v. State, 474 So. 2d 319 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985); Hagin v. State, 473 So. 2d 18 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985). Perez’s sentences, however, resulted from separate incidents occurring at separate times and places. The fact that the mandato…
Authorities Cited
- Dean v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc., 438 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1983)
- City OF Atl. Beach v. Bull, 476 So. 2d 158 (Fla. 1985)
- Albritton v. State, 476 So. 2d 158 (Fla. 1985)
- State v. Young, 476 So. 2d 161 (Fla. 1985)
- Wilson v. State, 467 So. 2d 996 (Fla. 1985)
- THE Florida BAR v. Napier, 467 So. 2d 994 (Fla. 1985)
- State v. Ames, 467 So. 2d 994 (Fla. 1985)