FARRIS WILSON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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An illegal sentence, even one agreed to in a plea bargain, must be vacated upon a proper motion to correct an illegal sentence.
Appellant agreed to a 55-year sentence for second-degree murder with a firearm, including a 3-year minimum mandatory. The maximum sentence for the off…
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[*1072] POLEN, Judge.
We grant appellee state’s Motion for Rehearing En Banc, recognizing that our September 13, 1995, slip opinion is in conflict with our earlier decision in Cayson v. State, 638 So. 2d 1061 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994). We withdraw the previously issued opinion, and substitute the following:
We reverse the trial court’s order denying appellant’s second motion to correct illegal sentence pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). This is so even though appellant filed a previous, unsuccessful 3.800(a) motion, and despite appellant having agreed to a sentence of 55 years in prison (including a 3-year minimum mandatory) for the offense of second degree murder with a firearm. The sentence was an illegal one, as the offense to which appellant pled is punishable by a term of years not to exceed 40 years, or life in prison.
Under rule 3.800(a), a motion to correct an illegal sentence can be brought at any time, and even when imposed pursuant to a plea bargain, such a sentence must be vacated upon proper motion. Cayson v. State, 638 So. 2d 1061 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994). As in Cayson we hold that on remand, the state should have the option of having the trial court impose a sentence not to exceed 40 years in prison, or vacate the plea and proceed to trial. The state and defendant sought to enter a bargain, but the proposed sentence was an illegal one. The defendant is entitled to be relieved of this illegal sentence, but the state should not then be held to the bargain, unless it accedes to the lesser sentence, or a new [legal] plea bargain can be reached.
GUNTHER, C.J., GLICKSTEIN, DELL, STONE, WARNER, FARMER, KLEIN, PARIENTE, STEVENSON, SHAHOOD and GROSS, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Benny Arzola Martinez v. State, 216 So. 3d 734 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017)…fact that this is a successive claim, he is entitled to relief from an illegal sentence. We ourselves have, in an en banc opinion, addressed and corrected an illegal sentence, despite the fact it was a second successive motion. See Wilson v. State, 669 So. 2d 1071, 1072 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996). In State v. McBride, 848 So. 2d 287 (Fla. 2003), our supreme court explained that Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a), which allows for the correction of an illegal sentence at any time, “is intended to balance th…
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Bell v. State, 765 So. 2d 83 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)…e. This court reasoned that a term of imprisonment does not exceed life. See id. at 17; see also Hewitt v. State, 689 So. 2d 449, 449 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997); Robinson v. State, 642 So. 2d 644, 645 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994). Bell argues that Wilson v. State, 669 So. 2d 1071 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996), is in conflict with Mills and supports his position that his sentence is illegal. However, we conclude that the two cases are distinguishable. In Wilson this court was analyzing whether the sentence of 55 years in prison as agre…
Authorities Cited
- Cayson v. State, 638 So. 2d 1061 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)