CARVIE WILLIAM FARMER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Farmer pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 90-year sentence with a mandatory three-year firearm enhancement. The trial court improperly classified the offense as a first-degree felony after an earlier habeas petition revealed the sentence was illegal under Florida law, which requires that a firearm enhancement elevates second-degree murder to a life felony with a maximum 40-year sentence. The court reversed and remanded to allow either withdrawal of the plea or resentencing to 40 years.
The court held the 90-year sentence illegal because the firearm enhancement mandates classification as a life felony with a statutory maximum of 40 years. The court reversed and remanded, directing the trial court to either allow the state to withdraw from the plea agreement and proceed to trial, or accept the plea with the sentence reduced to 40 years.
[1] A sentence exceeding the statutory maximum for a life felony is illegal.
[2] A court may allow the state to withdraw from a plea agreement if the original sentence imposed is found to be illegal.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The statutory maximum penalty for a life felony was a term of life or term of imprisonment not to exceed 40 years — which rendered the 90-year sentence invalid.”
Establishes the core legal problem: the statutory maximum for a life felony under Florida law is 40 years, making the 90-year sentence facially illegal.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn 1989, Farmer pleaded to second-degree murder for killing Alzo Elkins with a shotgun on November 4, 1988, receiving a 90-year sentence. The state at…
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COBB, Judge.
In 1989, Farmer pled to second degree murder and received a sentence of 90 years that included a three year minimum mandatory (life felony) for use of a firearm. The factual basis for the plea, as presented by the prosecutor, indicated that on November 4, 1988, Farmer took a shotgun and killed one Alzo Elkins in Sumter County. The score-sheet that was prepared by the state attorney’s office showed the degree of felony as “life.” This reclassification from a felony of the first degree to a life felony was mandated by section 775.087(l)(a), Florida Statutes (1987). The statutory maximum penalty for a life felony was a term of life or term of imprisonment not to exceed 40 years — which rendered the 90-year sentence invalid.
Farmer then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with this court. In Farmer v. State, 642 So. 2d 127 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994), the petition was granted and the case remanded to the lower court to consider whether the sentence was illegal:
It appears to this court that the appellant did not receive effective assistance of counsel in appealing the denial of his post-conviction relief motion, in that no argument regarding his illegal sentence was raised. Therefore, the petition for writ of habeas corpus is granted and this cause is remanded to the trial court for consideration of petitioner’s argument that his sentence is illegal. Should the trial court determine the sentence is illegal then a new sentence should be imposed. If not, then an order so determining, with findings of fact and law, should be entered.
In a concurring opinion, Judge Griffin noted that Farmer was not automatically entitled to a reduction to 40 years since the state would have the option to withdraw the plea agreement and try the defendant for first degree murder. She cited to Hayes v. State, 598 So. 2d 135 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992) and Jolly v. State, 392 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981).
On remand, the lower court received memorandums of law and ruled that the state attorney incorrectly filled in the scoresheet to show a life felony. The court corrected the scoresheet to show a first degree felony and dropped the three year minimum mandatory (which Farmer already had served). Unfortunately, this did not solve the problem and the sentence is still invalid. This is so because the bargain was for a life felony since a firearm was used in the commission of the felony. We note that in this case a life sentence is not an option for the lower court since it would be an increase of the sentence Farmer bargained for (90 years) and thus illegal. Salas v. State, 589 So. 2d 343 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991).
We reverse and remand with instructions to the lower court to allow the state to withdraw from the plea and go to trial, or, in the alternative, accept the previous sentencing provisions with the 90 year term of incarceration changed to 40 years. See Dyer v. State, 629 So. 2d 285 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993).
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
PETERSON, C.J., and THOMPSON, J., concur.
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Rickman v. State, 713 So. 2d 1115 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)…mity, upon remand the State must be given the opportunity of either going to trial on all original counts or agreeing that the sentences should be vacated and Rickman be resentenced under a seoresheet exclusive of the 18 points. See Farmer v. State, 672 So. 2d 639 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996); Hayes v. State, 598 So. 2d 135 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992); Jolly v. State, 392 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings. COBB and PETERSON, JJ., concur. . The sentence was at the low end of th…
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Burney v. State, 806 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)…wherein he argued that his 45 year sentence is illegal. We remand for resentenc-ing as the state agrees'that the 45 year sentence exceeds the 40 year maximum sentence permitted by statute for the offense of second degree murder. See Farmer v. State, 672 So. 2d 639 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996); Wright v. State, 600 So. 2d 11 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992). . POLEN, C.J., TAYLOR and MAY, JJ., concur.…
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State v. Bailey, 716 So. 2d 854 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)…f this was done in error, the state should have sought to correct it. Section 775.087(l)(a), Fla. Stat. (1989), mandates that the crime be reclassified as a life felony because a firearm was used in the commission of the murder. See Farmer v. State, 672 So. 2d 639 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996). AFFIRMED. GRIFFIN, C.J., and DAUKSCH and ANTOON, JJ., concur. . Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.800(a).…
Authorities Cited
- Jolly v. State, 392 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981)
- Dyer v. State, 629 So. 2d 285 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)
- Hayes v. State, 598 So. 2d 135 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992)
- Stecker v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 589 So. 2d 343 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991)
- Carvie William Farmer v. State, 642 So. 2d 127 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)