LEVON WILSON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court held that the state failed to present sufficient evidence to prove the defendant's prior convictions for habitual felony offender status, requiring a remand for re-sentencing.
The state attempted to prove the defendant's habitual felony offender status using certified copies of prior convictions and fingerprint analysis, but…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Authentication Of Evidence cases and more on FLexlaw
STONE, J.
We reverse Wilson’s sentence as a habitual felony offender and remand for re-sentencing. In all other respects, Wilson’s conviction for delivery of cocaine within one thousand feet of a school is affirmed.
The state concedes that the case should be remanded for re-sentencing because of its failure to provide sufficient evidence of Wilson’s prior convictions to support its claim that he qualified for habitual felony offender status. This evidence became necessary when defense counsel announced that Wilson was exercising his right to dispute the alleged convictions. In an attempt to prove that Wilson actually was convicted previously, the state presented two certified copies of previous con victions and informed the court that the fingerprint analysis had positively identified the fingerprints as Wilson’s. However, no witnesses were called to authenticate the fingerprints and defense counsel objected based on an improper foundation.
When the defendant challenges the accuracy of his prior record, both on hearsay grounds and accuracy of the information, the state is required to provide corroborating evidence establishing both the historical fact of the predicate convictions and the identity of the appellant as the person named in those judgments of conviction. Moment v. State, 773 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000); Brown v. State, 701 So. 2d 410 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997). Therefore, the state’s failure to provide authenticated fingerprint analysis to prove that the person named in the certified convictions was Wilson is reversible error. Upon re-sentencing, Wilson may again be sentenced as a habitual felony offender if the state can establish both the historical fact of the predicate convictions and the identity of the appellant as the person named in those judgments of conviction. See Brown, 701 So. 2d at 410.
HAZOURI and MAY, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
State v. Ransom Louis Collins, 985 So. 2d 985 (Fla. 2008)…eview Collins v. State, 893 So. 2d 592 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004), in which the Second District Court of Appeal held that the State could not present new evidence on remand. It certified conflict with several decisions from other districts: Wilson v. State, 830 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); Cameron v. State, 807 So. 2d 746 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); Morss v. State, 795 So. 2d 262 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001); Roberts v. State, 776 So. 2d 1034 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001); Rhodes v. State, 704 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997); and Brown v.…1 / 2
-
Ransom Louis Collins v. State, 893 So. 2d 592 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)…ly, we remand for resentencing under the Criminal Punishment Code. We acknowledge that the position we have adopted on this issue is in conflict with decisions of the First District, the Fourth District, and the Fifth District. See Wilson v. State, 830 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); Cameron v. State, 807 So. 2d 746 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); Morss v. State, 795 So. 2d 262 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001); Roberts v. State, 776 So. 2d 1034 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001); Rhodes v. State, 704 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997); Brown v. Stat…
-
Walker v. State, 988 So. 2d 6 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007)…. 2d DCA 2003); Rivera v. State, 825 So. 2d 500 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002); Reynolds v. State, 674 So. 2d 180 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). As we did in both Walker and Collins, we certify that our decision is in direct conflict with the decisions in Wilson v. State, 830 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); Cameron v. State, 807 So. 2d 746 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); Morss v. State, 795 So. 2d 262 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001); Roberts v. State, 776 So. 2d 1034 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001); Rhodes v. State, 704 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997); and Brown v.…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Gale Lavern Brown v. State, 701 So. 2d 410 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)
- Moment v. State, 773 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)
- McKNIGHT v. State, 773 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)