GONZALO RODRIGUEZ, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Gonzalo Rodriguez appealed his convictions and sentences, challenging a twenty-year sentence for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon as exceeding the statutory maximum and improperly reclassified. The court affirmed his convictions but reversed and remanded the aggravated battery sentence as illegal.
The court found that Rodriguez's sentence on the aggravated battery charge is illegal and reversed it. The court held that the sentence exceeds the statutory maximum and that the offense could not be properly reclassified when the weapon use was an essential element of the underlying crime.
[1] A sentence for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon cannot exceed the statutory maximum for a second-degree felony if the use of the weapon is an essential element of…
[2] A crime cannot be reclassified to a first-degree felony under section 775.087, Florida Statutes, when the use of a weapon is an essential element of the underlying offens…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Rodriguez argues that his twenty-year sentence for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon is illegal. First, he asserts that the sentence exceeds the fifteen-year statutory maximum for that crime, which is a second-degree felony.”
Establishes the core legal issue—that the sentence violates statutory sentencing limits
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRodriguez was convicted of various crimes including aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The trial court imposed a twenty-year sentence for the ag…
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SILBERMAN, Judge.
Gonzalo Rodriguez appeals his convictions and sentences as to various crimes and the denial of his motion to correct sentence filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b)(2).1 Although we find no reversible error as to Rodriguez’s convictions, we reverse and remand for further proceedings due to a sentencing error. Rodriguez argues that his twenty-year sentence for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon is illegal. First, he asserts that the sentence exceeds the fifteen-year statutory maximum for that crime, which is a second-degree felony. See §§ 775.082(3)(c), 784.045(l)(a)(2), (2), Fla. Stat. (1999). Second, he contends that because the use of the weapon was an essential element of the underlying offense, the trial court could not properly reclassify the offense to a first-degree felony under section 775.087, Florida Statutes (1999), which allows reclassification of a crime when a weapon or firearm is used. See Crawford v. State, 858 So. 2d 1131, 1132 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003); Brown v. State, 806 So. 2d 576, 577 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002).
The State properly concedes that Rodriguez’s sentence on the aggravated battery charge is illegal. Accordingly, we reverse that sentence and. remand for further proceedings. On remand, the State will have the option of (1) agreeing that Rodriguez shall be resentenced to a legal sentence for this charge or (2) withdrawing from the plea agreement and proceeding to trial on the original charges. See Barthel v. State, 862 So. 2d 28, 29 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003); see also Wallen v. State, 877 So. 2d 737, 738 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004).
Reversed and remanded.
SALCINES and CANADY, JJ., Concur. . Rodriguez's counsel initially filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967). This court ordered supplemental briefing regarding the legality of the sentence for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Thereafter, we permitted Rodriguez to withdraw the Anders brief and to file a motion to correct sentence in the trial court. Because the trial court did not rule on Rodriguez's motion within sixty days of its filing, the motion was deemed denied. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.800(b)(2)(B); Jackson v. State, 793 So. 2d 117, 118 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001). The parties have submitted merits briefs with respect to Rodriguez’s sentence for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Anderson v. State, 988 So. 2d 144 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)…instances in which claims similar to the one at issue here were the subject of motions under rule 3.800(b). See, e.g., Freudenberger v. State, 940 So. 2d 551 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006); Blanc v. State, 899 So. 2d 455 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005); Rodriguez v. State, 885 So. 2d 1041 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004). Consistent with these decisions and given that petitioner was sentenced to a term exceeding that authorized by law had his offense been classified as a second-degree felony, we find that the issue could have been raised by rule 3…
Authorities Cited
- Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (U.S. 1967)
- Robbie Jackson v. State, 793 So. 2d 117 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)
- Barthel v. State, 862 So. 2d 28 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)
- Wallen v. State, 877 So. 2d 737 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)
- Brown v. State, 806 So. 2d 576 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)
- Errol Crawford v. State, 858 So. 2d 1131 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)