STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
LETIVA WILLIAMS, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2009-04-01
No. 4D08-361
TAYLOR and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.
9 So. 3d 658 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2009) Positive Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

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.

Synopsis

The State appealed a sentencing decision where the trial court refused to impose a Prison Releasee Reoffender (PRR) sentence for a felony battery conviction. The appellate court reversed, holding that the defendant's felony battery charge—which required proof of great bodily harm—necessarily involved physical force or violence and thus qualified for PRR sentencing under the statutory catch-all provision.


Holding

The court held that felony battery under section 784.041, Florida Statutes, which requires proof of great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement, necessarily involves the use of physical force or violence and therefore qualifies for PRR sentencing under the statutory catch-all provision. The defendant satisfied all elements for PRR sentencing and should have received that enhanced sentence.


Headnotes

[1] A felony battery conviction may satisfy the catch-all provision for prison releasee reoffender (PRR) sentencing if the underlying facts involve the use or threat of physi…

[2] A felony battery conviction under a statute requiring great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement inherently involves the use or threat of physica…

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Key Quotes

“[A]ny felony that involves the use or threat of physical force or violence against an individual”

The statutory catch-all provision under section 775.082(9)(a)l.(o) that establishes when PRR sentencing applies

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Facts & Procedural History

The defendant was charged with felony petit theft, felony battery causing great bodily harm/permanent disability/disfigurement, and use of an anti-sho…

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Opinion of the Court
MAY, J.

On Motion for Clarification

MAY, J.

We grant the State’s motion for clarification, withdraw our previously issued opinion, and substitute the following.

The State appeals the defendant’s sentence. It argues that the trial court erred in finding that the defendant’s conviction on a felony battery charge did not satisfy the catch-all provision for prison releasee reoffender (PRR) sentencing. We agree and reverse.

The State charged the defendant with felony petit theft; felony battery causing great bodily harm, permanent disability or disfigurement; and use of an anti-shoplifting control device counter measure. The Information alleged the defendant had caused great bodily harm, permanent disability or permanent disfigurement by biting the victim on the shoulder and arm causing lacerations requiring emergency medical treatment. The State gave notice of its intent to seek habitual felony offender (HFO) and PRR sentences.

The defendant entered a plea of no contest. At sentencing, the State requested the court to sentence the defendant on the felony battery charge as both an HFO and a PRR. Defense counsel argued that the defendant did not qualify as a PRR. The trial court initially rejected the defendant’s argument, but then changed its ruling based upon the last two paragraphs of our opinion in Spradlin v. State, 967 So.2d 376 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007).

On appeal, the State argues this case, which involved the defendant biting the victim and causing the need for emergency medical attention, sufficiently established the requisite violence for imposition of a PRR sentence for the felony battery charge under the catch-all provision of section 775.082(9)(a)l.(o), Florida Statutes (2005). That provision provides for a PRR sentence for “[a]ny felony that involves the use or threat of physical force or violence against an individual.” § 775.082(9)(a)l.(o). We agree with the State.

*660In Spradlin, we addressed whether a second offense of misdemeanor battery qualified for PRR sentencing. The defendant had been convicted of felony battery based upon multiple simple battery charges under section 784.03(2), Florida Statutes (2006). We held that because a felony battery does not always involve physical force or violence, the charge does not automatically qualify for PRR sentencing. We then concluded with the following sentence.

Because felony battery is not one of the enumerated batteries in the forcible felony statute, it is not one of the specific offenses for which a defendant can be made to suffer the enhanced punishments of a PRR.

Id. at 378. It was this language that understandably caused the trial court to reach its conclusion.

That sentence however was unnecessary to the holding in Spradlin. It was not meant to be a broad generalized statement that no felony battery can ever qualify for imposition of a PRR sentence. Certainly, that will depend on whether the statutory elements of section 784.01, Fla. Stat (2006) are satisfied. See Thomas v. State, 983 So.2d 746, 747 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008).

Here, the defendant was adjudicated guilty of felony battery under section 784.041, Florida Statutes (2005), which requires great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement. Unlike the crime committed by the defendant in Spradlin, the crime committed by the defendant in this case cannot “be committed without the use or threat of physical force or violence.” Spradlin, 967 So.2d at 378.

The defendant was released from the Department of Corrections on August 23, 2005. Less than a year later, the defendant committed the instant felony battery charge. This qualifies the defendant as a PRR under section 775.082(9)(a)l.(o). We therefore reverse the sentence and remand the case to the trial court to impose the PRR sentence.

Reversed and Remanded.

TAYLOR and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Dominguez v. State, 98 So. 3d 198 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012)
    …permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to the victim — does qualify for PRR sentencing because it cannot be committed without the use of physical force or violence. See Brooks v. State, 93 So. 3d 402 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012); State v. Williams, 9 So. 3d 658, 660 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009). Although Mr. Dominguez was designated a PRR as the result of a negotiated plea agreement, “a defendant’s right to challenge an illegal sentence is not waived by the fact that the sentence was the result of a negotiated ple…
  • Brooks v. State, 93 So. 3d 402 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012)
    …lained in State v. Williams, a conviction for felony battery under this section “requires great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement” and thus “cannot ‘be committed without the use or threat of physical force or violence.’ ” 9 So. 3d 658, 660 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009) (quoting Spradlin v. State, 967 So. 2d 376, 378 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)); cf. State v. Hearns, 961 So. 2d 211, 218-19 (Fla.2007) (holding that the offense of battery on a law enforcement officer does not qualify as a forcible fe…
  • Lopez v. State, 46 So. 3d 623 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010)
    …PER CURIAM. AFFIRMED. See State v. Williams, 9 So. 3d 658 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009). WOLF, DAVIS, and WETHERELL, JJ., concur.…

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