LORENZO A. MARTINEZ
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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A defendant may not be convicted of both DUI manslaughter and driving with a suspended license causing death for the same victim and must have the lesser conviction vacated.
[1] Florida's single homicide rule precludes a defendant from being punished on multiple homicide-based charges arising from a single death during one criminal episode, even…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Although a defendant can be charged and convicted under multiple criminal statutes for conduct causing another's death during one criminal episode, that criminal defendant can only be punished once for that death.”
Court's statement of the single homicide rule
Martinez was convicted of three crimes: driving with a suspended license causing death, DUI manslaughter, and failure to remain at the scene of a cras…
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PER CURIAM.
Lorenzo Martinez appeals his judgment and sentences for: count one,
driving with a suspended license and causing death; count two, DUI manslaughter; and count three, failure to remain at the scene of a crash involving death. We agree with
Mr. Martinez that his convictions for counts one and two violate Florida's "single homicide rule." See McCullough v. State, 230 So. 3d 586, 589 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017) ("[The single homicide rule] provides that although a defendant can be charged and convicted under multiple criminal statutes for conduct causing another's death during one criminal episode, that criminal defendant can only be punished once for that death." (citing State v. Cooper, 634 So. 2d 1074, 1074-75 (Fla. 1994); Houser v. State, 474 So. 2d 1193, 1197 (Fla. 1985); Rodriguez v. State, 875 So. 2d 642, 645 (Fla. 2d DCA
2004))); see also Senteno v. State, 737 So. 2d 1120, 1120 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999) ("[A] defendant may not be convicted of both DUI manslaughter and driving while license suspended or revoked and causing death, with respect to the same victim.").
Therefore, we must reverse and remand with instructions for the trial court to vacate Mr. Martinez's conviction for the lesser, third-degree felony for driving with a suspended license and causing death. See McCullough, 230 So. 3d at 595-96;
Senteno, 737 So. 2d at 1120. On remand, the trial court shall resentence Mr. Martinez on all remaining counts with a corrected scoresheet. See Senteno, 737 So. 2d at 1120.
Mr. Martinez's remaining convictions are otherwise affirmed.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with instructions.
KELLY, VILLANTI, and LUCAS, JJ., Concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Ramsey v. State, 474 So. 2d 1193 (Fla. 1985)
- Houser v. State, 474 So. 2d 1193 (Fla. 1985)
- State v. Cooper, 634 So. 2d 1074 (Fla. 1994)
- City OF Miami v. Juarez, 875 So. 2d 642 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004)
- Rodriguez v. State, 875 So. 2d 642 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)
- Tippy McCullough v. State, 230 So. 3d 586 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017)
- Senteno v. State, 737 So. 2d 1120 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999)
- R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Dion, 230 So. 3d 586 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017)