PETER FELIX ARMSTRONG
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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Appellant was convicted of DUI manslaughter and other charges, initially sentenced to 15 years on count I with consecutive probation on count III. After the trial court vacated count I and Appellant completed his probation on count III in February 2017, the State amended the information to vehicular homicide. Appellant pleaded nolo contendere and received a new sentence that improperly included another year of probation on count III.
The trial court improperly resentenced Appellant on count III after he had already completed his probationary sentence, violating his double jeopardy rights. On remand, the trial court must grant Appellant's motion to correct the illegal sentence and vacate the new sentence on count III.
[1] A defendant cannot be resentenced on a count for which he has already completed his sentence, as doing so violates double jeopardy protections under the United States and…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The trial court therefore improperly resentenced Appellant for count III three months after he completed his sentence, violating Appellant's right to be free from double jeopardy.”
Court's explanation of the constitutional violation
Appellant pleaded to DUI with property damage and leaving the scene of an accident, but was convicted by jury of DUI manslaughter and leaving the scen…
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PER CURIAM.
We agree with Appellant that the trial court should have corrected an illegal sentence. Appellant pleaded to DUI with property damage (count III), and leaving the scene of an accident involving unattended property (count IV). Following a jury trial, he was adjudicated guilty of DUI manslaughter (count I), and leaving the scene of an accident with property damage (count II). He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison on count I, time served on counts II and IV, and one year of probation on count III. The sentences on counts I and III were to run consecutively.
After Appellant had served four years on count I, the trial court granted Appellant’s 3.850 motion and vacated his judgment and sentence as to count I alone. Appellant was released on bond, and ordered to report to state probation for supervision on count III. He argues that he in fact served his probation on count III satisfactorily, as evidenced by a letter from the Department of Corrections stating exactly that, which Appellant filed with his motion to correct illegal sentence and filed again with his motion for rehearing of the trial court’s order dismissing the original motion. Meanwhile, over a year after the lower tribunal vacated the judgment and sentence on count I, the State amended the information, essentially substituting a count of vehicular homicide for the DUI manslaughter count. Appellant pleaded nolo contendere to this new count in exchange for a sentence of over nine years in prison followed by five years on probation. However, in its Order of Probation, the court sentenced Appellant on count III to another year on probation.
The record reflects that Appellant began serving his sentence on count III the day the court vacated his judgment and sentence as to count I. He completed the probationary sentence on count III on February 28, 2017. He provided evidence of this in the form of a DOC letter, the authenticity and accuracy of which neither the State nor the trial court challenged. The trial court therefore improperly resentenced Appellant for count III three months after he completed his sentence, violating Appellant’s right to be free from double jeopardy. U.S. Const. amend. V; Art. I, § 9, Fla. Const.; Sneed v. State, 749 So. 2d 545, 546 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) (quoting Palmer v. State, 182 So. 2d 625, 626–27 (Fla. 4th DCA 1966)). On remand, the trial court should grant Appellant’s motion to correct his illegal sentence and vacate his new sentence on count III.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
RAY, KELSEY, and JAY, JJ., concur. _____________________________ Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331.
_____________________________ Robert David Malove of the Law Office of Robert David Malove, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for Appellant. Ashley B. Moody, Attorney General; and Jennifer J. Moore, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Sneed v. State, 749 So. 2d 545 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)
- Freeman v. State, 182 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 4th DCA 1966)