5D09-2570 Pearl Croft v. State

State: Florida

Court: Florida Fifth District Court

Docket No: 5D09-2570

Case Date: 05/09/2011

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT JANUARY TERM 2011

PEARL MARIE CROFT, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. ________________________________/ Opinion filed May 13, 2011. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Orange County, Walter Komanski, Judge. James S. Purdy, Public Defender, and Rose M. Levering, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and L. Charlene Matthews, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee. Case No. 5D09-2570

PER CURIAM. The Appellant, Pearl Marie Croft, was convicted by a jury of attempted firstdegree murder. She was sentenced to life imprisonment and designated a prison

releasee reoffender. In this direct appeal, Croft challenges the legality of her sentence. She does not contest the PRR designation. Rather, she argues that the offense should have been classified as a first-degree felony, not a life felony. We agree and reverse.

The arguments at the hearing on Croft's rule 3.800(b) 1 motion centered around whether there was a valid basis for reclassifying the offense under section 775.087, Florida Statutes. The arguments on appeal maintain that focus. However, we think the record is clear that the parties and the court were, at the time of sentencing, simply mistaken as to the degree of the offense. That is, they were operating under the

assumption that attempted murder is a life felony, when that offense is actually a firstdegree felony, punishable by a maximum of 30 years' imprisonment. See

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