SC94703 Leotis M. Smith v. State of Florida

State: Florida

Docket No: sc94703

Case Date: 07/13/2000

Plaintiff: SC94703 Leotis M. Smith

Defendant: State of Florida

Preview:Supreme Court of Florida
No. SC94703
LEOTIS M. SMITH,
Petitioner,
vs.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Respondent.
[July 13, 2000]
PER CURIAM.
We have for review Smith v. State, 721 So. 2d 455 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998), a
decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal citing as authority its opinion in
Maddox v. State, 708 So. 2d 617 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998), approved in part,
disapproved in part, 25 Fla. L. Weekly S367 (Fla. May 11, 2000).  We have
jurisdiction.  See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.; Jollie v. State, 405 So. 2d 418, 420
(Fla. 1981).
Smith received a life sentence as a habitual offender for second-degree

murder with a deadly weapon.  Smith claims that his prior felony convictions were
an insufficient predicate for habitualization because two of the convictions were
entered on the same day and the third occurred after the date of the offense.  See §
775.084(5), Fla. Stat. (1995) (providing that to be a "prior felony" for the purpose
of habitualization, the offense must "have resulted in a conviction sentenced
separately prior to the current offense and sentenced separately from any other
felony conviction that is to be counted as a prior felony"); Rhodes v. State, 704
So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997) (stating that in order to constitute a prior offense
for purposes of habitualization, the offense must have been committed prior to the
offense resulting in the enhanced sentence).  For the reasons expressed in our
opinion in Maddox, we find that this constitutes a fundamental sentencing error that
can be raised on direct appeal during the window period discussed in Maddox.
We therefore quash the decision below and remand for further proceedings in light
of Maddox.
It is so ordered.
WELLS, C.J., and SHAW, HARDING, ANSTEAD, PARIENTE, LEWIS and
QUINCE, JJ., concur.
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION, AND
IF FILED, DETERMINED.
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Application for Review of the Decision of the District Court of Appeal -
Direct Conflict
Fifth District - Case No. 5D97-2647
(Orange County)
James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Stephanie H. Park, Assistant Public
Defender, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Daytona Beach, Florida,
for Petitioner
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Belle B. Schumann and Wesley
Heidt, Assistant Attorneys General, Daytona Beach, Florida,
for Respondent
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