Title: Dwight Williams V. State of Florida

State: florida

Issuer: Florida Supreme Court

Document:

Supreme Court of Florida
 
____________
No. SC00-534
____________
DWIGHT WILLIAMS,
Petitioner,
vs.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Respondent.
[May 24, 2001]
LEWIS, J.
We have for review Williams v. State, 752 So. 2d 117 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000). 
We have jurisdiction.  See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.
Williams challenges his sentence under the Prison Releasee Reoffender Act (the
“Act”) on several grounds, all of which have been addressed previously by this Court.
See Grant v. State, 770 So. 2d 655 (Fla. 2000) (rejecting an ex post facto challenge to
the Act and holding that the Act violates neither the single subject rule for legislation
nor principles of equal protection ); McKnight v. State, 769 So. 2d 1039 (Fla. 2000)
1In its decision in Williams, the Fifth District cited to its decision in Speed v.
State, 732 So. 2d 17 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999), approved, 779 So. 2d 265 (Fla. 2001).  In
our decision in Cotton, we disapproved the opinion in Speed to the extent that it
implied, in dicta, that a subsection of the Act gives to each victim a veto over the
imposition of the mandatory sentences that are prescribed in other parts of the Act.
-2-
(holding that a defendant has the right both to present evidence to prove that the
defendant does not qualify for sentencing under the Act and to challenge the State’s
evidence regarding the defendant’s eligibility for sentencing as a prison releasee
reoffender); State v. Cotton, 769 So. 2d 345 (Fla. 2000) (holding that the Act does not
permit a “victim veto” which would violate a defendant’s due process rights by
precluding application of the Act in some instances but not others, as well as holding
that the Act is not void for vagueness and does not constitute a form of cruel or
unusual punishment); Ellis v. State, 762 So. 2d 912, 912 (Fla. 2000) (recognizing that,
“[a]s to notice, publication in the Laws of Florida or the Florida Statutes gives all
citizens constructive notice of the consequences of their actions”) (quoting State v.
Beasley, 580 So. 2d 139, 142 (Fla. 1991)).  Accordingly, we approve the decision of
the district court to the extent it is consistent with Grant, McKnight, Cotton,1 and
Ellis.
It is so ordered.
WELLS, C.J., and SHAW, HARDING, ANSTEAD, and PARIENTE, JJ., concur.
QUINCE, J., dissents.
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NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION, AND IF
FILED, DETERMINED.
Application for Review of the Decision of the District Court of Appeal - 
Certified Direct Conflict
Fifth District - Case No. 5D99-1603 
(Orange County)
James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Nancy Ryan, Assistant Public Defender,
Seventh Judicial Circuit, Daytona Beach, Florida,
for Petitioner
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Kellie A. Nielan, Assistant Attorney
General, Daytona Beach, Florida,
for Respondent