Case Name: Francis Gene JEFFRIES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1992-06-23
Citations: 600 So. 2d 565
Docket Number: No. 91-1123
Parties: Francis Gene JEFFRIES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: ERVIN, SMITH and KAHN, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 600
Pages: 565–565

Head Matter:
Francis Gene JEFFRIES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 91-1123.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
June 23, 1992.
Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, P. Douglas Brinkmeyer, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Andrea D. England, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Appellant, a prisoner serving a thirty-five year sentence for a 1980 conviction for burglary with assault, was convicted of attempted escape and possession of a weapon by a prisoner and sentenced as an habitual offender. We affirm, finding that appellant did not present sufficient evidence warranting a jury instruction on the defense of necessity, and that the trial court correctly ruled appellant to be an habitual offender based upon the reasoning of Smith v. State, 584 So.2d 1107 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991). However, we certify the following question as one of great public importance:
UNDER THE REQUIREMENT OF THE HABITUAL OFFENDER STATUTE, SECTION 775.084(l)(a)2., FLORIDA STATUTES (1988 SUPP.), THAT THE OFFENSE FOR WHICH A DEFENDANT IS BEING SENTENCED BE COMMITTED WITHIN FIVE YEARS OF HIS RELEASE FROM A PRISON SENTENCE IMPOSED AS A RESULT OF A PRIOR CONVICTION, CAN A DEFENDANT, WHO IS STILL IN PRISON UNDER THE SENTENCE IMPOSED FOR SUCH PRIOR CONVICTION AT THE TIME HE COMMITS A NEW OFFENSE, BE SENTENCED AS AN HABITUAL OFFENDER?
ERVIN, SMITH and KAHN, JJ., concur.