Opinion ID: 1626909
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Waiver of Right to Sentencing Option of Life in Prison without Possibility of Parole for Twenty-five Years

Text: Orme contends that the trial court erred in refusing to allow him to waive his right to the sentencing option of life in prison without the possibility of parole for twenty-five years in favor of a harsher punishment of life in prison without the possibility of parole. In making this argument, Orme is essentially urging the Court to recede from its majority decision in Bates v. State, 750 So.2d 6 (Fla.1999), and adopt the dissenting opinion in Bates. We decline to do so. Before May 25, 1994, defendants convicted of capital murder faced two sentencing options: death or life in prison without the possibility of parole for twenty-five years. § 775.082(1), Fla. Stat. (1993). However, in 1994, the Legislature enacted chapter 94-228, Laws of Florida, section 1, which amended the statute to replace the option of life in prison without the possibility of parole for twenty-five years with life in prison without eligibility for parole. § 775.082(1), Fla. Stat. (Supp.1994). This amendment applies to offenses committed on or after May 25, 1994. See In re Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases, 678 So.2d 1224, 1224 n. 1 (Fla.1996). Because Orme committed the crime in 1992, his two sentencing options were death or life in prison without the possibility of parole for twenty-five years. However, Orme wished to waive his right to the sentencing option of life in prison without the possibility of parole for twenty-five years in favor of a harsher punishment of life in prison without the possibility of parole. [7] In Bates, the defendant raised a similar issue-whether the trial court's refusal to instruct the sentencing jury that life without the possibility of parole was a sentencing alternative to death denied him due process and a fundamentally fair capital sentencing proceeding. 750 So.2d at 9. This Court applied the rules of statutory construction and stated that without clear legislative intent to the contrary, a law is presumed to apply prospectively. Id. at 10. The Court then applied that rule to section 775.082(1), Florida Statutes (1995), and found that there was no unequivocal language that the Legislature intended this amendment [to section 775.082(1)] to apply retroactively. Id. As we stated in Bates, under the rules of statutory construction, there must be a clear expression of intended retrospective application. See State v. Lavazzoli, 434 So.2d 321 (Fla.1983). In the instant matter, the Legislature did not, by clear and unequivocal language, express its intent for section 775.082(1), Florida Statutes (1995), to apply retroactively. Additionally, in In re Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases, we recognized that the 1994 amendment applied to offenses committed on or after May 25, 1994. As a result, Orme is not eligible to receive a life sentence without the possibility of parole. See Hudson v. State, 708 So.2d 256 (Fla.1998) (the 1994 amendment to section 775.082(1) cannot be applied retroactively); Craig v. State, 685 So.2d 1224, 1230 n. 12 (Fla.1996) (because the defendant committed his crime in 1981, he was not eligible to receive a life sentence without the possibility of parole); Gore v. State, 706 So.2d 1328 (Fla.1997). Because Orme was not eligible to receive the sentencing option of a life sentence without the possibility of parole and because there is no reason for us to recede from precedent on this issue, relief is denied on this claim.