Court Opinion

ID: 9950972
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-15 14:03:05.386415+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:35:40.322761
License: Public Domain

SIXTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
                        STATE OF FLORIDA
                      _____________________________

                             Case No. 6D23-394
                       Lower Tribunal No. 19-316-CFA
                      _____________________________

                         RAFAEL GONZALEZ SANTIAGO,

                                   Appellant,

                                       v.

                               STATE OF FLORIDA,

                                   Appellee.
                      _____________________________

               Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hendry County.
                            James D. Sloan, Judge.

                                March 15, 2024

WHITE, J.

      Rafael Gonzalez Santiago appeals the judgment and sentence entered after he

was found guilty on multiple counts.1 Santiago argues that the judgment does not

      1
       This case was transferred from the Second District Court of Appeal to this
Court on January 1, 2023.
correctly reflect the trial court’s verdict2 on Counts 1, 3 and 4, and the sentences on

Counts 1 and 4 exceed the maximum permissible sentence. The State agrees.3

      Therefore, we reverse the provisions of the judgment that designate: the crime

on Counts 1 and 4; the offense statute number on Count 4; and the degree of crime

on Counts 1, 3 and 4. On remand, the trial court shall correct the judgment to

designate: the crime as sexual battery (2d degree) on Count 1, and robbery on Count

4; the offense statute number as 812.13(2)(c) on Count 4; and the degree of crime as

second degree on Count 1, third degree on Count 3, and second degree on Count 4.

      We also reverse the life sentences imposed on Counts 1 and 4. Because

Santiago was properly designated as a Habitual Felony Offender, the maximum

permissible sentence on each of those counts was 30 years.4 See § 775.084(4)(a)2.,

Fla. Stat. (2019). Therefore, we remand for the trial court to resentence Santiago on

Counts 1 and 4 as a Habitual Felony Offender.

      Otherwise, we affirm the judgment and sentence without further discussion.

      AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; REMANDED with instructions.

TRAVER, C.J., and STARGEL, J., concur.

      2
         The parties agreed to a bench trial.
      3
         The State also agreed in its response to Santiago’s timely rule 3.800(b)(2)
motion. That motion was deemed denied, however, because the trial court did not
rule on it within 60 days. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.800(b)(2)(B).
       4
         The Criminal Punishment Code did not require a longer sentence on either
count. See State v. Gabriel, 314 So. 3d 1243 (Fla. 2021).
                                           2
Howard L. “Rex” Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Rachel Page Roebuck, Assistant
Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Blain A. Goff, Assistant
Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.

 NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING
          AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF TIMELY FILED

                                      3