Court Opinion

ID: 9902641
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-27 15:21:07.159079+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:21:55.978394
License: Public Domain

FIFTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
                 STATE OF FLORIDA
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                       Case No. 5D23-2444
                  LT Case No. 2019-CF-008740-A
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CODY J. KEY,

     Appellant,

     v.

STATE OF FLORIDA,

     Appellee.
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3.800 appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County.
Mark J. Borello, Judge.

Cody J. Key, Clermont, pro se.

No Appearance for Appellee.

                        September 29, 2023

KILBANE, J.

       Cody J. Key, (“Key”), appeals the trial court’s denial of his
motion under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800 to correct
an illegal sentence. We affirm the trial court on the issues raised
by appellant without discussion. However, we reverse and remand,
to correct a conflict between the orally pronounced sentence and the
written judgment and sentence.
       Key was convicted of burglary of a dwelling or structure with
damage in excess of $1,000 (count 1); burglary of a dwelling (counts
2 and 3); grand theft auto (counts 4 and 5); and trespass in structure
or conveyance (count 6).

       The State gave notice of intent to classify Key as a Prison
Releasee Reoffender, a Habitual Felony Offender, and a Violent
Career Criminal (“VCC”). The offense in count 1 is a first-degree
felony punishable by a sentence up to and including life
imprisonment. § 810.02(2)(c)2., Fla. Stat. (2010). As such, when as
in this case, the defendant qualifies as a VCC, the required
sentence for count 1 is life imprisonment. § 775.084(4)(d)1., Fla.
Stat.

       In its oral sentencing, the trial court correctly applied section
775.084(4)(d)1., and sentenced Key to a life sentence on count 1 as
a VCC. In its written sentence on count 1, the trial court again
correctly sentenced Key to life. However, the written judgment and
sentence1 reflects Key was sentenced as a VCC on counts 1-3 with
30-year minimum mandatory sentences as to each count. This is
incorrect: Section 775.084 does not provide for a 30-year VCC
minimum mandatory sentence on a first-degree felony. As a
Violent Career Criminal, Key must serve a life sentence on count 1
by the terms of section 775.084(4)(d)1. In other words, on count 1,
the “mandatory minimum” as a VCC is life. The “mandatory
minimum” of thirty years as a VCC was correctly applied to counts
2 and 3—but only as to those counts—because they were second-
degree felonies. See § 775.084(4)(d)2., Fla. Stat. Because the
written judgment and sentence deviated from the oral
pronouncement, it resulted in an illegal sentence. See Webb v.
State, 302 So. 3d 1077, 1079 (Fla. 5th DCA 2020) (“When there is a
conflict between the oral pronouncement and the written sentence,
the oral pronouncement controls.”); Rodriguez v. State, 223 So. 3d
1053, 1054 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017) (“[T]he oral pronouncement controls
and constitutes the legal sentence imposed.” (alteration in original)
(quoting Williams v. State, 957 So. 2d 600, 603 (Fla. 2007))).

     1   At page 9, “Special Provisions.”

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       Accordingly, the trial court’s denial of Key’s motion is
affirmed in part and reversed in part, and the cause is remanded
with instructions to correct the written judgment and sentence to
reflect a VCC life sentence on count 1, as orally pronounced by the
trial court and in accordance with section 775.084(4)(d)1.

      AFFIRMED in PART; REVERSED and REMANDED in PART.

EDWARDS, C.J., and BOATWRIGHT, J., concur.

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    Not final until disposition of any timely and
    authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or
    9.331.
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