Arthur C. Grace v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledJune 18, 2021
Docket1D19-0133
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
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No. 1D19-133
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ARTHUR C. GRACE,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
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On appeal from the Circuit Court for Alachua County.
Mark W. Moseley, Judge.
June 18, 2021
ON REMAND FROM THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT
PER CURIAM.
On December 11, 2020, the Florida Supreme Court quashed
our decision and remanded the instant case for reconsideration in
light of its decision in Pedroza v. State, 291 So. 3d 541 (Fla. 2020).
In Pedroza, the supreme court held that “a juvenile offender’s [40-
year] sentence does not implicate Graham v. State, 560 U.S. 48
(2010), unless it meets the threshold requirement of being a life
sentence or the functional equivalent of a life sentence.” Id. at 548.
In Graham, the United States Supreme Court held that a juvenile
who did not commit a homicide offense could not be sentenced to
life without parole. The Court did not require that a juvenile
nonhomicide offender be guaranteed eventual release. Id. at 75.
A jury found Grace guilty of four counts of robbery with a
firearm while wearing a mask; two counts of attempted robbery
while wearing a mask; and two counts of false imprisonment while
wearing a mask. Grace was 17 years old when the offenses were
committed. The court sentenced him to a total of 50 years in
prison. Like Pedroza, Grace does not meet the threshold for
resentencing because his sentence is not a life sentence or the
functional equivalent of a life sentence. See Hart v. State, 2020 WL
7778999 (Fla. 1st DCA Dec. 31, 2020) (affirming juvenile’s fifty-
year sentence as neither a life sentence nor its functional
equivalent), petition for review filed, No. SC21-260 (Fla. 2021).
Therefore, we affirm.
B.L. THOMAS, WINOKUR, and M.K. THOMAS, JJ., 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.
_____________________________
Jessica J. Yeary, Public Defender, and Glen P. Gifford, Assistant
Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Thomas H. Duffy, Assistant
Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
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