William Jarvis v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledFebruary 6, 2020
Docket1D17-4186
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
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No. 1D17-4186
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WILLIAM JARVIS,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
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On appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County.
Marianne L. Aho, Judge.
February 6, 2020
OPINION ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
PER CURIAM.
The Appellant’s motion for rehearing is granted. We hereby
withdraw our previous opinion and substitute the following
opinion in its place.
In 2003, the Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder
(count I), first-degree arson (count II), and two counts of placing a
bomb causing injury (counts III-IV). He was sentenced to life in
prison on each count, with mandatory minimum life sentences
imposed on counts II through IV pursuant to section 775.087(2),
Florida Statutes. The sentences in counts I and II were imposed
concurrently, count III was imposed consecutively to count I, and
count IV was imposed consecutively to count III. Subsequently, the
Appellant filed a motion to correct illegal sentence raising three
claims, which the trial court summarily denied. We affirm the
denial of his second and third claims without discussion. However,
as to the Appellant’s first claim, we reverse.
In the Appellant’s first claim, he argued that all charges arose
from a single criminal episode, during which he placed a single
bomb that killed one person and injured two others. He asserted
that because he committed a single act resulting in the single
discharge of a bomb, his consecutive mandatory minimum
sentences are illegal. In McGouirk v. State, 493 So. 2d 1016 (Fla.
1986), the Florida Supreme Court held that it was improper to
impose consecutive mandatory minimum sentences arising from
“the single criminal act of placing [a] bomb.” Id. at 1017. Thus, the
Appellant’s consecutive mandatory minimum sentences in counts
III and IV are illegal. We therefore reverse and remand for
resentencing on these counts.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
RAY, C.J., and WOLF and ROBERTS, 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.
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William Mallory Kent, Jacksonville, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Amanda Stokes and
Jennifer J. Moore, Assistant Attorneys General, Tallahassee, for
Appellee.
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