Robert D. Garner v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledOctober 21, 2020
Docket2D19-0176
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING
MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
ROBERT D. GARNER, )
)
Appellant, )
)
v. ) Case No. 2D19-176
)
STATE OF FLORIDA, )
)
Appellee. )
___________________________________)
Opinion filed October 21, 2020.
Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P.
9.141(b)(2) from the Circuit Court for
Pasco County; Kimberly A. Campbell,
Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public
Defender, and Pamela H. Izakowitz,
Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for
Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General,
Tallahassee, and Kiersten E. Jensen,
Assistant Attorney General, Tampa,
for Appellee.
PER CURIAM.
We reverse the order denying Robert D. Garner's motion for
postconviction relief. We remand for resentencing pursuant to Croft v. State, 295 So.
3d 307 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020).
Mr. Garner filed his motion pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure
3.850. He argued that his sentence was unconstitutional under Miller v. Alabama, 567
U.S. 460 (2012), and Atwell v. State, 197 So. 3d 1040 (Fla. 2016). Relying on these
cases, the postconviction court granted his motion in 2016 and ordered a resentencing
hearing. The State did not appeal the order.
Two years later, while Mr. Garner was awaiting resentencing, the State
moved for reconsideration of the postconviction court's order, relying on State v. Michel,
257 So. 3d 3 (Fla. 2018). In late 2018, the court granted the motion, withdrew its order
granting resentencing, and denied Mr. Garner's motion for postconviction relief.
The postconviction court, however, lacked jurisdiction to withdraw its 2016
order. See Croft, 295 So. 3d at 309; see also Wittemen v. State, 45 Fla. L. Weekly
D2008, D2009 (Fla. 2d DCA Aug. 21, 2020) ("The postconviction court therefore lacked
jurisdiction to rescind its original order on the basis of an untimely rehearing motion by
the State." (citing Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.850(j))). Accordingly, we reverse the postconviction
court's 2018 order, reinstate the 2016 order, and remand for the postconviction court to
conduct a resentencing hearing. We note, as we did in Croft, that "the decisional law
effective at the time of the resentencing applies." 295 So. 3d at 309 (quoting State v.
Fleming, 61 So. 3d 399, 400 (Fla. 2011)). Thus, it is possible that Mr. Garner may still
receive the same sentence upon resentencing.
Reversed and remanded with instructions.
LaROSE, BLACK, and ROTHSTEIN-YOUAKIM, JJ., Concur.
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