Freddie L. Solomon v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledJanuary 21, 2022
Docket2D21-1320
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
FREDDIE L. SOLOMON,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
No. 2D21-1320
January 21, 2022
Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P. 9.141(b)(2) from the Circuit
Court for Polk County; Donald G. Jacobsen, Judge.
Freddie L. Solomon, pro se.
PER CURIAM.
Freddie Solomon appeals from the denial of his motion to
correct illegal sentence filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal
Procedure 3.800(a), in which he alleged that his sentence is illegal
because he was designated a habitual felony offender (HFO) and
prison releasee reoffender (PRR) for the same offense and the
portions of the sentence imposed under each designation are
impermissibly equal. Because the part of the record that the
postconviction court attached to its order does not conclusively
refute Solomon's claim, we reverse and remand for further
proceedings. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.141(b)(2)(D).
"A court may at any time correct an illegal sentence imposed
by it, or an incorrect calculation made by it in a sentencing
scoresheet, when it is affirmatively alleged that the court records
demonstrate on their face an entitlement to that relief . . . ." Fla. R.
Crim. P. 3.800(a)(1). A sentence is illegal within the meaning of rule
3.800(a) if it imposes a punishment that no trial court could impose
under the entire body of sentencing law under any set of factual
circumstances. See Carter v. State, 786 So. 2d 1173, 1178 (Fla.
2001) (quoting Blakley v. State, 746 So. 2d 1182, 1186-87 (Fla. 4th
DCA 1999)).
"A trial court may impose a single sentence pursuant to both
the PRR and habitual felony offender (HFO) statutes but the HFO
portion of the sentence must be longer than the PRR portion of the
sentence." Flint v. State, 313 So. 3d 791, 791 (Fla. 2d DCA 2021)
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(quoting Atmore v. State, 242 So. 3d 1201, 1202 (Fla. 2d DCA
2018)). Seeming to acknowledge this, the postconviction court
denied Solomon's claim, noting that Solomon was convicted of
aggravated battery and "sentenced to thirty years as a Habitual
Felony Offender with the first fifteen years also designated as a
Prison Releasee Reoffender. As the incarcerative portions of the
sentence are not equal, and the HFO sentence is greater than the
PRR sentence, Defendant's sentence is legal."
The sentence described by the postconviction court would be
legal, but the written sentence attached to the postconviction
court's order does not support the postconviction court's
description—it states that Solomon was sentenced to thirty years,
and "1st 15 years of sentence is as PRR to run consec. as habitual
offender." This wording creates the appearance that the HFO
sentence and PRR sentence are each fifteen years, which would be
impermissible. See id.; Grant v. State, 770 So. 2d 655, 658-59 (Fla.
2000) (holding that an HFO sentence must be greater than a PRR
sentence for a single offense and cannot be equal).
While the postconviction court's finding may be correct, the
court failed to attach to its order a copy of the oral pronouncement
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of sentence, which "controls and constitutes the legal sentence
imposed." Williams v. State, 957 So. 2d 600, 603 (Fla. 2007).
Accordingly, we reverse the postconviction court's order and
remand for further proceedings. If the postconviction court again
denies Solomon's motion, it must attach to its order those portions
of the record that conclusively refute his claim.
Reversed and remanded.
NORTHCUTT, KHOUZAM, and ATKINSON JJ., Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
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