Johnny Edward Simon v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledAugust 28, 2026
Docket6D2025-2865
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
SIXTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
_____________________________
Case No. 6D2025-2865
Lower Tribunal No. 2023-CF-007078
_____________________________
JOHNNY EDWARD SIMON,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
_____________________________
Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P. 9.141(b)(2) from the Circuit Court for Polk County.
Gerald P. Hill, II, Judge.
August 28, 2026
PER CURIAM.
Johnny Edward Simon challenges the postconviction court’s summary denial
of his motion to correct illegal sentence under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure
3.800(a)(1). We affirm because Simon’s sentence, imposed following a plea to
aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, is legal. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.800(a)(1)
(“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 . . . .”);
Martinez v. State, 211 So. 3d 989, 991 (Fla. 2017) (“[T]o be subject to correction
under rule 3.800(a) a sentence must be ‘one that no judge under the entire body of
sentencing laws could possibly impose.’” (quoting Wright v. State, 911 So. 2d 81,
83 (Fla. 2005))); § 921.16(1), Fla. Stat. (2024) (“Sentences of imprisonment for
offenses not charged in the same indictment, information, or affidavit shall be served
consecutively unless the court directs that two or more of the sentences be served
concurrently.”). Nothing in the summary record suggests that the trial court imposed
a sentence that would run concurrently with his sentence in a separate felony case
involving drug-related offenses. See Johnson v. State, 60 So. 3d 1045, 1050 (Fla.
2011) (“Under rule 3.800(a), the burden is on the petitioner to demonstrate an
entitlement to relief on the face of the record.”) (citation modified). We note,
though, that Simon’s trial counsel made statements to him before the trial court
began its plea colloquy that could have reasonably caused Simon to believe that his
sentence would run concurrently to the sentence in his separate felony case. We thus
affirm without prejudice for Simon to seek postconviction relief under Florida Rule
of Criminal Procedure 3.850 if he can timely do so in good faith.
AFFIRMED.
TRAVER, C.J., and WOZNIAK and MIZE, JJ., concur.
Johnny Edward Simon, Carrabelle, pro se.
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James Uthmeier, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Cerese Crawford Taylor, Chief
Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING
AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF TIMELY FILED
3