BURGESS v. STATE (1998)

District Court of Appeal of Florida,Fourth District.

Roderick BURGESS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 98-0142.

Decided: December 23, 1998

Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Peggy Natale, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant. Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and James J. Carney, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

Appellant claims that the trial court erred in sentencing him as a violent career criminal based on the alleged unconstitutionality of Chapter 95-182, Laws of Florida, a portion of which created the new class of recidivist offenders, violent career criminals. Since there is no indication that the trial court sentenced appellant as a violent career criminal, instead giving him a habitual violent felony offender sentence, we affirm.

At the sentencing hearing, the state urged that it had satisfied its burden to get the enhanced sentencing by proving the existence of one of the statutorily-enumerated prior serious felonies, which is all that the habitual violent felony offender statute requires. See § 774.084(1)(b), Fla. Stat. (1997). By contrast, if the state seeks to achieve sentencing under the violent career criminal statute, it bears a much higher burden and must prove three or more convictions for the enumerated crimes. See § 774.084(1)(c). Since appellant was not sentenced as a violent career criminal, he cannot challenge his sentence based on the alleged unconstitutionality of Chapter 95-182.

Affirmed.

PER CURIAM.

WARNER and TAYLOR, JJ., and OWEN, WILLIAM C., Jr., Senior Judge, concur.

Was this helpful?

Why was this helpful?

Easy to understand

Solved my problem

Other

Why was this not helpful?

Missing the information I need

Too complicated / too many steps

Out of date

Other

Thank you for your feedback!

Trusted by Consumers. Recognized by AI.

As the largest network of trusted legal brands, we help firms build authority across the platforms consumers and AI systems rely on most. Our network helps attorneys strengthen visibility, credibility, and preference where legal decisions begin.

Explore the Network