GRACE v. STATE (2021)

On December 11, 2020, the Florida Supreme Court quashed our decision and remanded the instant case for reconsideration in light of its decision in Pedroza v. State, 291 So. 3d 541 (Fla. 2020). In Pedroza, the supreme court held that “a juvenile offender's [40-year] sentence does not implicate Graham v. State, 560 U.S. 48, 130 S.Ct. 2011, 176 L.Ed.2d 825 (2010), unless it meets the threshold requirement of being a life sentence or the functional equivalent of a life sentence.” Id. at 548. In Graham, the United States Supreme Court held that a juvenile who did not commit a homicide offense could not be sentenced to life without parole. The Court did not require that a juvenile nonhomicide offender be guaranteed eventual release. Id. at 75, 130 S.Ct. 2011.

A jury found Grace guilty of four counts of robbery with a firearm while wearing a mask; two counts of attempted robbery while wearing a mask; and two counts of false imprisonment while wearing a mask. Grace was 17 years old when the offenses were committed. The court sentenced him to a total of 50 years in prison. Like Pedroza, Grace does not meet the threshold for resentencing because his sentence is not a life sentence or the functional equivalent of a life sentence. See Hart v. State, 313 So.3d 155 (Fla. 1st DCA 2020) (affirming juvenile's fifty-year sentence as neither a life sentence nor its functional equivalent), petition for review filed, No. SC21-260 (Fla. 2021). Therefore, we affirm.

Per Curiam.

B.L. Thomas, Winokur, and M.K. Thomas, JJ., concur.