Summary
In Pittman v. State, 633 So.2d 1125 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994), rev. denied, 642 So.2d 747 (Fla. 1994), this court affirmed a habitual felony offender sentence where the appellant had submitted statistical evidence which he alleged demonstrated that black defendants were more likely than white defendants to receive an enhanced sentence under the habitual offender statute.
Summary of this case from Bartley v. StateOpinion
No. 93-946.
March 7, 1994. Rehearing Denied April 18, 1994.
Appeal from the Circuit Court, Okaloosa County, Jack Heflin, J.
Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and Lynn A. Williams, Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Charlie McCoy, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.
Appellant was sentenced as a habitual felony offender pursuant to section 775.084, Florida Statutes (1991). He appeals the denial of his challenge to the constitutionality of that statute on grounds that it is being discriminatorily applied to persons of the black race in the First Circuit. In support of the motion, he relies on statistical studies attached to his motion. One such study concluded that "black offenders are habitualized 1.76 times more frequently than similarly situated non-black offenders." We affirm the trial court's ruling because Appellant "has offered nothing to suggest that the state attorney's office acted with purposeful discrimination" in seeking habitualization in his particular case. Foster v. State, 614 So.2d 455, 463 (Fla. 1992).
AFFIRMED.
ZEHMER, C.J., and JOANOS and WEBSTER, JJ., concur.