Gaines v. State

Full title: HAROLD GAINES, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District

Date published: Feb 14, 2001

816 So. 2d 648 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2001)

Opinion

No. 1D00-1852.

February 14, 2001.

An appeal from Circuit Court for Leon County. Charles A. Francis, Judge.

Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and Nancy L. Showalter, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Anne C. Toolan, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

The appellant's sentence is affirmed. See Knight v. State, 791 So.2d 490 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000), pet for review pending, No. SC-001987; Brown v. State, 24 Fla. L. Weekly D2753, ___ So.2d ___, 1999 WL 1112715 (Fla. 1st DCA Dec. 8, 1999). Nevertheless, consistent with our certification in Knight, we certify the following question to the supreme court as a question of great public importance:

DOES SECTION 775.082(8)(A)2A, FLORIDA STATUTES (1997), WHICH MANDATES A LIFE SENTENCE FOR PRISON RELEASEE REOFFENDERS WHO COMMIT "A FELONY PUNISHABLE BY LIFE," APPLY BOTH TO LIFE FELONIES AND FIRST DEGREE FELONIES PUNISHABLE BY IMPRISONMENT FOR A TERM OF YEARS NOT EXCEEDING LIFE?

AFFIRMED.

ERVIN, BOOTH and ALLEN, JJ., concur.