Burgess v. State
Burgess v. State
Opinion of the Court
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 erimi-
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(l)(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(l)(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.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.