Sosa v. State
Sosa v. State
Opinion of the Court
Estaban Sosa seeks review of the trial court’s denial of his postconviction relief petition filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800. We affirm.
Sosa first claims that a 1991 California conviction was improperly used as the sole qualifying offense for habitual offender sentencing enhancement pursuant to section 775.084(l)(a), Florida Statutes (1993). Sosa also contends that his convictions in Florida were not committed within five years of his current conviction. The Order denying relief states that the California conviction was not the sole qualifying offense, and that “multiple convictions in Dade County and West Palm Beach” were used as well.
Neither the record nor the trial court’s order conclusively refuted Sosa’s claim that he was improperly sentenced as an habitual offender. Thus, we ordered the State of Florida to -respond to the following concerns: (1) Whether the State established at the sentencing hearing that the 1991 California conviction was substantially similar in elements and penalties to an offense in Florida, such as to qualify as a prior conviction for enhanced sentencing under section 775.084(l)(a); (2) Whether the state established that Sosa’s prior
The State responds, and we agree, that the 1991 California conviction for burglary is the equivalent of Florida’s burglary of an occupied structure. As such, it qualifies as a prior offense for habitual offender sentencing. See § 775.084(l)(c), Fla. Stat. (1993)(definition of “other qualified offense”). The State also answers that Sosa’s additional Florida convictions were not within five years of the date of commission of his current offense, and that Sosa does not have any other qualifying prior convictions in Florida.
A trial court may impose an habitual offender sentence under section 775.084(l)(a) if the defendant had previously been convicted of two or more felonies, and the felony under consideration was committed within five years of either the conviction date or the date of release from incarceration or supervision imposed as a result of the prior felony.
Affirmed.
. Section 775.084(l)(a), Fla. Stat. (1993), provides:
"1(a) ‘Habitual felony offender’ means a defendant for whom the court may impose an extended term of imprisonment, as provided in this section, if it finds that:
1. The defendant has previously been convicted of any combination of two or more felonies in this state or other qualified offenses;
2. The felony for which the defendant is to be sentenced was committed within 5 years of the date of the conviction of the last prior felony or other qualified offense of which he was convicted...."
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.