Florida District Courts of Appeal, 2017

Angel Colon v. State

Florida District Courts of Appeal · Decided February 24, 2017 · Evander, Lambert, Jacobus

211 So. 3d 355; 2017 WL 728066; 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 2533 (Southern Reporter, Third Series)

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

In this Anders 1 appeal, Appellant, who was convicted in 1997 of the crime of first-degree murder committed when he was a juvenile, challenges his present sentence of fifty years in prison with a review hearing under the new juvenile sentencing statutes 2 to take place after twenty-five years. 3

We affirm on all issues raised by Appellant. However, consistent with our recent opinion in Williams v. State, 724 So.2d 724 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017), we certify the following question to the Florida Supreme Court as one of great public importance:

DOES ALLEYNE v. UNITED STATES, — U.S. —, 133 S.Ct. 2151, 186 L.Ed.2d 314 (2013) , REQUIRE THE JURY AND NOT THE TRIAL COURT TO MAKE FACTUAL FINDINGS UNDER SECTION 775.082(l)(b), FLORIDA STATUTES (2016), AS TO WHETHER A JUVENILE OFFENDER ACTUALLY KILLED, INTENDED TO KILL, OR ATTEMPTED TO KILL THE VICTIM?

AFFIRMED; QUESTION CERTIFIED.

EVANDER and LAMBERT, JJ., and JACOBUS, B.W., Senior Judge, Concur.

. Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967).

. §§ 775.082, 921.1401, 921.1402, Fla. Stat. (2016).

. Appellant was previously sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole; however, based upon his motion and the recent decisions in Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460, 132 S.Ct. 2455, 183 L.Ed.2d 407 (2012), and Falcon v. State, 162 So.3d 954 (Fla. 2015), the lower court granted his request for postcon-viction relief, vacated his life sentence, and ordered a resentencing.

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