Cooper v. State
Cooper v. State
Opinion of the Court
This case returns to us from the Florida Supreme Court, which quashed Cooper v. State,
*559State v. Cooper, 43 Fla. L. Weekly S508,
In 2009, Cooper was charged with aggravated battery, a second-degree felony, and was sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act. See § 958.04, Fla. Stat. (2009). The Act subjects an offender to a maximum incarceration period of six years. See § 958.04(2). Consistent with that six-year cap, Cooper was sentenced to 479 days in prison, followed by 18 months of community control and a subsequent term of 18 months of probation. After the revocation of his community control for a substantive violation, the trial court sentenced Cooper to a minimum mandatory term of 20 years in prison pursuant to section 775.087(2)(a), Florida Statutes (the 10-20-Life statute). The judgment and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal. Cooper v. State,
Cooper has challenged his sentence on several occasions. In his most recent challenge, he filed a "Motion to Correct Illegal Sentence" pursuant to rule 3.800(a) of the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. In the motion, he claimed that the minimum mandatory term was illegal because it exceeded the maximum sentence he could have received for a second-degree felony as a youthful offender. See § 775.082(3)(d), Fla. Stat. (providing 15-year maximum sentence for second-degree felony). The trial court denied the motion, and Cooper appealed. Agreeing with Cooper that his sentence was illegal, we held that a sentencing court lacks statutory authority to impose a mandatory minimum term upon a youthful offender who substantively violates probation or community control. Cooper,
After Cooper was decided, the Florida Supreme Court issued its opinion in Eustache v. State in which it considered the following certified question posed by the Fourth District:
WHERE A DEFENDANT IS INITIALLY SENTENCED TO PROBATION OR COMMUNITY CONTROL AS A YOUTHFUL OFFENDER, AND THE TRIAL COURT LATER REVOKES SUPERVISION FOR A SUBSTANTIVE VIOLATION AND IMPOSES A SENTENCE ABOVE THE YOUTHFUL OFFENDER CAP UNDER SECTIONS 958.14[1 ] AND 948.06(2),[2 ] FLORIDA STATUTES, IS THE COURT REQUIRED TO IMPOSE
*560A MINIMUM MANDATORY SENTENCE THAT WOULD HAVE ORIGINALLY APPLIED TO THE OFFENSE?
Answering this question in the affirmative, the court held that section 948.06(2)(b)"clearly provides for the imposition of 'any sentence' that was 'originally' available to the sentencing judge."
In this case, Cooper committed a substantive violation of community control. The trial court chose not to resentence Cooper to a youthful offender sentence and instead imposed an adult sanction. Thus, according to Eustache, the trial court was also required "to impose any minimum mandatory provisions associated with the offense(s)."
Accordingly, we affirm the denial of Cooper's motion to correct his illegal sentence. We remand to the trial court to remove the "youthful offender" designation from his sentence.
AFFIRMED and REMANDED with instructions.
ORFINGER, COHEN, and GROSSHANS, JJ., concur.
§ 958.14, Fla. Stat. ("A violation or alleged violation of probation or the terms of a community control program shall subject the youthful offender to the provisions of s. 948.06. However, no youthful offender shall be committed to the custody of the department for a substantive violation for a period longer than the maximum sentence for the offense for which he or she was found guilty, with credit for time served while incarcerated, or for a technical or nonsubstantive violation for a period longer than 6 years or for a period longer than the maximum sentence for the offense for which he or she was found guilty, whichever is less, with credit for time served while incarcerated.").
§ 948.06(2)(b), Fla. Stat. ("If probation or community control is revoked, the court shall adjudge the probationer or offender guilty of the offense charged and proven or admitted, unless he or she has previously been adjudged guilty, and impose any sentence which it might have originally imposed before placing the probationer on probation or the offender into community control.").
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.