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Heggs v. State2/17/2000
As amended May 4, 2000.
PER CURIAM
We have for review a circuit court judgment certified as having a great effect on the proper administration of justice throughout Florida and as requiring immediate resolution by this Court. See Heggs v. State, 718 So. 2d 263 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). Specifically, the Second District has requested that this Court determine whether chapter 95-184, Laws of Florida, is unconstitutional as violative of the single subject rule contained in article III, section 6 of the Florida Constitution. We have jurisdiction. See Art. V, § 3(b)(5), Fla. Const. As we explain more fully, based on our analysis in State v. Thompson, 25 Fla. L. Weekly S1 (Fla. Dec. 22, 1999), we hold that chapter 95-184 violates the single subject rule and invalidate the law in its entirety.
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND IN THE PRESENT CASE
In December 1995, the State of Florida (the State) filed an information against Curtis Leon Heggs (Heggs), charging him with committing an armed robbery on November 2, 1995, in violation of section 812.13(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1995). Later that December, the State filed a second information, charging Heggs with committing an additional armed robbery with the offense occurring on October 24, 1995, in violation of the same statute. On September 4, 1996, a jury found Heggs guilty of the armed robbery offense charged in the second information, and later that same day, Heggs entered a written plea of guilty to the armed robbery charged in the first information.
Subsequently, on November 1, 1996, the trial court sentenced Heggs on each armed robbery offense to 132 months (11 years) in prison, with such sentences to run concurrently. The trial court calculated Heggs' sentences based on the 1995 sentencing guidelines--which were the 1994 sentencing guidelines as amended by chapter 95-184, Laws of Florida-- because he committed his offenses on or after October 1, 1995. See Ch. 95-184, §§ 2-6, at 1678-98, Laws of Fla.; § 921.001(4)(b)2., Fla. Stat. (1995); see also Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.702; Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.991. Under the 1995 guidelines, the permitted sentencing range for Heggs' offenses was 83.2 to 138.7 months, while under the 1994 guidelines, the permitted sentencing range for these offenses would have been 55.8 to 93.5 months. Further, because Heggs carried a firearm during the commission of the armed robberies, each of his sentences included a three-year minimum prison term in accordance with section 775.087(2), Florida Statutes (1995). After imposition of these sentences, Heggs filed a consolidated appeal from both his trial and plea cases on November 18, 1996.
On appeal before the Second District, Heggs asserted in his initial brief that both of his sentences were either "illegal" or "unlawful" because chapter 95-184 violates the single subject rule contained in article III, section 6 of the Florida Constitution, which provides, in pertinent part, that " very law shall embrace but one subject and matter properly connected therewith, and the subject shall be briefly expressed in the title." Even though Heggs had not raised the single subject rule challenge in the trial court, he claimed in his brief that the challenge should be considered for the first time on appeal under the doctrine of fundamental error. The Second District agreed with Heggs and stated:
Heggs did not challenge the constitutionality of the sentencing guidelines in the circuit court. Even so, his increased sentence under the 1995 guidelines implicate a fundamental due process liberty interest. See State v. Johnson, 616 So. 2d 1, 3 (Fla. 1993). Consequently, we may review this issue of fundamental error on appeal. See Id. at 4; see als
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