Jason Nicholas Frandi v. State of Florida ( 2018 )


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  •             FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
    STATE OF FLORIDA
    _____________________________
    No. 1D17-3358
    _____________________________
    JASON NICHOLAS FRANDI,
    Appellant,
    v.
    STATE OF FLORIDA,
    Appellee.
    _____________________________
    On appeal from the Circuit Court for Okaloosa County.
    John T. Brown, Judge.
    April 20, 2018
    WETHERELL, J.
    Appellant entered a negotiated plea to and was adjudicated
    guilty of 19 counts of possession of child pornography in violation
    of section 827.071, Florida Statutes (2016). He was sentenced to
    an aggregate term of 25 years in prison followed by a total of 25
    years of sex offender probation, and he was also designated a
    sexual predator pursuant to section 775.21(4)(a)1.b. On appeal,
    after his appointed counsel filed an Anders 1 brief, Appellant filed
    a pro se brief arguing that the trial court erred in designating
    him a sexual predator because he had only been adjudicated
    delinquent—and not convicted—of a prior sex offense.
    1    Anders v. California, 
    386 U.S. 738
     (1967).
    We affirm the sexual predator designation because Appellant
    failed to preserve this issue for appeal. He did not present the
    argument raised in his pro se brief to the trial court, either at the
    sentencing hearing or in a rule 3.800(b)(2) motion, and he cannot
    raise the issue for the first time on appeal. See Brannon v. State,
    
    850 So. 2d 452
    , 456 (Fla. 2003).
    Even if the issue had been preserved, it is meritless for two
    reasons.
    First, the record shows that Appellant specifically agreed to
    the sexual predator designation as part of the negotiated plea
    agreement. Because this designation is not a sentence or a
    punishment, Appellant was not precluded from agreeing to the
    designation even if he did not qualify under the statute. See
    Kingry v. State, 
    28 So. 3d 173
    , 174 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010). And,
    because Appellant has received the benefits of the plea
    agreement, 2 he cannot now seek to be relieved of one of the
    burdens imposed on him by the agreement. 
    Id.
    Second, in order to be designated a sexual predator pursuant
    to section 775.21(4)(a)1.b., the defendant must be “convicted” of a
    current offense that is a felony violation of an enumerated statute
    (such as section 827.071), and the defendant must also have
    previously “been convicted of or found to have committed” a
    violation of one of those enumerated statutes. Although an
    adjudication of delinquency does not qualify as a conviction for
    purposes of the current offense, see State v. J.M., 
    824 So. 2d 105
    (Fla. 2002), it does qualify for purposes of the prior offense
    because section 775.21(4)(b) unequivocally states that “[i]n order
    to be counted as a prior felony for purposes of this subsection, the
    felony must have resulted in a conviction sentenced separately, or
    an adjudication of delinquency entered separately, prior to the
    current offense . . .” (emphasis added). Here, Appellant was
    convicted—not adjudicated delinquent—of a current offense
    enumerated in section 775.21(4)(a)1.b., and although the record
    does not reflect the specific prior offense for which he was
    2   For example, the 25-year prison sentence Appellant
    received pursuant to the agreement is far less than the maximum
    potential sentence of 135 years that he was facing.
    2
    adjudicated delinquent, 3 Appellant has not argued—below or on
    appeal—that the prior offense was not a violation of one of the
    statutes enumerated in section 775.21(4)(a)1.b. Accordingly, the
    trial court properly designated Appellant a sexual predator.
    AFFIRMED.
    WOLF and ROBERTS, JJ., concur.
    _____________________________
    Not final until disposition of any timely and
    authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or
    9.331.
    _____________________________
    Bruce A. Miller, Public Defender, and Travis R. Gates, Assistant
    Public Defender, Shalimar; Andy Thomas, Public Defender, and
    Steven L. Seliger, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for
    Appellant; Jason Nicholas Frandi, pro se, Appellant.
    Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
    3   The record does not contain a copy of the judgement and
    sentence for the prior offense, and at the sentencing hearing, the
    prosecutor merely stated that Appellant “has a prior sex
    conviction.” Likewise, in his pro se brief, Appellant only refers to
    the offense as a “sexual offense” for which he was “adjudicated as
    a juvenile delinquent” in 1999. However, the order designating
    Appellant as a sexual predator states that Appellant “has
    previously been convicted or found to have committed . . . any
    violation of s. 800.04,” and section 800.04 is one of the statutes
    enumerated in section 775.21(4)(a)1.b.
    3
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 17-3358

Filed Date: 4/20/2018

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 4/20/2018