Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed July 7, 2021.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D21-1159
Lower Tribunal Nos. F08-23614, F14-8084
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Kwanell Finnie,
Appellant,
vs.
The State of Florida,
Appellee.
An Appeal under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.141(b)(2) from
the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Jose L. Fernandez, Judge.
Kwanell Finnie, in proper person.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, for appellee.
Before EMAS, HENDON and MILLER, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Affirmed. See § 775.084(1)(b), Fla. Stat. (2008 and 2014) (providing,
inter alia, that a defendant qualifies as a habitual violent felony offender if he
was previously convicted of one or more enumerated felonies, and the
present offense was committed: a) while defendant was serving a prison
sentence or court-ordered supervision imposed as a result of a conviction
for an enumerated felony; or b) within five years of the date of conviction for
the last prior enumerated felony; or c) within five years of the date of
defendant’s release from a prison sentence or court-ordered supervision
imposed as a result of a prior conviction for an enumerated felony); §
775.084(2), Fla. Stat. (2008 and 2014) (providing: “For the purposes of this
section, the placing of a person on probation or community control without
an adjudication of guilt shall be treated as a prior conviction.”); Garcia v.
State,
237 So. 3d 1080 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017) (recognizing that defendant was
properly designated a habitual violent felony offender where the applicable
version of the statute defined a prior conviction as including a sentence of
probation). See also Ponton v. State,
73 So. 3d 70, 76-77 (Fla. 2011)
(holding that “since only one qualifying prior felony is needed for an HVFO
adjudication, it does not matter if the conviction for the qualifying prior felony
was entered together with, or separate from, convictions for other qualifying
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felonies, so long as the qualifying felony conviction was adjudicated
separately from and prior to the current offense”).
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