Santiago v. State

Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed February 11, 2015.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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Nos. 3D12-2948; 3D12-2850
Lower Tribunal No. 06-5240
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Benito Santiago,
Appellant/Cross-Appellee,
vs.
The State of Florida,
Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
Appeals from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Ellen Venzer,
Judge.
Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender, and James Moody, Assistant Public
Defender, for appellant/cross-appellee.
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Linda Katz, Assistant Attorney
General, for appellee/cross-appellant.
Before SUAREZ, SALTER, and SCALES, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Affirmed as to both the appeal and cross-appeal. Regarding the State’s
challenge to two consecutive sentences of thirty years (with a twenty-five year
minimum mandatory term for each), see Thomas v. State, 135 So. 3d 590 (Fla. 1st
DCA 2014) (affirming a juvenile offender’s forty year sentence for first-degree
murder imposed after remand following Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455(2012)). But see Horsley v. State, 121 So. 3d 1130, 1131 (Fla. 5th DCA 2013),
review granted, Nos. SC13-1937, SC13-2000, 2013 WL 6224657 (Fla. Nov. 14,
2013) (“[T]he only sentence now available in Florida for a charge of capital
murder committed by a juvenile is life with the possibility of parole after twenty-
five years.”).1
1 Horsley, 2013 WL 6224657 (Oral argument held Nov. 6, 2014), is presently
pending review before the Florida Supreme Court, and may provide further
guidance regarding the sentencing options available after Miller, 132 S. Ct. 2455.
In the interim, however, we affirm based on Thomas.
2