DocketNumber: No. 91-2401
Citation Numbers: 613 So. 2d 584, 1993 Fla. App. LEXIS 1635, 1993 WL 30581
Judges: Glickstein, Gunther, Warner
Filed Date: 2/10/1993
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 10/18/2024
We affirm appellant’s judgment, but reverse his sentence and remand for resen-tencing in accordance herewith. While we conclude appellant’s attacks on his judgment are meritless and do not warrant discussion, the trial court did err in reclassifying third-degree murder from a second-degree felony to a first-degree felony based on use of a firearm where use of a firearm was an essential element of the offense, and in departing from the sentencing guidelines.
Appellant, a juvenile at the time of his offense, was charged with second-degree murder with a firearm. The jury found him guilty of the lesser included offense of murder in the third degree with a firearm and the trial court so adjudicated him, denied his motion for new trial, and sentenced him to a thirty-year term of incarceration with a three-year mandatory minimum.
Appellant argues and the state concedes that reclassification of the offense of which the jury adjudged him guilty from a second-degree felony to a first-degree felony pursuant to section 775.-087(l)(b), Florida Statutes, was error. Where the use of a firearm is an essential element of the crime for which a defendant is convicted, use of a firearm is not a valid reason for enhancement. Gonzalez v. State, 585 So.2d 932 (Fla.1991). Appellant was convicted of third-degree murder with a firearm; therefore, his sentence should not have been enhanced based on the use of a firearm. We reverse this point on appeal and remand for resentencing with a recalculated scoresheet listing the primary offense as a second-degree felony. Erickson v. State, 565 So.2d 328, 336 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990) (defendant entitled to sentencing based on correctly calculated score-sheet), rev. denied, 576 So.2d 286 (Fla.1991).