Opinion
No. 4D12–1579.
03-04-2015
Roberto TREJO, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and Patrick B. Burke, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Nancy Jack, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and Patrick B. Burke, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Nancy Jack, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
Opinion
PER CURIAM.
Appellant, Roberto Trejo, was indicted for racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering. His predicate offenses included attempted first degree murder, shooting into a building, and three armed robberies with a firearm. He was also charged on substantive counts for the same five offenses. Trejo was acquitted on the racketeering, conspiracy, and shooting into a building charges, but convicted of attempted second degree murder with a firearm and the three armed robberies. We affirm on all issues raised in this appeal, including his fifty-year sentence. The United States Supreme Court's ruling in Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48, 130 S.Ct. 2011, 176 L.Ed.2d 825 (2010) does not apply to appellant's sentence. See Guzman v. State, 110 So.3d 480, 483 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013) (holding that Graham, which prohibited the imposition of a life without parole sentence on a juvenile offender who did not commit homicide, does not apply to a lengthy term-of-years sentence that might constitute a de facto life sentence).
As we did in Guzman, we certify conflict with Thomas v. State, 78 So.3d 644 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011) and certify the following questions to the Florida Supreme Court:
1. DOES GRAHAM v. FLORIDA, 560 U.S. 48, 130 S.Ct. 2011, 176 L.Ed.2d 825 (2010) APPLY TO LENGTHY TERM–OF–YEARS SENTENCES THAT AMOUNT TO DE FACTO LIFE SENTENCES?
2. IF SO, AT WHAT POINT DOES A TERM–OF–YEARS SENTENCE BECOME A DE FACTO LIFE SENTENCE?
Affirmed; conflict certified; questions certified.
GROSS, TAYLOR and LEVINE, JJ., concur.