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Kirkland v. State

FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA
Mar 17, 2021
312 So. 3d 1276 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2021)

Summary

affirming juvenile offender's forty-year prison sentence because, "[u]nder Pedroza , a forty-year sentence is not a life sentence or its functional equivalent"

Summary of this case from Nugent v. State

Opinion

No. 1D18-4684

03-17-2021

Ronald KIRKLAND, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

Jessica J. Yeary, Public Defender, and Glen Gifford, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant; and Ronald Kirkland, pro se, Appellant. Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.


Jessica J. Yeary, Public Defender, and Glen Gifford, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant; and Ronald Kirkland, pro se, Appellant.

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

ON REMAND FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA

Per Curiam. The Florida Supreme Court quashed our decision in Kirkland v. State , 273 So. 3d 1194 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019), and remanded for our reconsideration in light of Pedroza v. State , 291 So. 3d 541 (Fla. 2020), cert. denied , ––– U.S. ––––, 141 S. Ct. 341, 208 L.Ed.2d 77 (2020). See Kirkland v. State , 46 Fla. L. Weekly S1, 2020 WL 7311939, at *1 (Fla. Dec. 11 2020) ).

In Pedroza , the supreme court held that "a juvenile offender's sentence does not implicate Graham [v. Florida , 560 U.S. 48, 130 S.Ct. 2011, 176 L.Ed.2d 825 (2010) ], and therefore Miller [v. Alabama , 567 U.S. 460, 132 S.Ct. 2455, 183 L.Ed.2d 407 (2012) ], unless it meets the threshold requirement of being a life sentence or the functional equivalent of a life sentence." Pedroza , 291 So. 3d at 548. The supreme court in Pedroza approved the Fourth District's affirmance of the denial of resentencing for a juvenile serving a forty-year sentence. Id . at 549.

Kirkland, age fifteen when he committed the crimes at issue, was tried as an adult and received a forty-year prison sentence. See Kirkland v. State , 67 So. 3d 1147, 1148 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011). Under Pedroza , a forty-year sentence is not a life sentence or its functional equivalent. This is particularly true in light of sentence reductions available under section 944.275, Florida Statutes (2008). Because Kirkland has not established that this is "a life sentence or the functional equivalent of a life sentence" as required by Pedroza , we affirm. See Pedroza , 291 So. 3d at 549 ; see also Hart v. State , Nos. 1D13-1754, 1D13-1810, 313 So. 3d 155 (Fla. 1st DCA Dec. 31, 2020) (Nos. 1D13-1754, 1D13-1810) (affirming juvenile's fifty-year sentence as neither a life sentence nor its functional equivalent), petition for review filed , No. SC21-260 (Fla. 2021).

AFFIRMED .

Makar, Kelsey, and Long, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Kirkland v. State

FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA
Mar 17, 2021
312 So. 3d 1276 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2021)

affirming juvenile offender's forty-year prison sentence because, "[u]nder Pedroza , a forty-year sentence is not a life sentence or its functional equivalent"

Summary of this case from Nugent v. State
Case details for

Kirkland v. State

Case Details

Full title:RONALD KIRKLAND, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee.

Court:FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA

Date published: Mar 17, 2021

Citations

312 So. 3d 1276 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2021)

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