Opinion
Case No. 2D16-5322
07-19-2019
STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Kevin RATLIFF, Appellee.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Kiersten E. Jensen, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellant. Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Maureen E. Surber, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellee.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Kiersten E. Jensen, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellant.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Maureen E. Surber, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellee.
ON REMAND FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA
PER CURIAM.
This case is before the court on remand from the Supreme Court of Florida, which quashed this court's opinion and remanded for reconsideration in light of Franklin v. State, 258 So.3d 1239 (Fla. 2018), and State v. Michel, 257 So.3d 3 (Fla. 2018), cert. denied, ––– U.S. ––––, 139 S. Ct. 1401, 203 L.Ed.2d 630 (2019). See State v. Ratliff, No. SC17-2037, 2019 WL 1983467, at *1 (Fla. May 3, 2019). We reverse.
The State appeals a postconviction order declaring unconstitutional two life sentences for the crimes of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder committed by Kevin Ratliff when he was a juvenile. The postconviction court granted relief under Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460, 132 S.Ct. 2455, 183 L.Ed.2d 407 (2012), and Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48, 130 S.Ct. 2011, 176 L.Ed.2d 825 (2010), as interpreted in Atwell v. State, 197 So.3d 1040 (Fla. 2016). However, in Franklin and Michel, the supreme court concluded that Atwell was wrongly decided. Franklin, 258 So.3d at 1241 ; Michel, 257 So.3d at 6-7. Because Ratliff is eligible for parole, his life sentences are not unconstitutional under Miller and Graham. See Franklin, 258 So.3d at 1241 ; Michel, 257 So.3d at 6. We therefore reverse the postconviction court's order.
Reversed.
NORTHCUTT, SILBERMAN, and MORRIS, JJ., Concur.