Perez v. State
Perez appealed the denial of his rule 3.800(a) motion challenging his 35-year sentence with a 25-year mandatory minimum for aggravated battery with a firearm, a second-degree felony carrying a 15-year statutory maximum. The Fifth DCA, applying Hatten v. State, held that once the trial court imposed the 25-year mandatory minimum under the 10-20-Life statute, it could not impose additional years beyond that mandatory minimum unless it selected a mandatory minimum sentence itself exceeding the base statutory maximum (i.e., could have imposed a 35-year mandatory minimum, but not a 35-year sentence with only a 25-year mandatory minimum).
Key facts
- Perez was convicted of aggravated battery with a firearm, a second-degree felony with a 15-year statutory maximum, and sentenced to 35 years with a 25-year mandatory minimum under Florida's 10-20-Life statute.
- The trial court imposed the 25-year mandatory minimum but then added 10 additional years beyond that mandatory minimum, resulting in a total 35-year sentence.
- +2 more key facts with a free trial
Why it matters
This decision reinforces the Florida Supreme Court's Hatten rule governing interplay between 10-20-Life mandatory minimums and the general felony sentencing maximums, an issue that recurs frequently in aggravated… — full analysis with a trial
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