Roberts v. State, 239 So. 3d 1289 (2018)

April 4, 2018 · District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District · Case No. 2D15–3499
239 So. 3d 1289

Richard Albert ROBERTS, DOC #C09992, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

Case No. 2D15-3499

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

Opinion filed April 4, 2018.

Michael Ufferman, of Michael Ufferman Law Firm, P.A., Tallahassee, for Appellant.

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and David Campbell, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.

BADALAMENTI, Judge.

Richard Albert Roberts appeals his jury conviction for capital sexual battery and the resulting life sentence and sexual predator designation imposed by the trial court. Roberts contends that the trial court erred by designating him a sexual predator pursuant to the Florida Sexual Predators Act.1 After careful review and the benefit of oral argument, we accept the State's concession that the sexual predator designation was error and reverse that portion of Roberts's sentence.

The sexual predator designation applies to an offense committed on or after October 1, 1993. See § 775.21(4)(a), Fla. Stat. (2015). Here, the felony information charges that the offense occurred approximately a decade prior to October 1, 1993. The trial court nevertheless designated Roberts a sexual predator pursuant to section 775.21 in a written order dated July 1, 2015, and indicated the same in Roberts's judgment.2 As the State properly concedes, this was error. See Wade v. State, 728 So.2d 284, 285 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999) ("Because [the defendant's] offenses were committed prior to October 1, 1993, we conclude that he did not meet the criteria for a sexual predator designation."), receded from on other grounds by King v. State, 911 So.2d 229 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005) ; see also Dennis v. State, 32 So.3d 79, 80 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009).

On remand, the trial court shall strike Roberts's sexual predator designation imposed for the conviction in this case and enter an amended judgment omitting this designation. See Dennis, 32 So.3d at 81 ; Wade, 728 So.2d at 285. We affirm his conviction and resulting life sentence in all other respects.3

Affirmed in part; reversed in part; remanded with instructions.

NORTHCUTT and SLEET, JJ., Concur.