Filed: May 15, 2015
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA SECOND DISTRICT LOLITA BARTHEL, ) ) Appellant, ) ) v. ) Case No. 2D13-2817 ) STATE OF FLORIDA, ) ) Appellee. ) ) Opinion filed May 15, 2015. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County; William Fuente, Judge. Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Maureen E. Surber, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee
Summary: NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA SECOND DISTRICT LOLITA BARTHEL, ) ) Appellant, ) ) v. ) Case No. 2D13-2817 ) STATE OF FLORIDA, ) ) Appellee. ) ) Opinion filed May 15, 2015. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County; William Fuente, Judge. Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Maureen E. Surber, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee,..
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NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING
MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
LOLITA BARTHEL, )
)
Appellant, )
)
v. ) Case No. 2D13-2817
)
STATE OF FLORIDA, )
)
Appellee. )
)
Opinion filed May 15, 2015.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for
Hillsborough County; William Fuente,
Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and
Maureen E. Surber, Assistant Public
Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General,
Tallahassee, and Wendy Buffington,
Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for
Appellee.
NORTHCUTT, Judge.
Lolita Barthel was convicted of first-degree murder and other crimes in
Hillsborough County Circuit Court case number 95-011397. She was sentenced to life
imprisonment for the murder conviction and for her convictions for armed burglary of a
dwelling with battery and armed robbery. Barthel sought resentencing under Miller v.
Alabama,
132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012). The court denied her motion, opining that Miller did
not apply retroactively to cases that were final before it was decided.
The Florida Supreme Court has now determined that Miller indeed does
apply to convictions and sentences that were final before it issued. Falcon v. State, 40
Fla. L. Weekly S151 (Fla. Mar. 19, 2015); see also Toye v. State,
133 So. 3d 540 (Fla.
2d DCA 2014). Therefore, we reverse the circuit court's order and we remand with
directions that it conduct a resentencing proceeding for Barthel's homicide conviction,
applying the principles of chapter 2014-220, Laws of Florida. See Horsley v. State, 40
Fla. L. Weekly S155, S160 (Fla. Mar. 19, 2015).
The circuit court's ruling addressed only Barthel's sentence for the
homicide conviction. As we noted above, she was also sentenced to life imprisonment
for other crimes in the same case. She asks us to order resentencing proceedings for
those convictions as well, relying on Graham v. Florida,
560 U.S. 48 (2010). But we
must decline that request because we find no record indication that she moved for
resentencing under Graham. However, on remand Barthel is free to file a motion
seeking Graham resentencing for her nonhomicide life sentences. We offer no opinion
on the merits of such a motion.
Reversed and remanded with directions.
SILBERMAN and MORRIS, JJ., Concur.
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