FLORIDA APPEALS COURT REJECTS INMATE’S BID TO OVERTURN LIFE SENTENCE FOR ARMED SEXUAL BATTERY
A state appeals court on Wednesday upheld a life prison term for a man convicted of armed sexual battery in Miami-Dade County, rejecting his latest legal challenge following a recent change in Florida case law.
The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed a lower court order against Robert Alan McCartney, who is serving an upward-departure life sentence.
A jury convicted McCartney of one count of sexual battery with a deadly weapon or the use of force likely to cause serious injury. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alberto Milian handed down the life sentence, which went beyond standard state sentencing guidelines.
McCartney did not object during his original sentencing to the trial judge, rather than the jury, finding the facts used to increase his penalty. Higher courts upheld his conviction and sentence on direct appeal.
Later, McCartney filed a post-conviction motion under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a), claiming his sentence was illegal under the landmark U.S. Supreme Court precedent Apprendi v. New Jersey.
That ruling generally requires a jury to decide any fact that increases a criminal penalty beyond the statutory maximum. McCartney based his petition on a 2014 Florida Supreme Court decision, Plott v. State, which allowed defendants to raise such claims through Rule 3.800(a).
Judge Milian denied the request in September 2025, prompting McCartney to appeal.
While his case was pending, the Florida Supreme Court issued a new ruling in Maye v. State that overturned Plott. The high court held that “rule 3.800(a) is not the proper vehicle for raising a claim of error under Apprendi and its progeny.”
Following that decision, McCartney conceded to the appellate judges that the new precedent applied to his case and required the denial to stand.
Chief Judge Edwin A. Scales III wrote for the three-judge panel, affirming the lower court’s decision. The panel dismissed the appeal without prejudice, leaving the door open for McCartney to file a different type of post-conviction challenge under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. The court noted it was expressing no opinion on whether such a motion would succeed.
Judges Ivan F. Fernandez and Sheryl J. Bokor concurred in the decision. Assistant Public Defender Susan S. Lerner represented McCartney, while Senior Assistant Attorney General David Llanes represented the state.
READ: $200 Fine Could Cost Him His Green Card: Court Rules Low-Level Offense Counts For Deportation
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