Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed March 2, 2022.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
________________
No. 3D21-2148
Lower Tribunal Nos. F98-36722, F99-4398
________________
Marco Pace, etc.,
Appellant,
vs.
The State of Florida,
Appellee.
An Appeal under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.141(b)(2) from
the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Robert T. Watson, Judge.
Marco Pace, in proper person.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, for appellee.
Before FERNANDEZ, C.J., and LINDSEY and HENDON, JJ.
HENDON, J.
Marco Pace seeks review of the trial court’s denial of his postconviction
motion to correct illegal sentence filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal
Procedure 3.800(a), and from the denial of his motion for rehearing of the
order denying his 3.800(a) motion. We reverse and remand for
reconsideration of Pace’s motion for rehearing.
The trial court entered an order denying Pace’s motion for rehearing,
stating: “Defendant’s Motion for Rehearing is DENIED because rule 3.800
does not authorize motions for rehearing.” In support, the trial court cited to
decisions entered by our sister courts in 1992 and 1994. However, “Rule
3.800(a) was amended, effective January 1, 2005, to permit motions for
rehearing.” See Johnson v. State, 961 So. 2d 195, 196 (Fla. 2007) (citing
Amends. to the Fla. Rules of Crim. Proc., 886 So. 2d 197, 199-200 (Fla.
2004)). As the order denying Pace’s motion for rehearing does not reflect
that the trial court denied the motion on the merits, we reverse and remand
for reconsideration of Pace’s motion for rehearing because the trial court
erroneously determined that rule 3.800 does not authorize motions for
rehearing. Bamber v. State, 995 So. 2d 624 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008).
Reversed and remanded.
2