Laverne Brown, Petitioner v. State of Florida, Respondent.

Summary

The Florida Supreme Court held that §775.082(10) is unconstitutional because it requires a judge, rather than a jury, to find dangerousness to the public in order to impose a state prison sentence, violating the Sixth Amendment as interpreted in Apprendi and Blakely. Accordingly, the Court quashed the Fifth District Court of Appeal’s declaration of the statute’s validity.