Elsperman v. State

Petitioner was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and because the trial court believed that it was statutorily mandated to do so, it imposed consecutive 20-year minimum mandatory sentences for each offense. On direct appeal, petitioner’s appellate counsel argued that the trial court had the discretion to impose the mandatory minimum sentences concurrently, but noting that case law of this court at the time was contrary to this position, requested that the court acknowledge that the issue was then pending review before the Florida Supreme Court. Petitioner’s…