Deering v. State

Michael T. Deering appeals from the summary denial of his rule 3.800(a)1 motion to correct an illegal sentence. Deer-ing was convicted in 1977 of robbery with a firearm and sentenced to imprisonment “at hard labor” for the term of his natural life. The trial court properly denied Deering’s claim that his life sentence was illegal because it was an indefinite sentence, Alvarez v. State, 358 So.2d 10 (Fla.1978), or because it constituted cruel and unusual punishment. See, e.g., Blackshear v. State, 771 So.2d 1199 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). However, the trial court improperly denied Deering’s claim…