Tyrone Jordan v. State of Florida, 143 So. 3d 335

Jordan was convicted of burglary with assault or battery (HVFO) and strong-arm robbery, both felonies, and sentenced to concurrent life terms with 15-year minimums.
The trial court, after a Rule 3.800(a) motion, vacated the robbery sentence and resentenced to 30 years with a 10-year minimum, still concurrent.
Because the life sentence on the burglary count remained, the court concluded no resentencing hearing was needed where Jordan could not be present.
The Third District held Jordan was not entitled to be present at resentencing, citing ministerial-act precedent and a post-Frizzell framework.
The Florida Supreme Court abrogated Frizzell’s concurrent-sentence doctrine in habeas cases but clarified it does not apply to this postconviction context.
The issue certified for review: whether the defendant’s presence is required at resentencing when one count is reduced but a longer concurrent sentence remains.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Presence at resentencing required	Jordan entitled to presence under Rule 3.180 and prior precedents	Resentencing is ministerial when one count’s sentence is reduced while a longer concurrent sentence remains	Yes; presence required at resentencing
Harmless error standard for absence	Absence at a crucial stage harms fairness and triggers reversible error	Absence should be harmless if no prejudice and if resentencing is ministerial	Harmless error analysis governs; Jordan’s absence was harmless due to concurrent life sentence but the presence was still required

Frizzell v. State, 238 So. 2d 67 (Fla. 1970) (abrogated concurrent-sentence doctrine in habeas contexts)
Acosta v. State, 46 So. 3d 1179 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010) (presence at 3.800(a) resentencing when not ministerial)
Orta v. State, 919 So. 2d 602 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006) (ministerial nature for certain resentencing acts)
Mullins v. State, 997 So. 2d 443 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (discretionary resentencing not ministerial)
Ault v. State, 53 So. 3d 175 (Fla. 2010) (absence harmless when no prejudice; ministerial vs nonministerial distinction)
Garcia v. State, 492 So. 2d 360 (Fla. 1986) (harmless error framework for absence at critical stage)
Jackson v. State, 767 So. 2d 1156 (Fla. 2000) (right to be present at critical stages including resentencing)
Griffin v. State, 517 So. 2d 669 (Fla. 1987) (presence necessary at resentencing to submit evidence)
State v. Scott, 439 So. 2d 219 (Fla. 1983) (presence at sentencing corrections)