FRANK THOMAS MEINTZER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 1981-06-10
Nos. 79-201, 79-202
ORFINGER and FRANK D. UP-CHURCH, Jr., JJ., concur.
399 So. 2d 133 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1981) Negative Treatment
Cited by 44 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Meintzer appeals the revocation of his probation and challenges whether he received proper credit against his prison sentence for jail time served as a probation condition. The court affirms the probation revocation but remands for correction of the sentence to properly reflect jail time credit as required by statute.


Holding

The trial court's revocation of probation is affirmed as supported by substantial competent evidence. However, Meintzer is entitled to credit against his prison sentence for jail time served as a probation condition, and the sentence must be amended to reflect this credit on its face, as required by statute.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court's finding of probation violation will be affirmed if supported by substantial competent evidence.

[2] A defendant is entitled to credit against a prison sentence for time spent in county jail as a condition of probation.

Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“If, as here, a defendant is first put on probation with the condition that he serve certain time in the county jail and he serves that time and later violates his probation and is then sentenced to prison he is entitled to credit against his prison sentence for the time served in the county jail as a condition of probation.”

Establishes the entitlement to credit for jail time served as a probation condition when probation is later revoked and prison sentence imposed.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Meintzer was placed on probation for two years with the condition that he serve 51 weeks in county jail. Over a year later, his probation was revoked …

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
COWART, Judge.

COWART, Judge.

Appellant was placed on probation for two offenses for a term of five years with the condition that he serve 51 weeks in the county jail. Over a year later his probation in this case was revoked as violated and he was sentenced to four years in prison “with credit for time served since August 17, 1979, only.” Apparently appellant was in confinement on the probation violation charge after the August 17, 1979, date. This appeal challenges the sufficiency of the factual basis for the revocation of probation and claims that appellant was denied credit against his prison sentence for the 51 weeks spent in jail as a condition of his probation.

We find there is substantial competent evidence supporting the trial court’s finding that appellant violated one or more conditions of his probation and the revocation of his probation is affirmed.

Section 921.161(1), Florida Statutes (1979), requires that the court imposing a sentence allow a defendant-credit for all of the time he spent in the county jail before sentence. If, as here, a defendant is first put on probation with the condition that he serve certain time in the county jail and he serves that time and later violates his probation and is then sentenced to prison he is entitled to credit against his prison sentence for the time served in the county jail as a condition of probation. State v. Jones, 327 So. 2d 18 (Fla.1976); Hutchinson v. State, 360 So. 2d 1160 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978).

Perhaps the trial court gave appellant credit for actual jail time served on the sentence on the other separate and distinct conviction. Or perhaps in this case the trial court in effect gave appellant credit for the 51 weeks of jail time by imposition of a four year prison sentence rather than the maximum fifteen years authorized by section 775.082(3)(c), Florida Statutes (1979), for a violation of section 893.13(l)(a)l, Florida Statutes (1979), the second degree felony to which appellant originally pled guilty.

However, credit cannot be given in this manner, see Hernandez v. State, 396 So. 2d 809 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981), because it causes a problem when, as here, an appellant con tends that he did not receive the credit to which he is entitled under the sentencing statute and we cannot determine from the record before us whether his contention is correct or not.

Section 921.161(1), Florida Statutes (1979), specifies that “the credit must be for a specified period of time and shall be provided for in the sentence.” In order for an appellate court to determine, when the issue is raised, that a defendant has been allowed credit as required by this statute it is necessary that the sentence show on its face the specified period of time credited. It would be helpful to the trial bench if all sentencing forms specifically provided a place for the insertion of this credit. Another problem is that the determination of credit requires a fact finding as to the actual confinement time in the county jail on the particular charge subject to the sentence. For this reason applications for the correction of sentences to show credit for previous jail time served should be initiated under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 so the trial court can make the necessary factual determination and sentence correction without the necessity of an appeal. In this case while affirming the revocation of probation we remand and request the trial court to make a determination as to whether appellant was in fact incarcerated in jail under the probation condition relating to this case, and, if so, to calculate the credit and amend the sentence to comply with the statute. The defendant need not be present for this nunc pro tunc correction.

AFFIRMED with directions to amend the form of the sentence.

ORFINGER and FRANK D. UP-CHURCH, Jr., JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (21 total)

  • Buford A. Green v. State, 450 So. 2d 1275 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984)
    …d to credit for jail time credit under § 921.-161(1), Fla.Stat. Both Rule 3.800(a) and Rule 3.850 are appropriate for the correction of an illegal sentence. A motion under Rule 3.850 is also appropriate to secure jail time credit. Meintzer v. State, 399 So. 2d 133 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). However, because Rule 3.800(a) relates only to the correction of an illegal sentence it is not appropriate as the basis for a motion to secure jail time credit against a legal sentence. An illegal sentence is a sentence not auth…
  • Martin v. State, 525 So. 2d 901 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987)
    …For purposes of clarification, we have reconsidered this case en banc and, to the extent of any inconsistency with the following opinion, we recede from any language [*902] in Deel v. State, 508 So. 2d 527 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987), and Meintzer v. State, 399 So. 2d 133 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981), which suggests that Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 is the exclusive remedy for the trial court’s failure to properly credit a defendant with presentence jail time. The appellant, Carla D. Martin, sought relief before…
    1 / 2
  • Spurlock v. State, 449 So. 2d 973 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984)
    …to give credit for time served. Because he did not raise this matter below, we reject his assertion, without prejudice to his right to present the issue to the trial court pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. See Meintzer v. State, 399 So. 2d 133 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). In addition, the defendant may want to challenge, by a 3.850 motion, the five-year sentence of imprisonment, entered subsequent to revocation, as being in contravention of section 958.05(2), Florida Statutes (1981). See also Ell…

Previewing 3 of 21 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw