TIMOTHY HARRIS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1986-02-14
No. 85-774
DANAHY and SCHOONOVER, JJ., concur.
483 So. 2d 111 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1986) Caution
Cited by 19 cases

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Holding

The court held that the defendant's consent to a warrantless search was voluntary, but one of his sentences exceeded the statutory maximum and must be corrected.


Headnotes

[1] A warrantless search conducted pursuant to voluntary consent is a valid exception to the warrant requirement.

[2] The voluntariness of consent to a search is determined by the totality of the circumstances.

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Facts & Procedural History

The defendant was charged with multiple offenses, including possession of marijuana, and violation of probation. He moved to suppress evidence seized …

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Opinion of the Court
SCHEB, Acting Chief Judge.

SCHEB, Acting Chief Judge.

We reject defendant Timothy Harris’s contention that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence seized as a result of a warrantless search, as well as his argument that his concurrent sentences must be corrected so that each reflects the same pretrial confinement time. However, we agree that one of his sentences exceeds the statutory maximum and must be corrected.

Defendant was placed on probation in January 1983 for the offense of obstructing a police officer with violence. In April 1984, he was again placed on probation for burglary and attempted sexual battery.

In December 1984, defendant was charged with felony possession of marijuana, and as a result, he was charged with violation of probation. Defendant filed a motion to suppress the marijuana obtained from a search of his person. The trial court denied the motion. Thereafter he pled nolo contendere to all these charges, reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motion.

The trial court sentenced defendant to serve concurrent prison sentences of five years for the obstructing violation, seventeen years for each of the sexual battery and burglary counts, and five years for the possession conviction. The court awarded the following credit time for his pretrial incarceration: 263 days for the obstructing sentence, 296 days on each of the burglary and attempted sexual battery terms, and 60 days on the possession of marijuana conviction.

The defendant posits three grounds for his appeal. First, he argues that because his consent to a warrantless search by the police officers was merely submission to apparent authority, the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress. We disagree.

One of the recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement in cases of search and seizure is a search conducted pursuant to consent. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973). In Florida, the state must show voluntary consent by clear and convincing evidence. Norman v. State, 379 So. 2d 643, 646 (Fla.1980). A determination of voluntariness to a search is to be made from the totality of the circumstances. Norman at 646.

Here, the officers approached defendant in a public place, told him of their suspicions, read him his Miranda rights, and requested permission to search him. The defendant then gave his consent. We find no evidence in the record to indicate any resistance on the part of the defendant or any coercive actions or statements by the police which would indicate defendant’s consent was anything but freely given. Accordingly, we find that the state met its burden of showing voluntary consent by clear and convincing evidence.

Next, defendant contends the court erred in failing to award credit time of 296 days for each concurrent sentence. He cites to Martin v. State, 452 So. 2d 938 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984), wherein we held that a defend ant sentenced for multiple offenses is entitled to have his credit time applied to each sentence. See also Abbott v. State, 478 So. 2d 885 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985); Vasquez v. State, 478 So. 2d 76 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985).

Defendant’s reliance on Martin is misplaced. Here, defendant served 296 days awaiting disposition of his burglary and sexual battery charges. Therefore, the court correctly awarded that credit time against the concurrent sentences for those offenses. However, defendant was charged and incarcerated at different times for the offenses of obstruction and possession for which he only served 263 and 60 days, respectively. Since defendant is only entitled to receive credit for the time actually served in jail prior to trial for the charge he is being sentenced for, he is not entitled to have the 296 days credited against the sentences imposed for obstruction and possession. See Yohn v. State, 461 So. 2d 263 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984).

Finally, defendant asserts that the court erred in sentencing him to a prison term beyond the statutory maximum for attempted sexual battery. Defendant received a seventeen-year sentence for attempted sexual battery with a deadly weapon, a second degree felony proscribed by sections 794.011(3) and 777.04(4)(b), Florida Statutes (1983). Section 775.082(3)(c), Florida Statutes (1983), states that a second degree felony is punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding fifteen years. Thus, we remand with directions that the trial court enter an amended sentence of fifteen years for the attempted sexual battery. Otherwise, we affirm defendant’s convictions and sentences.

DANAHY and SCHOONOVER, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (11 total)

  • Bostick v. State, 554 So. 2d 1153 (Fla. 1989)
    …(Fla.1975); State v. Martin, 532 So. 2d 95 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988); Alvarez, 515 So. 2d at 286; Elsleger v. State, 503 So. 2d 1367 (Fla. 4th DCA), dismissed, 511 So. 2d 298 (Fla.1987); State v. Blan, 489 So. 2d 865 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Harris v. State, 483 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986); Tennyson v. State, 469 So. 2d 133 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985). No such clear and convincing proof exists upon this record. Indeed, the trial judge expressed his own belief that he considered the “whole picture ... very intimidating even…
  • Whitney v. State, 493 So. 2d 1077 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)
    …credit against concurrent sentences resulting from incarceration on multiple charges. In Yohn, on the other hand, the defendant was charged at different times with a series of offenses for which she was incarcerated. Similarly, in Harris v. State, 483 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986), the defendant was placed on probation in January 1983 for obstructing an officer and again in April 1984 for burglary and attempted sexual battery. In December 1984, he was charged with possession of marijuana and violation of pr…
  • Smith v. State, 491 So. 2d 1276 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)
    …ned as a third-degree felony, punishable by a term of incarceration not to exceed five years. § 775.-082(3)(d). When a sentence exceeds the maximum allowed by statute, the sentence must be amended to conform to the statutory limits. Harris v. State, 483 So. 2d 111 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986). As such, the sentence imposed by the trial court for the aggravated assault conviction must be amended to the statutory limits. Therefore, we affirm appellant’s convictions but correct his sentence for aggravated assault to ref…

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