CHARLES STEARNS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1986-12-03
No. 85-1898
DANAHY, C.J., and SCHEB, J., concur.
498 So. 2d 982 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1986) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 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

Defendant Stearns appealed the trial court's denial of his motion for credit for time served on a probation revocation sentence. The court reversed, holding that a defendant is entitled to credit for time served under a vacated sentence and accrued gain time, regardless of subsequent probation violations, when the new sentence is imposed at the statutory maximum.


Holding

A defendant is entitled to receive credit for time served under a void or vacated sentence, along with any gain time earned during that incarceration, regardless of subsequent probation violations. When a trial court imposes a sentence at the statutory maximum, it is presumed the trial court did not consider time previously served in calculating the sentence.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant is entitled to credit for time served under a void judgment and sentence, including any gain time earned during that incarceration.

[2] A trial court's denial of credit for time served is reversible error when the defendant is sentenced to the maximum statutory term and it is clear the prior time served w…

Previewing 2 of 4 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

“The rule has been set down that any time which a defendant serves under a void judgment and sentence thereof, that he receive credit for the time he served under said void sentence, along with any gain time which he earned while incarcerated.”

Establishes the fundamental rule that a defendant is entitled to credit for time served under a vacated sentence plus accrued gain time

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

Stearns pleaded guilty to second-degree grand theft in 1979 and was placed on probation. His probation was revoked in 1981 and he was sentenced to fiv…

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
SANDERLIN, Judge.

SANDERLIN, Judge.

This is an appeal from the denial of defendant’s “motion to give credit for time served.” We treat this as an appeal from a motion for post-conviction relief, and reverse.

In 1979, defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree grand theft and was placed on five-years probation in Case No. 79-1878. In 1981, defendant’s probation was revoked and he was sentenced to five-years imprisonment. This court reversed that revocation order in 1982. See Steams v. State, 412 So. 2d 969 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982). On July 21, 1982, defendant was reinstated on probation.

In 1983, defendant’s probation was again revoked and he was placed on community control for two years. An affidavit of violation of community control was filed in 1985. At the revocation hearing, defendant, pursuant to a plea negotiation, admitted the violations and was sentenced to five-years imprisonment, with credit for 81 days. Defendant also pleaded guilty to one count each of aggravated assault and carrying a concealed firearm in Case No. 85-1782, and was sentenced to concurrent terms of five-years imprisonment, also to run concurrently with the sentence in Case No. 79-1878.

Thereafter, defendant filed the present motion to give credit for time served, alleging that he was entitled to: (1) 13 months for time spent in prison following the initial probation revocation and before the revocation order was reversed by this court; (2) 8V2 months earned gain time; and (3) 6 weeks for time spent in county jail in 1983. After an evidentiary hearing on the motion, the trial court stated:

When he [violated probation] the second time, the fact that he has already served thirteen months on the first violation, even overturned, he should not get credit for that. That is just unfortunate ... but a part of the system.

Accordingly, the trial court denied the motion.

It is apparent that the trial court was laboring under the misconception that appellant could not receive credit for time served or accrued gain time because he had committed a second probation violation.

In Milligan v. State, 207 So. 2d 24 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968), this court stated:

The rule has been set down that any time which a defendant serves under a void judgment and sentence thereof, that he receive credit for the time he served under said void sentence, along with any gain time which he earned while incarcerated. [Citations omitted.]

Id. at 25 (emphasis added).

In Milligan, the defendant’s prior sentence had been vacated, and he was thereafter tried and sentenced again. He filed a motion to vacate this latter sentence on the basis that the trial court had not given him credit for time served under the earlier vacated sentence. The trial court denied this motion. While recognizing the above-cited general rule, this court nevertheless affirmed the trial court’s denial of the motion because it found that the defendant’s sentence was well within the statutory maximum and he had not demonstrated that the trial court had not considered the time served in calculating the present sentence. This court then assumed that the trial court had considered the time the defendant already served. Id. at 26. See also Little v. Wainwright, 161 So. 2d 213 (Fla.1964).

In the present case, the trial court sentenced appellant to the maximum statutory term. See §§ 775.082(3)(d) and 812.-014(2)(b), Fla.Stat. (1985). Therefore, it is clear that the trial court did not consider the time defendant previously served in calculating his sentence. See Lassiter v. State, 166 So. 2d 159 (Fla. 1st DCA 1964). Further, we have found no support for the trial court’s view that defendant was not entitled to time served and accrued gain time in his earlier incarceration because he violated probation a second time.

Accordingly, we remand to the trial court for entry of a new sentencing order in Case No. 79-1878 reflecting proper credit for time served and any accrued gain time.

DANAHY, C.J., and SCHEB, J., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Green v. State, 539 So. 2d 484 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)
    …ntence, including all gain time credit earned while incarcerated. Appellant urges our reconsideration of our rejection of this latter contention regarding gain time credit, and insists that our decision is in “direct conflict” with Stearns v. State, 498 So. 2d 982 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986), said to be on “all fours” with this case, and in conflict also with North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1962), and other cases. Appellant pled nolo contendere to two counts of attempted sexual…
  • Athelee Lee Bailey v. State, 541 So. 2d 1364 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989)
    …PER CURIAM. AFFIRMED. See Butler v. State, 530 So. 2d 324 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988); but see, Steams v. State, 498 So. 2d 982 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986). ORFINGER and COBB, JJ., concur. COWART, J., dissents without opinion.…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw