GARY BRUGGEMAN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Gary Bruggeman appealed the denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence, arguing that his fifteen-year prison sentence for probation violation, when combined with time spent on probation, exceeded the statutory maximum for a second degree felony. The court affirmed, holding that probation time cannot be credited against a prison sentence imposed upon probation revocation.
The court held that probation time cannot be credited against a prison sentence imposed upon probation revocation. Section 948.06(2), Florida Statutes provides that no part of the time on probation shall be considered as part of the time to be served in prison, and therefore Bruggeman's fifteen-year sentence does not exceed the statutory maximum and is legal.
[1] A defendant is not entitled to credit against a prison sentence for time previously served on probation upon revocation of that probation.
[2] Upon revocation of probation, a trial court may impose any sentence that it might have originally imposed before placing the probationer on 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“no part of the time the defendant is on probation shall be considered as any part of the time that the probationer shall be sentenced to serve”
Establishes the statutory prohibition on crediting probation time against prison sentences
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBruggeman entered a no contest plea to a second degree felony and was placed on fifteen years of probation. After violating probation, he was sentence…
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FULMER, Judge.
Gary Bruggeman appeals the summary denial of his motion to correct sentence filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). We affirm.
Bruggeman entered a plea of no contest to a second degree felony and was placed on probation for a period of fifteen years. As a result of violating his probation, he was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. In his motion, Bruggeman contends that his fifteen-year prison sentence, when combined with the time he previously spent under probation supervision, exceeds the statutory maximum and is, therefore, illegal. By this contention, Bruggeman essentially requests that he be given credit against his prison term for the time he spent under probation supervision.
The trial court correctly denied Bruggeman’s motion because such credit is specifically prohibited by statute.
Section 948.06(1), Florida Statutes (1991), provides that, upon revocation of probation, the trial court shall adjudge the probationer guilty of the offense charged and proven or admitted, unless there has been a previous adjudication of guilt, and impose any sentence that it might have originally imposed before placing the probationer on probation. The maximum sentence that may be imposed for a second degree felony is fifteen years incarceration.
Section 948.06(2) provides that no part of the time the defendant is on probation shall be considered as any part of the time that the probationer shall be sentenced to serve.
Thus, Bruggeman’s sentence meets but does not exceed the statutory maximum and is, therefore, a legal sentence.
We recognize that Bruggeman has already been under the legal constraint of probation for approximately three years and now faces an additional fifteen years, which subjects him to a period of legal constraint in excess of the statutory maximum penalty.
However, probation is not a sentence. As we previously recognized in Summers v. State, 625 So. 2d 876 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993), aff'd, 642 So. 2d 742 (Fla.1994), a defendant could serve almost double the statutory maximum time under legal constraint by being placed on probation for the statutory maximum time and, upon revocation of probation, being sentenced to the maximum period of incarceration. This result does not occur in a situation where a split sentence is imposed upon revocation of a period of straight probation.
However, this legal anomaly is a matter for the legislature. See Summers, 625 So. 2d 876.
In his motion, Bruggeman relies on this court’s opinion in Jones v. State, 667 So. 2d 940 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996), which we now acknowledge incorrectly applied the rule set forth in Waters v. State, 662 So. 2d 332 (Fla.1995). In Waters the supreme court held that, if the trial court includes probation as part of a sentence imposed upon revocation of probation, the trial court must give credit for any time previously served on probation if the new period of probation together with other sanctions, including jail and prison credit, and the time previously served on probation total more than the statutory maximum for the underlying offense.
Thus, Waters applies only in those eases where, after revocation of probation, the defendant is given a split sentence of incarceration followed by probation. Jones, like Bruggeman, was initially placed on straight probation. Jones was subsequently sentenced for violating probation to the maximum five-year term of imprisonment permitted for a third degree felony. Jones asserted the same claim that Bruggeman asserts now and we reversed, citing Waters, when in fact Waters did not apply.
Because our decision in Jones is incorrect, we recede from Jones and acknowledge that Summers requires an affirmance.
Affirmed.
THREADGILL, C.J., and RYDER, DANAHY, CAMPBELL, SCHOONOVER, FRANK, PARKER, PATTERSON, ALTENBERND, BLUE, LAZZARA, QUINCE and WHATLEY, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Connor v. State, 944 So. 2d 488 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006)…ison sentence that exceeds the maximum sentence agreed upon in a plea agreement, see State v. Segarra, 388 So. 2d 1017 (Fla.1980);3 and revoke the defendant’s probation and sentence him or her to the maximum period in prison, see Bruggeman v. State, 681 So. 2d 822 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). It logically follows that when restitution, which is a mandatory part of sentencing that renders a sentence incomplete unless it is ordered, is not imposed as part of the sentence for the underlying offense, it may be ordered as…
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Robinson v. State, 694 So. 2d 882 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)…e appellant’s sentence on the incorrect assumption that the appellant was entitled to receive credit for the tíme he served on community control. In fact, the appellant is not entitled to such credit. § 948.06, Fla. Stat. (1993); Bruggeman v. State, 681 So. 2d 822 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). Accordingly, upon remand, the trial court should be aware that in considering the length of appellant’s sentence, the court is not required to give appellant credit for the time served on community control. Reversed and remanded…
Authorities Cited
- Carder v. State, 642 So. 2d 742 (Fla. 1994)
- Waters v. State, 662 So. 2d 332 (Fla. 1995)
- Goosby v. State, 625 So. 2d 876 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)
- Jones v. State, 667 So. 2d 940 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)