GEORGE SYLVESTER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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George Sylvester appeals the summary denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence following probation revocation and resentencing. The appellate court reversed and remanded, finding the trial court erred in denying credit for time served that was negotiated in Sylvester's original plea agreement.
The trial court erred in two respects: First, Sylvester is entitled to have prison credit from case 96-4612 applied to sentences in the other two cases per Tripp v. State. Second, Sylvester is entitled to the 369 days jail credit negotiated in the original plea agreement plus credit for time spent in jail awaiting probation violation proceedings, and the plea agreement remains controlling despite probation revocation per Bradley v. State.
[1] A trial court errs in summarily denying a motion to correct an illegal sentence when the record refutes the court's finding regarding the calculation of credit for time s…
[2] A defendant is entitled to have credit for time spent in prison serving a sentence in one case applied to sentences in other cases, even if not explicitly reflected in th…
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“Sylvester is entitled to have the credit for time spent in prison serving the sentence in case 96-4612 applied to the sentences in both of the other cases.”
Establishes that prison time credit from one concurrent case must be applied to all concurrent sentences.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSylvester entered a negotiated guilty plea in three cases on December 30, 1996, and received sentences including four years' incarceration on one coun…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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DAVIS, Judge.
George Sylvester appeals the summary denial of his motion to correct illegal sentence filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). We reverse and remand.
Sylvester entered a negotiated plea of guilty in three separate cases on December 30, 1996. All three cases were included on the same negotiated plea form and on one scoresheet. In case number 96-4612, Sylvester pleaded guilty to three counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor. He was sentenced as a habitual offender to four years’ incarceration to be followed by four years’ probation. In case number 96-06849, Sylvester was sentenced to four years’ probation for one count of grand theft. In 96-9856, he was placed on four years’ probation for one count of obtaining property with a worthless check. The probation sentences of the latter two cases were to run concurrently with each other and with the probationary portion of the sentence in case number 96-4612. The plea agreement further provided that Sylvester was to receive 369 days credit for time served.
After serving the incarcerative portion of his sentence, Sylvester was released to serve his probation. Subsequently, the trial court found that Sylvester had violated the terms of his probation and revoked the probation in each of the three cases. At resentencing, the trial court sentenced Sylvester to 106 months’ incarceration as a habitual offender in each case. Sylvester now challenges these sentences.
The trial court summarily denied Sylvester’s motion, which alleged a miscalculation of the credit due him for time he previously had served. The trial court, however, erred in two respects in denying Sylvester’s claim. First, the trial court found that the record supported the finding that Sylvester had received the appropriate prison credit for each case. However, the record in fact refutes that finding. Sylvester is entitled to have the credit for time spent in prison serving the sentence in case 96-4612 applied to the sentences in both of the other cases. See Tripp v. State, 622 So. 2d 941 (Fla.1993). The judgments and sentences in 96-0649 and 96-09866 do not reflect the court’s awarding of such credit. Accordingly, the trial court erred in finding that Sylvester was not entitled to such relief.
Additionally, the trial court erred in finding that Sylvester was not entitled to further credit for time served in the county jail. Although the trial court acknowledges that the original plea agreement provided Sylvester with 369 days’ credit for jail time served, it recognized that at resentencing the sentencing judge recalculated the credit and awarded a lesser amount. The trial court concluded that the award reflected the actual time served and ruled that since Sylvester had violated his probation, the plea agreement was no longer controlling. This was error. See Bradley v. State, 727 So. 2d 1001 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). Sylvester is entitled to the 369 days credit negotiated in the plea agreement as well as credit for the time he spent in jail awaiting the violation of probation proceedings on each case. We therefore reverse and remand with instructions to the trial court to reconsider Sylvester’s motion in light of this opinion.
Reversed and remanded.
FULMER and CANADY, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Maldonado v. State, 145 So. 3d 913 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)…ed subsequent to the entry of a defendant’s plea. Bradley stands for the proposition that a waiver of a specific amount of jail credit applies to the original sentence and any subsequent resentencing. 727 So. 2d at 1002; see also Sylvester v. State, 842 So. 2d 977, 979 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (holding that upon the violation of probation of a sentence imposed pursuant to a plea bargain, the defendant is entitled to both the credit agreed upon in the plea agreement and credit for time spent in jail awaiting the vio…
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Barbesco v. State, 264 So. 3d 338 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019)…t is resentenced as a result of a violation of probation or community control and, therefore, the defendant is entitled to receive credit for the 262 days he served prior to the imposition of the original sentence.”); see also Sylvester v. State, 842 So. 2d 977 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (reversing rescission of previously awarded jail credit upon probation violation where the credit had been a condition of a negotiated plea, despite that the credit had been miscalculated). Absent an express and specific waive…
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Daniels v. State (Fla. 2d DCA 2023)…nt clearly stated that he was to receive jail credit on each of the first four counts and that he was sentenced accordingly. Thus, DOC's reduction of Doland's jail credit was contrary to his sentence and was unauthorized."); Sylvester v. State, 842 So. 2d 977, 979 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (defendant was entitled to the 369 days of jail credit negotiated in the plea agreement and trial court erred by reducing the award to the actual time served); Barbesco v. State, 264 So. 3d 338, 340 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019) (t…
Authorities Cited
- Tripp v. State, 622 So. 2d 941 (Fla. 1993)
- Amaro v. Weksler, 727 So. 2d 1001 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)