KARLIER ROBINSON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2003-07-28
No. 1D02-0964
VAN NORTWICK and HAWKES, JJ„ CONCUR.
850 So. 2d 658 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2003) Positive Treatment
Cited by 14 cases

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Synopsis

Karlier Robinson appeals his sentence imposed upon revocation of community control for exploitation of an elderly person. The court reversed the sentence, finding it illegal because the written sentence exceeded the statutory maximum, conflicted with the oral pronouncement, and failed to credit time already served on community control.


Holding

The court held that the written sentence was illegal because it exceeded the five-year statutory maximum and conflicted with the oral pronouncement, which controls. The court also held that Robinson was entitled to credit for the nearly six months he served on community control prior to revocation, and the failure to apply such credit rendered the sentence illegal as exceeding the statutory maximum when combined with the incarceration and probation terms.


Headnotes

[1] A written sentence that exceeds the statutory maximum for the underlying offense is illegal.

[2] When a written sentence is inconsistent with the oral pronouncement, the oral pronouncement controls.

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Key Quotes

“Newly imposed sanctions, whether of probation or of incarceration, "must not exceed the statutory maximum for the underlying offense."”

Establishes the controlling legal principle that post-revocation sentences cannot exceed the statutory maximum regardless of the form of sanction.

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Facts & Procedural History

Robinson was sentenced to two years of community control followed by three years of probation for exploitation of an elderly person, a third-degree fe…

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Opinion of the Court
LEWIS, J.

LEWIS, J.

Appellant, Earlier Robinson, appeals the trial court’s imposition of. a split sentence upon revocation of his community control. Appellant first argues that the trial court’s written sentence was illegal because it exceeded the statutory maximum for the underlying offense and failed to conform to the trial court’s oral pronouncement. Appellant also argues that both the oral pronouncement and written sentence were illegal because they failed to credit appellant for the time he had previously served on community control. We agree with both arguments and, therefore, reverse appellant’s sentence and remand for resentencing.

By information, the State charged appellant with exploitation of an elderly person, a third-degree felony punishable by a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.1 On August 15, 2001, after appellant entered a plea of nolo conten-dere, the trial court sentenced appellant to two years’ community control followed by three years’ probation. Subsequently, an affidavit was filed charging appellant with five violations of community control. At the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing on February 6, 2002, the trial court adjudicated appellant guilty of the violations, revoked his community control, and sentenced him to three years’ incarceration followed by two years’ probation.

However, the trial court’s written sentence imposed a split sentence of three years’ imprisonment followed by three years’ probation.

Thus, the written sentence varied from the oral pronouncement and resulted in a' longer sanction than that orally imposed. Appellant timely appealed.

On April 30, 2002, during the pendency of this appeal, appellant filed a motion in the trial court to correct the illegal sentence pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b)(2).

On July 22, 2002, eighty-three days after appellant filed his motion, the trial court entered a resentencing order correcting the inconsistency between the oral and written sentences but did not credit appellant for the time he had already served on community control.

Appellant first contends on appeal that the trial court’s written sentence was illegal because it exceeded the statutory maximum for the underlying offense and failed to conform to the court’s oral pronouncement. Newly imposed sanctions, whether of probation or of incarceration, “must not exceed the statutory maximum for the underlying offense.” Waters v. State, 662 So. 2d 332, 333 (Fla.1995).

Thus, the trial court’s written sentence of three years’ incarceration followed by three years’ probation is illegal because it exceeds the five-year statutory maximum for the underlying offense. See id.; see also Henderson v. State, 720 So. 2d 1121, 1122 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998) (holding that imposing an eighteen-month sentence of community control, upon revocation of a twelve-month sentence of community control, constituted an illegal sentence, when the appellant had already served a four-year term of incarceration and five months of the original sentence of community control, because the statutory maximum for the appellant’s underlying offense was five years).

Moreover, because the written sentence is inconsistent with the oral pronouncement, the oral pronouncement controls. See State v. Jones, 753 So. 2d 1276, 1276 n. 2 (Fla.2000); Timmons v. State, 453 So. 2d 143, 144 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984).

Although the trial court attempted to correct its sentencing errors in its July 22, 2002, order,2 because the trial court entered its order in response to appellant’s rule 3.800(b)(2) motion more than sixty days after appellant filed his motion, the motion is deemed denied and the order is a nullity. See Fla. R.Crim. Pro. 3.800(b)(2)(B); see also Campbell v. State, 789 So. 2d 1213, 1214 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001) (holding that the trial court did not have jurisdiction to enter an order on a rule 3.800(b)(2) motion as no order was entered within sixty days from the filing of the motion, rendering the untimely order a nullity).

Appellant also contends that the trial court’s oral pronouncement and written sentence were illegal because they failed to credit appellant for the time he had previously served on community control. We have previously held that a defen dant who violates the probationary period of a split sentence is entitled to receive credit for time served on the incarcerative portion of the sentence before being placed on probation, unless a waiver of such credit is clearly shown on the record. Wells v. State, 751 So. 2d 703, 704 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000).

The legal principles which authorize a defendant to receive credit for time served on probation are equally applicable to a defendant who seeks credit for time served on community control. See Cozza v. State, 756 So. 2d 272, 273 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000) (citing Wells, 751 So. 2d at 704).

Upon revocation of community control, credit for time served on community control must be applied against any post-revocation period of community control or probation to ensure that the defendant’s total sentence does not exceed the statutory maximum, although time served on community control may not be applied to a post-revocation sentence of incarceration. See § 948.06(3), Fla. Stat. (2001); Young v. State, 697 So. 2d 75, 76-77 (Fla.1997) (citing State v. Summers, 642 So. 2d 742, 744 (Fla.1994); State v. Roundtree, 644 So. 2d 1358, 1359 (Fla.1994)).

Here, appellant did not waive his right to receive credit for the nearly six months he had served on community control prior to revocation, yet the trial court failed to credit appellant for the time he had previously served in both its oral pronouncement and its written sentence. Thus, by failing to credit the time appellant had already served on community control against the five-year statutory maximum for his underlying offense, the trial court illegally sentenced appellant to a term of incarceration and community control, which, when combined, exceeded the statutory maximum.

Accordingly, we reverse appellant’s sentence, remand to the trial court for resentencing in accordance with this opinion, and quash the trial court’s July 22, 2002, order. REVERSED and REMANDED with directions.

VAN NORTWICK and HAWKES, JJ„ CONCUR. . §§ 825.103(l)(a), (2)(c), 775.082(3)(d), Fla. Stat. (2000).

. A trial court may correct sentencing errors in the early stages of an appeal without an order from the appellate court relinquishing jurisdiction. Kimbrough v. State, 766 So. 2d 1255, 1256 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000).


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Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Cregan, 908 So. 2d 387 (Fla. 2005)
    …gal.” Id. at 77 n. 6.1 [*390] After Young, three district courts have held that the plain meaning of section 948.06(3) forbids jail-time credit for time spent in community control, with the limited exception adopted in Fraser. See Robinson v. State, 850 So. 2d 658, 661 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003) (holding that “time served on community control may not be applied to a post-revocation sentence of incarceration”); Griffin v. State, 838 So. 2d 1218, 1220 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003) (holding that “Florida law dictates that credit…
  • Long v. State, 886 So. 2d 280 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004)
    …in the order revoking appellant’s probation. Because the trial court did not rule on appellant’s 3.800(b)(2) motion within sixty days, the motion is deemed denied. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.800(b)(2)(B); Fla. R.App. P. 9.140(f)(6)(A); Robinson v. State, 850 So. 2d 658, 660 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003). On appeal, appellant again raises both issues addressed in his rule 3.800(b)(2) motion. Appellant’s first issue on appeal, as set forth in his rule 3.800(b)(2) motion, is that the trial court erred by sentencing him on th…
  • Chase v. State, 977 So. 2d 708 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)
    …mprisonment and probation so that the total period of community control, probation, and imprisonment served and to be served does not exceed the statutory maximum for the offense. Waters v. State, 662 So. 2d 332 (Fla.1995). Accord Robinson v. State, 850 So. 2d 658, 661 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003). Following the revocation of his probation, appellant was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by five years of probation for neglect of an elderly person, the statutory maximum for the offense which is a second-degree f…

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