JAMES T. CURTIS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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James T. Curtis appeals the denial of his request for additional jail credit to compensate for gain time lost while housed in county jail awaiting evidentiary hearings on postconviction relief. The court affirmed the trial court's denial, holding that Curtis's motion was filed well beyond the sixty-day window for seeking sentence mitigation relief and the trial court therefore lacked authority to grant it.
Curtis's motion for additional jail credit was properly denied because it was filed well beyond the sixty-day window required for sentence mitigation relief under rule 3.800(c), and the trial court therefore lacked authority to grant the relief sought. Defendants risk losing gain time while housed in jails attending evidentiary hearings on postconviction motions.
[1] A trial court lacks authority to grant relief under rule 3.800(c) when a motion is filed beyond the sixty-day window from the date of sentence imposition or receipt of ma…
[2] A defendant seeking to mitigate a sentence must file the request within a narrow sixty-day window.
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“A decision to mitigate a sentence is largely a discretionary decision by a trial judge, and that decision is not appealable.”
Establishes the general non-appealability of sentence mitigation decisions and frames the legal standard applicable to Curtis's claim.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCurtis was incarcerated in county jail while awaiting scheduled evidentiary hearings on his motion for postconviction relief. The Department of Correc…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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ALTENBERND, Judge.
James T. Curtis appeals the trial court’s order denying his request for ten additional days of jail credit. He claims that he lost the opportunity to earn gain time on his state prison sentence while he was housed in a county jail, awaiting scheduled evidentiary hearings on his motion for postconviction relief. The Department of Corrections gave Mr. Curtis credit for the actual time he spent in jail, but did not give him the additional gain time he would have received if he had been incarcerated in a prison.
Mr. Curtis sought additional jail credit as a substitute for his gain time by filing a motion pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 8.800(b). The trial court denied the motion, explaining that it was not timely under rule 3.800(b) and that it did not plead a basis for relief under rule 3.800(a). Mr. Curtis claims on appeal that he was actually seeking to file a motion to mitigate his sentence, which would have been properly filed under rule 3.800(c).
A decision to mitigate a sentence is largely a discretionary decision by a trial judge, and that decision is not appealable. See Lancaster v. State, 821 So. 2d 416 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002). The defendant has a narrow sixty-day window in which to seek this relief, measured either from the date of imposition of the sentence or from receipt of the mandate if the sentence is appealed. On rare occasion, a defendant has sought jail credit to replace gain time within this narrow window under rule 3.800(c). See, e.g., Gaston v. State, 613 So. 2d 496 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993); Singletary v. Marchetti, 691 So. 2d 65 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997). Mr. Curtis’s motion was filed well beyond the sixty-day period, and the trial court had no authority to grant him relief. See Simmons v. State, 907 So. 2d 646 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005); see also State v. Mendiola, 30 Fla. L. Weekly D2039, — So. 2d-, 2005 WL 2088008 (Fla. 3d DCA Aug.31, 2005) (defect in sentence credit could not be cured by treating the order as one “mitigating” the sentence because the jurisdictional time for mitigation had long since expired). Defendants need to understand that one of the risks associated with filing postcon-viction motions is a possible loss of gain time while they are housed in jails to attend evidentiary hearings.
Affirmed.
WHATLEY and VILLANTI, JJ., Concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Gross v. State, 963 So. 2d 284 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See Curtis v. State, 915 So. 2d 733 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). SHAHOOD, C.J., STEVENSON and MAY, JJ., concur.…
Authorities Cited
- Lancaster v. State, 821 So. 2d 416 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)
- Gaston v. State, 613 So. 2d 496 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993)
- Singletary v. Dino Marchetti, 691 So. 2d 65 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)
- Dannie Simmons v. State, 907 So. 2d 646 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005)
- Demosthenes v. State, 907 So. 2d 646 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005)