JAMES PERKOWSKI, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2006-02-22
No. 4D05-217
KLEIN and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.
920 So. 2d 836 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2006) Positive Treatment
Cited by 3 cases

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Synopsis

James Perkowski appealed a sentence reimposition for 1991 convictions arising from 1988 crimes, challenging his habitual violent felony offender sentence, denial of jail credit for out-of-state incarceration, and a scoresheet error. The court affirmed the habitual sentence and jail credit denial but reversed the sentence due to the scoresheet's improper inclusion of post-offense convictions.


Holding

The court held that the habitual sentence was not illegal under law of the case principles and that Apprendi and Blakely do not apply retroactively. Out-of-state incarceration in unrelated charges does not qualify for jail credit under Florida law. However, post-offense convictions cannot be scored as prior record in the sentencing scoresheet, as the rule requires prior record to consist only of criminal conduct prior to commission of the primary offense.


Headnotes

[1] A habitual violent felony offender sentence, previously affirmed on direct appeal, is governed by the law of the case doctrine.

[2] Decisions from the United States Supreme Court in Apprendi v. …

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Key Quotes

“A sentence of imprisonment shall not begin to run before the date it is imposed, but the court imposing a sentence shall allow a defendant credit for all of the time he spent in the county jail before sentence.”

Establishes the statutory basis for jail credit, limited to county jail in Florida

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Facts & Procedural History

Perkowski was convicted in 1991 of two counts of armed kidnapping, two counts of robbery with a firearm, and one count of armed burglary for crimes co…

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Opinion of the Court
WARNER, J.

WARNER, J.

Appellant, James Perkowski, appeals a final order reimposing his sentence based upon his 1991 convictions for two counts of armed kidnapping, two counts of robbery with a firearm, and one count of armed burglary. The 1991 convictions arose from crimes committed in December 1988. He raises three issues which include a challenge to his habitual violent felony offender sentence, a claim that the trial court erroneously denied jail credit for time he spent in prison out of state, and a score-sheet error based on the inclusion of points for convictions of crimes committed after these offenses.

We reverse only as to the seoresheet error.

First, Perkowski claims that his habitual violent felony offender sentence was illegal.

However, he raised this issue on direct appeal, and this court affirmed. See Perkowski v. State, 605 So. 2d 498 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), approved, 616 So. 2d 26 (Fla.1993).

Thus, the law of the case governs. See State v. McBride, 848 So. 2d 287 (Fla.2003). Perkowski also claims that Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000) and Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), render his habitual sentence unconstitutional. We need not address this claim, however, as these cases do not apply retroactively. See Thomas v. State, 914 So. 2d 27 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005).

Second, he contends he is entitled to credit for time spent in custody in Pennsylvania after he was first sentenced for the offenses. We disagree. Section 921.161(1), Florida Statutes (1987), provides: A sentence of imprisonment shall not begin to run before the date it is imposed, but the court imposing a sentence shall allow a defendant credit for all of the time he spent in the county jail before sentence. The credit must be for a specified period of time and shall be provided for in the sentence.

Our supreme court has held that the term “county jail” in the statute is applicable only to Florida jails and was not intended by the legislature to apply to various places of incarceration in other jurisdictions. Kronz v. State, 462 So. 2d 450, 451 (Fla.1985). When a prisoner is incarcerated in another state on charges unrelated to a Florida charge, that prisoner is not entitled to credit for time served in the other state. See Hopping v. State, 650 So. 2d 1087 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995).

Finally, we agree with appellant that the court erred when it sentenced appellant based on a scoresheet which included offenses committed after the offenses in this case were committed. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.701(d)(5) was adopted by the Florida Legislature when it enacted section 921.0015, Florida Statutes (1987).

Rule 3.701(d)(5) defines “prior record” as “any past criminal conduct on the part of the offender, resulting in conviction, prior to the commission of the primary offense.”1 It is clear based on the plain language of the rule that a sentencing court may not score as a prior conviction an offense which was committed after the primary offense. See Banks v. State, 575 So. 2d 755, 755 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991) (“[T]he state correctly concedes that the trial court improperly scored as a prior conviction an offense which was committed after the primary offense.”).

Here, the trial court scored, as prior record, appellant’s 1990 convictions for offenses appellant committed in Pennsylvania after committing the offenses in the present case. Although the subsequent offenses could be used for habitualization purposes under the statute in effect at the time of his 1988 offenses, see Perkowski, 605 So. 2d at 500, they cannot be included in the scoresheet calculation. We thus reverse appellant’s sentence on counts I and II, and remand with directions to impose a sentence based upon a corrected scoresheet without points from convictions for offenses occurring after the offenses in this case.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded with directions.

KLEIN and HAZOURI, JJ., concur. . The 1988 definition of "prior record” in rule 3.701 is identical to the current definition.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Halfacre v. State, 24 So. 3d 795 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009)
    …e time of the primary offense.” § 921.0021(5), Fla. Stat. (2003). Halfacre is correct that a sentencing court may not score as prior record a conviction for an offense which was committed after the primary offense. Id.; see also, Perkowski v. State, 920 So. 2d 836, 838 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (“It is clear based on the plain language of the rule that a sentencing court may not score as a prior conviction an offense which was committed after the primary offense.”) (citations omitted). Because the sentencing court…
  • Hastings v. State (Fla. 2d DCA 2021)
    …or the time it took to extradite him to Lee County from May 18 to May 24, 2017. The postconviction court denied Hastings' motion, finding that a defendant is not entitled to credit for time spent in custody in another state. See Perkowski v. State, 920 So. 2d 836 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). But Perkowski sought credit for time spent in custody in Pennsylvania after he was first sentenced on his Florida offenses. Id. at 837. In rejecting Perkowski's argument, the Fourth District stated: Our supreme court has held…

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