WALTER JAMES CUNNINGHAM, JR., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Cunningham appealed the denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence, claiming the trial court improperly removed 261 days of jail credit after sentencing. The court affirmed the denial, holding that Cunningham must first exhaust administrative remedies with the Department of Corrections before seeking judicial review, as the issue involves the DOC's interpretation of the sentence rather than a judicial modification.
The court affirmed the denial of the Rule 3.800(a) motion without prejudice, holding that because Cunningham is challenging the DOC's interpretation of his sentences rather than an actual judicial modification, his remedy lies in exhausting administrative complaints with the DOC and filing a petition for mandamus in circuit court if necessary, not through a Rule 3.800(a) motion.
[1] A defendant must exhaust administrative remedies through the Department of Corrections before challenging the DOC's interpretation of a sentence in circuit court.
[2] A motion to correct an illegal sentence under rule 3.800(a) is not the proper procedural vehicle to challenge the Department of Corrections' interpretation of a sentence.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Thus, appellant must challenge the DOC's interpretation of the sentence. To do so, appellant must first seek his administrative remedies.”
Establishes that the proper forum for challenging the DOC's interpretation of sentence credits is administrative review, not a Rule 3.800(a) motion.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCunningham pleaded guilty to two counts and was sentenced on April 1, 2004, to a five-year prison term consecutive to a four-year prison term. The sen…
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PER CURIAM.
We withdraw our previously issued opinion and substitute the following in its place.
Cunningham appeals the denial of his rule 3.800(a) motion to correct illegal sentence. Therein, Cunningham claimed the lower court illegally increased his sentence by removing 261 days of jail credit after he began serving his sentence. Upon review of the record, we affirm the denial of the motion without prejudice to Cunningham seeking administrative remedies through the Department of Corrections (DOC) and filing a petition for writ of mandamus if no relief is forthcoming after exhausting his administrative remedies.
The sentencing court, after accepting guilty pleas on two counts, imposed a five-year prison term and a consecutive four-year prison term. The oral pronouncement was made on April 1, 2004. Cunningham had served 261 days in jail prior to this date, and in the written sentencing orders, the judge awarded 261 days of jail credit for each count.1 On May 27, 2004, the DOC contacted the judge to inquire about the apparent error in double jail credits, and the judge responded by letter that the sentence should include just 261 days of jail credit. At no time did the judge issue any order correcting, modifying, or altering the sentence originally imposed. Thus, appellant must challenge the DOC’s interpretation of the sentence. To do so, appellant must first seek his administrative remedies. See generally Smith v. State, 785 So. 2d 1237, 1237 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001) (“Any complaint Appellant has concerning how the Department interprets his sentences must be addressed by filing an administrative complaint with the [Department, and then, if necessary, by filing a petition for writ of mandamus against the Department in the circuit court where he is incarcerated.”).
Because Cunningham is attempting to challenge the DOC’s interpretation of his sentences, his remedy is not through rule 3.800(a), despite the letter written by the trial judge. Instead, Cunningham must pursue and exhaust his administrative remedies before returning to the circuit court. Therefore, we affirm denial of the rule 3.800(a) motion without prejudice to Cunningham seeking the relief described above.
STONE, FARMER and TAYLOR, JJ., concur. . We note that appellant had not included the transcripts of the oral pronouncement of the sentence in the record before the trial court, thus any such record is not properly before this Court. Additionally, the appellant has not alleged that the oral pronouncement is different from the ultimate sentence imposed by the DOC.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Canete v. Fla. Dep't OF Corr., 967 So. 2d 412 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007)…ary proceedings, “a petition for extraordinary writ, other than a petition challenging a criminal conviction, filed by or on behalf of a prisoner” must be brought within one year. . A particularly notable case in this regard is Cunningham v. State, 932 So. 2d 1202 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). Like Cañete, Cunningham’s written sentence awarded him equal amounts of jail credit against consecutive sentences. Acting on the purported authority of a letter from the sentencing judge indicating that the credit should be appl…
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Cunningham v. State, 968 So. 2d 119 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)…st motion was denied, and on appeal, this court affirmed without prejudice for appellant to exhaust his administrative remedies with the Department of Corrections (DOC) and then petition the circuit court for a writ of mandamus. Cunningham v. State, 932 So. 2d 1202 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). We again affirm because the trial court did not enter an order changing the original sentence. On April 1, 2004, Cunningham was sentenced to five years in prison for grand theft and to a consecutive term of four years in prison…
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Bradley v. State, 111 So. 3d 203 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)…respectively. With regard to Defendant’s concern about the DOC’s interpretation of his sentences, he is advised that he must first exhaust his administrative remedies with the DOC before pursuing relief in the circuit court. See Cunningham v. State, 932 So. 2d 1202 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). [*205] Affirmed without prejudice to seek the relief described above. GROSS, TAYLOR and CIKLIN, JJ„ concur.…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Smith v. State, 785 So. 2d 1237 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)