STATE OF FLORIDA EX REL. HARRY SITAMORE, APPELLANT,
v.
THOMAS J. KELLY, SHERIFF OF DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The Florida Supreme Court reversed a habeas corpus ruling and held that an inmate must receive credit toward his original one-year Dade County sentence for time spent in Palm Beach County jail awaiting trial on separate charges, even though he did not consent to the interruption of his sentence.
The time spent in the Palm Beach County jail awaiting trial must be credited toward the original one-year Dade County sentence because the interruption of the sentence was not with the appellant's consent or acquiescence. The convict has a constitutional right to pay his debt to society by one continuous period of imprisonment.
“a convict has a right to pay his debt to society by one continuous period of imprisonment”
Establishes the fundamental right upon which the court's reversal is based, from State ex rel. Libtz v. Coleman.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn March 1954, Harry Sitamore was sentenced to one year in the Criminal Court of Record of Dade County. While serving this sentence in January 1955, h…
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ROBERTS, Justice.
This is an appeal in a habeas corpus proceeding filed in the lower court by the appellant attacking the lawfulness of his detention under a one-year sentence imposed by the Criminal Court of Record of Dade County on March 10, 1954. The lower court held that he had served only 156 days of such sentence and declined to enter an order directing his release from custody.
The only history of appellant’s imprisonment necessary to be related here is as follows: On January 24, 1955, while serving the one-year term in question, the appellant was transferred to the custody of the Sheriff of Palm Beach County to await trial on a charge of obtaining money under false pretenses then pending against him in the Criminal Court of Record of that county. He was held in the Palm Beach County jail from January 24, 1955, to July 20, 1955, at which time he was released on bail. The sole issue here is whether the time spent in the Palm Beach County jail, while awaiting trial, should be credited to the 1954 one-year sentence. We have concluded that the trial judge erred in refusing to give the appellant credit for that time.
In State ex rel. Libtz v. Coleman, 1941, 149 Fla. 28, 5 So. 2d 60, 61, this court held that a “convict has a right to pay his debt to society by one continuous period of imprisonment.” There, it was not denied that the convict was released from jail without her request or consent, and the court held that her sentence had been executed at the expiration of the term during her release from imprisonment. The court distinguished the cases of Terrell v. Wiggins, 55 Fla. 596, 46 So. 727, and State v. Horne, 52 Fla. 125, 42 So. 388, 7 L.R.A.,N.S., 719, on factual grounds because it appeared that [i]n each of those cases the convict had agreed or acquiesced in the interruption of the sentence.”
It must therefore be held, under the authority of State ex rel. Libtz v. Coleman, supra, 5 So. 2d 60, that since appellant’s service of his sentence was interrupted without his acquiescence or consent, he must be credited with the time spent in the Palm Beach County jail awaiting trial.
It appears, however, that appellant was tried and convicted of the Palm Beach County charge on May 10, 1956. Accordingly, the appellant should be transferred to the custody of the Sheriff of Palm Beach County for a determination by the judge of the Criminal Court of Record of that county of the question of whether appellant should be detained under its judgment and sentence, and it is so ordered.
Reversed with directions.
TERRELL, C. J., and THOMAS and O’CONNELL, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Carey LAW v. Louie L Wainwright, 264 So. 2d 3 (Fla. 1972)…t liberty, not imprisoned. In our situation, petitioner has been confined in jail for 576 days. Such time in confinement is not a continuation of the interruption; it is a continuation of sentence. The conclusion in State ex rel. Sitamore v. Kelly, 94 So. 2d 726 (Fla.1957), reaches the same result. There a convict, while serving a one-year sentence, was transferred and spent time in another county jail awaiting his trial on a different charge. Mr. Justice Roberts (now Chief Justice) discussed the question o…
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DeWitt Sinclair v. State of Fla. ex rel. James McSHANE, 99 So. 2d 238 (Fla. 1st DCA 1957)…nt appealed from is accordingly affirmed. STURGIS, C. J., and WILLIS, BEN C, A. J., concur. . Dettmer v. Mayo, Fla.1952, 61 So. 2d 192. . Harrell v. Shuttleworth, 200 F. 2d 490. . 18 U.S.O.A. § 3568. . State ex rel. Sitamore v. Kelly, Fla.1957, 94 So. 2d 726; Dettmer v. Mayo, supra; State ex rel. Libtz v. Coleman, 149 Fla. 28, 5 So. 2d 60. . See: Terrell v. Wiggins, 55 Fla. 596, 46 So. 727; State v. Horne, 52 Fla. 125, 42 So. 388, 7 L.R.A.,N.S., 719. . Dettmer v. Mayo, supra, 61 So. 2d at page 195.…
Authorities Cited
- State Ex Rel. Libtz v. Coleman, 5 So. 2d 60 (Fla. 1941)
- State v. Horne, 52 Fla. 125 (Fla. 1906)
- Terrell v. Wiggins, 55 Fla. 596 (Fla. 1908)