RICHARD GALARZA, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 2007-08-01
No. 3D07-1580
Before FLETCHER and LAGOA, JJ., and SCHWARTZ, Senior Judge.
962 So. 2d 985 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2007) Positive Treatment
Cited by 1 case

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Galarza appeals a trial court's denial of his petition to correct an illegal sentence, claiming he was entitled to 406 days of jail time credit rather than the 225 days awarded. The appellate court reverses and remands for the trial court to properly review the records and either award the additional credit or attach record excerpts that conclusively refute Galarza's claim.


Holding

The appellate court reversed and remanded because the record before it was unclear regarding whether Galarza is entitled to the additional jail time credit he seeks. The trial court's sentencing order cannot conclusively refute Galarza's assertion when he specifically claims the order contains error by awarding only partial credit.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court must grant credit for all jail time served by a defendant.

[2] A defendant's jail card should be treated as a court record for the purpose of determining credit for time served, even if not physically incorporated into the court file…

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Key Quotes

“that upon re-sentencing on violation of probation he was entitled to 406 days of credit for time served”

Establishes Galarza's specific claim that the trial court failed to award sufficient jail time credit.

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Facts & Procedural History

Galarza was re-sentenced on a violation of probation charge and was awarded 225 days of credit for time served in the April 25, 2006 sentencing order.…

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Opinion of the Court
LAGOA, Judge.

LAGOA, Judge.

On April 4, 2007, this Court issued an Opinion affirming in part and reversing in part the trial court’s order denying Appellant Richard Galarza’s petition to correct an illegal sentence pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a).

We reversed and remanded as the record before us failed to conclusively refute the appellant’s claim “that upon re-sentencing on violation of probation he was entitled to 406 days of credit for time served.” We further instructed the trial court to attach record excerpts conclusively showing that appellant was not entitled to the relief sought if it again entered an order summarily denying the post-conviction motion. On May 18, 2007, the trial court summarily denied appellant’s post-conviction motion but attached certain record excerpts including the April 25, 2006 sentencing order, which showed that appellant was awarded 225 days of credit for time served.

However, because Appellant, in his post-conviction motion, specifically asserts that the trial court “committed error by failing to grant the defendant a collective 406 days jail time credit served in lieu of the partial 225 days reflected in the defendant’s April 27, 2006[sic] sentence order,” that same sentencing order cannot conclusively refute appellant’s assertion that he is entitled to 406 days of credit for time served. As the record before us is unclear regarding whether appellant is entitled to the jail time credit he seeks, we are obliged to reverse and remand.

We note that a conventional evidentiary hearing is not required where the issue involves credit for time served. See Hidalgo v. State, 729 So. 2d 984, 985 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999). Indeed, as this Court explained in Hidalgo, 729 So. 2d at 985, the Florida Supreme Court’s opinion of State v. Mancino, 714 So. 2d 429 (Fla.1998), requires that the trial court “review the appropriate records and make a determination whether the defendant has received proper credit for time served.”

On remand, the trial court should examine the court file and the jail card,1 if necessary, to determine whether appellant is entitled to additional credit for time served. Moreover, after said review, the trial court should either attach those portions of the record that conclusively refute the appellant’s claim or award him the appropriate credit for time served.

Reversed and remanded.

. As this Court noted in Hidalgo, 729 So. 2d at 985(citation omitted):

The Mancino decision makes a strong policy statement that a defendant should be granted credit for all jail time served. Certainly the entitlement to such credit should not depend on the vagaries of the local recordkeeping system. For these purposes, therefore, we conclude that a defendant's jail card should be treated as a court record, whether or not the jail card has physically been incorporated into the court file.

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Citator

Cited By

  • Utria v. State (Fla. 3d DCA 2019)
    …s of jail credit already awarded. On remand, the trial court shall examine the court file and the jail card, if necessary, to determine whether Utria is entitled to additional credit for time served. See Davis, 219 So. 3d at 202; Galarza v. State, 962 So. 2d 985, 986 n.1 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007). If the trial court again enters an order summarily denying the motion for jail credit, the trial court shall attach those portions of the record conclusively showing that Utria is not entitled to the relief sought. If…

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