RANDOLPH C. SMITH, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Smith appeals his judgment and sentence for probation violation, claiming the trial court erred by failing to credit him with 529 days of time served. The court agreed, finding that Smith was entitled to credit for time served because he admitted to and was sentenced based solely on new law violations, not on other probation conditions, making the new offense the sole basis for revocation.
Smith is entitled to credit for time served from the date of his arrest for the new offenses because he admitted to and was sentenced based solely on the new law violations, which constituted the sole basis for his probation revocation. The trial court erred by failing to credit him with the 529 days of time served, and this error must be corrected regardless of whether it affects the actual time to be served.
[1] A defendant is entitled to credit for time served in jail from the date of arrest for new offenses if those new offenses constitute the sole basis for the revocation of p…
[2] A defendant is not entitled to credit for time served if probation is revoked based on new offenses and other violations of probation conditions.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“Revoking probation based partly on a purposed violation that was not proved or admitted constitutes fundamental error.”
Establishes the legal principle that Smith's probation revocation based on an unadmitted change-of-residence violation violated fundamental error
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSmith was sentenced in 2002 to jail time and probation for grand theft and burglary in Orange County. In 2005, a probation violation affidavit was fil…
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Randolph C. Smith [“Smith”] appeals his judgment and sentence after Smith pled guilty to violating his probation by committing a new substantive offense. Smith claims the trial court erred when it failed to credit him with 529 days of time served. We agree and reverse.
On September 5, 2002, Smith was sentenced to six months in jail followed by 4.5 months probation for the felony offenses of grand theft and burglary, committed in Orange County. On April 20, 2005, an affidavit of violation of probation was filed, alleging Smith violated condition (5) of his probation by committing new law violations in Polk County. Subsequently, on January 3, 2007, an amended affidavit of violation of probation was filed, which added that Smith also violated condition (2) of his probation by changing his residence without permission.
On January 20, 2009, Smith’s counsel advised the court that Smith wished to enter a plea, based on the new law violations, but pointed out that there was still an unresolved issue with the State regarding credit for time served. Smith had been arrested in Polk County on February 1, 2008, on the new law violations, and he remained incarcerated until he was sen*978tenced. Smith was sentenced for the Polk County crimes to concurrent sentences of five and ten years. Smith claimed credit for time served in the Orange County case from the date of his February 1st arrest in Polk County because his violation of probation in Orange County stemmed solely from the new law violation in Polk County.
Smith argues on appeal that, pursuant to Kendrigan v. State, 941 So.2d 529 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006), he is entitled to credit for time served in jail from the date of his arrest for the new offenses because the new offenses also constitute the sole basis for the revocation of his probation. Smith additionally argues that he is entitled to have the error corrected, even though the issue does not affect the amount of time Smith will have to serve because the judge ordered this sentence to run concurrently with his other Polk County sentences. See Davis v. State, 529 So.2d 1251, 1251 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988).
The State does not dispute that a defendant is entitled to credit for jail time from the date of the arrest for a new offense, if the new offense constitutes the sole basis for revoking probation. See Kendrigan, 941 So.2d at 529. Likewise, Smith acknowledges that a defendant is not entitled to credit for time served if the defendant is found to have violated probation based on his arrest for new offenses, as well as other violations of the conditions of his probation. See Cooper v. State, 967 So.2d 928, 929 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007). The State’s position is that Smith is not entitled to credit for time served because the new law violation was not the only basis for the revocation of probation.1
Review of the plea colloquy clearly shows that Smith only admitted to violating his probation based on the new law violations. He did not admit to changing his residence without permission. Furthermore, the trial court accepted his plea based solely on the new law violations. Indeed, as the record shows, the change-of-residence violation charge was not addressed. The State suggested that this was an oversight and that the VOP should have been based on violation of both conditions. The trial court agreed. This was error. “Revoking probation based partly on a purported violation that was not proved or admitted constitutes fundamental error.” Casas v. State, 27 So.3d 203, 205 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010) (quoting Odom v. State, 15 So.3d 672, 678 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)). Smith was entitled to be sentenced in accordance with his plea, and accordingly, is entitled to the credit for time served.
SENTENCE VACATED and REMANDED.
SAWAYA and EVANDER, JJ., concur.
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Tarique A. Bagley v. State, 96 So. 3d 1119 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012)…LAWSON, J., concurs specially with opinion. I agree with the panel’s decision to permit the voluntary dismissal of this case, but write to address our court’s precedent in Smith v. State, 41 So. 3d 977 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010), which the trial court correctly declined to apply in light of Ransone v. State, 48 So. 3d 692 (Fla.2010). Smith held that when sentencing a defendant following revocation of probation based upon a new offense, the trial court mu…
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Smith v. State (Fla. 6th DCA 2026)
Authorities Cited
- Odom v. State, 15 So. 3d 672 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)
- Kendrigan v. State, 941 So. 2d 529 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)
- Casas v. State, 27 So. 3d 203 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)
- Dubuis v. Sec. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n, 529 So. 2d 1251 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988)
- Davis v. State, 529 So. 2d 1251 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988)
- Eon G. Cooper v. State, 967 So. 2d 928 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007)