RAYMOND VALDESPINO, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 2016-12-21
No. 3D16-1938
Before ROTHENBERG, LOGUE, and SCALES, JJ.
209 So. 3d 64 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2016) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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

Raymond Valdespino appealed the denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence, claiming he was entitled to additional jail time credit. The court affirmed the denial of his claim for post-sentencing jail credit but remanded for the trial court to address his claim that the predicate offenses supporting his habitual felony offender sentence were legally insufficient.


Holding

The trial court correctly denied credit for post-sentencing jail time because such credit is the function of the Department of Corrections, not the trial court. The court remanded because the trial court apparently overlooked the defendant's separate claim that the predicate offenses supporting the habitual felony offender sentence were legally insufficient.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court is only required to award credit for pre-sentencing jail time; the Department of Corrections is responsible for awarding credit for time served after senten…

[2] A defendant seeking credit for post-sentencing jail time served before transfer to state prison must first seek relief from the Department of Corrections.

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Key Quotes

“the trial court only awards credit for pre-sentenc-ing jail time. The award of post-sentencing jail time is the function of the DOC.”

Establishes the jurisdictional division between trial courts and the DOC regarding sentencing credits

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Facts & Procedural History

Valdespino was arrested on March 1, 2012, and remained in custody. Following a jury trial, he was sentenced on August 27, 2013, to concurrent sentence…

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Opinion of the Court
ROTHENBERG, J.

ROTHENBERG, J.

Raymond Valdespino (“the defendant”) appeals the denial of his rule 3.800 motion to correct what he claims is an illegal sentence, and a subsequent order denying his motion to clarify his sentence. Although we conclude, as did the trial court, that the defendant’s claim that he is entitled to additional credit for time served in the Dade County Jail is without merit, we remand for consideration of an additional claim the trial court apparently overlooked.

The record reflects as follows. The defendant was arrested on March 1, 2012, and was not released prior to trial. Following a jury trial, the defendant was sentenced on August 27, 2013, to twenty-two years with a three-year minimum mandatory for shooting a deadly missile (Count I), fifteen years for discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle (Count II), and five years for committing an aggravated assault (Count III), with all sentences to be served concurrently as an habitual felony offender. On September 25, 2013, the defendant was picked up and transported to state prison by the Department of Corrections (“DOC”). The defendant received credit for the time he served from March 1, 2012, the date of his arrest, through August 27, 2013, the date he was sentenced. The defendant, however, claims that the trial court should also have given him credit for the time he served in the county jail from August 27, 2013, the date of sentencing, to September 25, 2013, the date he was picked up by the DOC.

The trial court correctly denied the defendant’s motion to award him credit for this additional time because the trial court only awards credit for pre-sentenc-ing jail time. The award of post-sentencing jail time is the function of the DOC. See Willis v. State, 18 So.3d 1215 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009) (affirming the trial court’s order denying Willis’s motion for additional jail credit for time spent in jail after sentencing and holding that Willis’s motion should have been directed to the DOC); Smith v. State, 932 So.2d 594, 595 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006) (stating that a “trial court is only required to award credit for pre-sen-tence jail time; it is the function of the Department of Corrections to award credit for any time served in jail after sentencing *66but before transfer to state prison”); see also § 921.161(1), Fla. Stat. (2013).

If the defendant has not received post-sentencing credit, he may submit his request for this additional time to the DOC. If he is unsuccessful in obtaining the requested relief from the DOC, and he exhausts his administrative remedies, he may then seek mandamus relief. Leiffer v. State, 867 So.2d 538, 538 n.1 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004).

In reviewing the record, it appears that the defendant also sought relief under rule 3.800 with regards to the habitual felony offender sentences imposed. He claims that the predicate offenses relied on by the trial court when it found that the defendant qualified to be sentenced as a habitual felony offender were legally insufficient. Because it appears that the trial court overlooked and has not ruled on this claim, we remand to afford the trial court the opportunity to address it. This Court takes no position on the merits of this claim.

Affirmed; remanded with directions.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Perez v. State (Fla. 2d DCA 2023)
    …eging that he was entitled to 766 days of jail credit against his sentences but that he only received 765 days. Relying on Florida Administrative Code Rule 23- 21.011(1) (2022), section 921.161, Florida Statutes (2022), and Valdespino v. State, 209 So. 3d 64 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014), the postconviction court concluded that " 'credit for time served' only refers to time spent in the county jail prior to sentencing; any time a defendant spends in the county jail on the day of or following sentencing is count…
  • Rogers v. State (Fla. 2d DCA 2021)
    …ed until he was transported to prison. Rogers does not dispute that the Department of Corrections (DOC) is responsible for granting jail time credit when there is a delay between sentencing and transport from jail to prison, see Valdespino v. State, 209 So. 3d 64, 66 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016); however, he asserts that pursuant to section 921.161(1), Florida Statutes (2020),1 the trial court was required to grant him forty additional 1 Section 921.161(1) provides, "A sentence of imprisonment shall not begin to run b…
  • Haynes v. State (Fla. 2d DCA 2026)

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