LUS DARY DE SOUZA
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA

Fla. 6th DCA | 2024-12-20
No. 2024-0570
Moore, J., Nardella, J., White, J., Gannam, J.
2024 FL 14244 Florida District Court of Appeal, Sixth District (2024)

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Holding

A postconviction court must attach to its order records that conclusively refute a defendant's jail credit claims, and failure to do so requires reversal and remand even if the State later provides such records.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant held on multiple offenses in different counties is entitled to jail credit from arrest on a foreign county's warrant only where concurrent sentences are impos…

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Key Quotes

“Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.801(e) . . . require[s] the postconviction court to attach to its order records that conclusively refute [the defendant's] claims”

Court explaining the procedural requirement that mandated reversal

Facts & Procedural History

De Souza sought jail time credit for 35 days spent in Indian River County jail while facing separate charges there, claiming she was held pursuant to …

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Per_curiam
Per Curiam

SIXTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL

STATE OF FLORIDA

_____________________________

Case No. 6D2024-0570 Lower Tribunal No. CF20-002242-XX _____________________________

LUS DARY DE SOUZA, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. _____________________________

Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P. 9.141(b)(2) from the Circuit Court for Polk County. Dana Y. Moore, Judge.

December 20, 2024

PER CURIAM.

Lus Dary De Souza appeals the partial denial of her amended motion for correction of jail time credit filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.801, alleging that she should have been awarded 35 days credit for the time she spent in Indian River County jail pursuant to a warrant for her arrest in this case pending in Polk County.1 Finding that De Souza was facing separate and unrelated charges in Indian River County, Florida, the

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postconviction court denied her motion, but attached to its order only the amended motion itself and her exhibit. Because the records attached to the postconviction court’s order do not conclusively refute De Souza’s claim, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

Issues involving credit for time served are reviewed de novo. Moore v. State, 882 So. 2d 977, 980 (Fla. 2004). “[A] defendant who is held on multiple offenses is entitled to jail credit from the date of arrest on a foreign county’s warrant only where concurrent sentences are imposed or where the foreign county’s warrant is the sole basis for the defendant’s incarceration.” Ransone v. State, 20 So. 3d 445, 449 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009) (citing Daniels v. State, 491 So. 2d 543, 545 (Fla. 1986)). If the defendant is not arrested on the foreign county’s warrant, she is not entitled to additional jail time credit. See Gethers v. State, 798 So. 2d 829 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001) (holding that defendant was not entitled to credit for time served in foreign county jail where his arrest warrant for St. Lucie County charges was not executed and he was held on multiple charges for different counties), approved, 838 So. 2d 504 (Fla. 2003).

In her initial brief, De Souza claims that she was in custody in the Indian River County Jail pursuant to her Polk County warrant and therefore, is entitled to jail credit in this case. In response, the State points to a lower court progress docket which contains information about when De Souza’s Polk County warrant was served but which was not attached to the postconviction court’s order. As “Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.801(e) . . . require[s] the postconviction court to attach to its order records that

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conclusively refute [the defendant’s] claims,” we cannot, despite the State’s request, affirm on this ground and must instead reverse and remand for further proceedings, which may include the postconviction courts summarily denying the motion provided the records attached satisfy the rule. McDonald v. State, 300 So. 3d 1286, 1287 (Fla. 5th DCA 2020) (quoting Gibbs v. State, 175 So. 3d 915, 918 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015)). REVERSED and REMANDED.

NARDELLA, WHITE and GANNAM, JJ., concur.

Lus Dary De Souza, Quincy, pro se.

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and David Campbell and Laura Dempsey, Assistant Attorneys General, Tampa, for Appellee.

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND

DISPOSITION THEREOF IF TIMELY FILED

Footnotes
1 De Souza also alleged below that she was entitled to credit for time served in Dade County jail, which the postconviction court granted and is not at issue in this appeal.

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