DONALD DAVIS
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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Donald Davis appealed the trial court's denial of his motion to correct his 1990 sentence for failing to award jail credit. Davis argued that Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.801(b), adopted in 2013, should not apply retroactively to his claim, and that the older rule 3.800(a) without a filing deadline should govern instead. The court affirmed the trial court's denial, finding the motion untimely under the applicable deadline provisions.
The court held that rule 3.801(b) applies to Davis's motion, and because he failed to file his motion by the July 1, 2014 deadline established by the Florida Supreme Court for pre-2013 sentences, the trial court properly denied his motion as untimely. Rule 3.800(a) does not provide an alternative unlimited filing period for such claims.
[1] When a procedural rule is adopted with retroactive effect, a court may establish a transitional deadline for filing motions regarding sentences imposed before the rule's…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDonald Davis was sentenced in 1990 and alleged the trial court failed to award him jail credit for time spent in county jail before sentencing. Davis …
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March 19, 2025 PER CURIAM.
Donald Davis filed a “motion to correct sentence” asserting that the trial court failed to award him jail credit when it sentenced him in 1990. The trial court denied the motion, asserting it was untimely pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.801(b). On appeal, Davis argues that rule 3.801 does not apply to his motion because the rule was adopted in 2013, long after his claim arose in 1990. As such, Davis asserts that Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a), which does not contain a filing deadline, applies to his claim.
Rule 3.801 authorizes a motion to correct a sentence that fails to allow a defendant credit for all of the time spent in county jail before sentencing, and provides that such motion must be filed within one year after the sentence becomes final. Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.801(a), (b). When the Florida Supreme Court adopted the rule in 2013, it indicated in subdivision (b) that “[f]or sentences imposed prior to July 1, 2013, a motion under this rule may be filed on or before July 1, 2014.” In re Amends. to Fla. Rules of Crim. Proc. & Fla. Rules of App. Proc., 132 So. 3d 734, 746 (Fla. 2013). Because Davis did not file his claim before that date, the court did not err in finding his motion untimely.
AFFIRMED. LEWIS, BILBREY, and WINOKUR, JJ., concur. _____________________________ Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331.
_____________________________ Donald Davis, pro se, Appellant. James Uthmeier, Attorney General, and Benjamin Hoffman, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
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Citator
Authorities Cited
- In re Amendments to the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, 132 So. 3d 734 (Fla. 2013)