WINIFRED HUEY KIMMONS, APPELLANT,
v.
LOUIE L. WAINWRIGHT, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF OFFENDER REHABILITATION, STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Appellant challenged the forfeiture of accumulated gain time after violating parole while serving consecutive sentences for manslaughter. The court held that under Florida law, consecutive sentences are treated as a single sentence for gain-time purposes, and all accumulated gain time may be forfeited upon parole violation.
The court held that the forfeiture was lawful. Under Florida Statutes §944.27(2), consecutive sentences are treated as a single sentence for gain-time purposes, and gain time applies to the sentences as a unit rather than individually. Therefore, appellant had not served his first sentence until he had served both consecutive sentences minus gain-time credit, and the forfeiture of all gain time upon parole violation was authorized by statute.
[1] A prisoner serving consecutive sentences is allowed gain time as if all sentences were one, and such gain time is subject to forfeiture as though they were all one senten…
[2] A prisoner's gain time earned prior to parole is subject to forfeiture upon revocation of that parole.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“When a prisoner is under two or more cumulative sentences, he shall be allowed gain time as if they were all one sentence and his gain time, including any extra gain time allowed him under § 944.29, shall be subject to forfeiture as though such sentences were all one sentence.”
Establishes the statutory rule that consecutive sentences are treated as a unit for gain-time purposes
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant was serving two consecutive twelve-year sentences for manslaughter. He was released on parole after accumulating gain time. He subsequently …
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McCORD, Judge.
This is an appeal from an order denying petition for writ of habeas corpus. Appellant, while serving two twelve-year consecutive sentences for manslaughter, was released on parole. Upon subsequent violation of parole, he was again incarcerated and the Department of Offender Rehabilitation imposed a forfeiture of his gain time which he had accumulated prior to parole. Appellant contends that he had accumulated sufficient gain time prior to parole to terminate the first of the consecutive sentences and that therefore, he having served this sentence, the forfeiture of gain time was unlawful. As to forfeiture of gain time, § 944.28(1), Florida Statutes (1975), provides as follows:
“If a prisoner is convicted of escape, or if the clemency or parole granted to him is revoked, the [Department of Offender Rehabilitation] may, without notice or hearing, declare a forfeiture of all gain time earned and extra gain time allowed such prisoner, if any, prior to such escape or his release under such clemency or parole, as the case may be.”
With particular reference to appellant’s consecutive sentences, § 944.27(2) provides as follows:
“When a prisoner is under two or more cumulative sentences, he shall be allowed gain time as if they were all one sentence and his gain time, including any extra gain time allowed him under § 944.29, shall be subject to forfeiture as though such sentences were all one sentence.”
Subsection (1) of § 944.27 sets forth the gain-time allowances. Under it, if there were no subsection (2), appellant’s two consecutive sentences would be treated separately for gain-time purposes, and he would have received gain-time credit on each sentence for only five days per month off the first and second years and only ten days per month off the third and fourth years of each sentence. Because of the operation of subsection (2) of § 944.27 quoted above, had appellant not forfeited his gain-time, he would have received one more year gain-time credit under the operation of § 944.-27(2) than he would have received had the two sentences been treated separately. It is, therefore, apparent that the legislature has given a bonus of gain-time to prisoners who receive consecutive sentences, but along with this bonus goes the responsibility of doing nothing that would cause a gain-time forfeiture. All accumulated gain time may be forfeited if a prisoner is granted and then violates the terms of his parole. Gain-time is given to prisoners through the beneficence of the legislature, and the legislature has full authority to establish the terms and conditions thereof. We find nothing discriminatory in the foregoing statutes or in their application to appellant. Under the foregoing statutes, consecutive sentences are treated as a single sentence for gain-time purposes and a prisoner has not served the first of two consecutive sentences until he has served it exclusive of gain-time. Gain-time as to cumulative sentences is only applicable to the sentences as a unit.
AFFIRMED.
RAWLS, Acting C. J., and SMITH, J., concur.
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Hennard Harris v. Louie L. Wainwright, 376 So. 2d 855 (Fla. 1979)…is granted by the sovereign as a matter of grace rather than of right [*857] and that the state may offer such grace under and subject to such conditions as it may consider most conducive to accomplish the desired purpose. In Kimmons v. Wainwright, 338 So. 2d 239 (Fla.App. 1st DCA 1976), the court said that gain time is given to prisoners through the beneficence of the legislature, and the legislature has full authority to establish the terms and conditions thereof. This is not a situation in which a new la…
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Singletary v. Whittaker, 739 So. 2d 1183 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999)…a matter of grace rather than of right and that the state may offer such grace under and subject to such conditions as it may consider most conducive to accomplish the desired purpose. Id. at 855-57 (emphasis added); see also Kimmons v. Wainwright, 338 So. 2d 239, 240 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976) (“[T]he legislature has given a bonus of gain-time to prisoners who receive consecutive sentences, but along with this bonus goes the responsibility of doing nothing that would cause a gain-time forfeiture”).…
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Baranko v. Louie L. Wainwright, 448 So. 2d 1067 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)
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