DENNIS W. TURNER, PETITIONER,
v.
JAMES R. MCDONOUGH, SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, RESPONDENT
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Dennis Turner sought review of a circuit court's denial of his petition for writ of mandamus challenging gain-time forfeiture following probation revocation and a lien on his inmate trust account. The Florida appellate court denied his mandamus petition but granted relief regarding the erroneous lien, holding that challenges to gain-time forfeiture are analogous to collateral challenges to sentences and thus no lien is authorized.
The court held that the trial court erred in refusing to vacate the lien because gain-time forfeiture challenges are analogous to collateral challenges to sentences regardless of the reason for forfeiture, and no lien is authorized in such proceedings. The court granted the petition insofar as it sought relief from the unauthorized lien and remanded for reimbursement of funds withdrawn pursuant to the lien.
[1] A trial court errs in denying a motion to vacate a lien on an inmate's trust account when the motion seeks reimbursement for funds withdrawn to satisfy the lien.
[2] A challenge to the computation of an inmate's sentence, including gain-time forfeiture, is considered a collateral challenge for purposes of lien authorization, regardles…
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“the purpose of the enactment of section 57.085, Florida Statutes, was 'to discourage the filing of frivolous civil lawsuits, but not to prevent the filing of claims contesting the computation of criminal sentences.'”
Establishes the legislative purpose behind the statute and that sentence computation challenges are exempt from lien authorization
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDennis Turner's probation was revoked, resulting in forfeiture of gain-time. A lien was placed on his inmate trust account to satisfy costs. Turner fi…
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[*1107] PER CURIAM.
Dennis W. Turner seeks review of the circuit court’s denial of his petition for writ of mandamus and of the denial of his motion to vacate the lien placed on his inmate trust account. The mandamus petition challenged respondent’s gain-time forfeiture after Mr. Turner’s probation was revoked. We deny his petition for writ of certiorari, insofar as it challenges the denial of the petition for writ of mandamus filed in circuit court. See Eldridge v. Moore, 760 So. 2d 888, 890-91 (Fla.2000); Singletary v. Jones, 681 So. 2d 836, 837 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996).
As the State concedes, however, the trial court erred in denying the motion to vacate the lien placed on his inmate trust account insofar as the motion seeks reimbursement. See Schmidt v. Crusoe, 878 So. 2d 361, 367 (Fla.2003). The Florida Supreme Court explained that the purpose of the enactment of section 57.085, Florida Statutes, was “to discourage the filing 'of frivolous civil lawsuits, but not to prevent the filing of claims contesting the computation of criminal sentences.” Schmidt, 878 So. 2d at 366. The court below refused to vacate the lien on two grounds: the court found that the issue was moot because the lien had been paid in full; and the court found that reliance on Schmidt was misplaced because the mandamus petition involved gain-time lost, not as a result of a disciplinary proceeding, but as a result of revocation of Mr. Turner’s probation. Schmidt does not distinguish, however, between gain-time lost as a result of a disciplinary proceeding and gain-time forfeited for other reasons.
The court in Schmidt made it clear that what makes the proceeding a collateral challenge in which no lien is authorized is the effect the challenged action has on the petitioner’s sentence.
It is clear that the Supreme Court has refused to be bound by the variations in terminology used in the various challenges to the computation of an inmate’s sentence. Instead, it has looked to the effect the challenged action had on the amount of time an inmate has to actually spend in prison.... [T]hus, we conclude that a gain time challenge is analogous to a collateral challenge to a sentence in a criminal proceeding because the end result is the same — the inmate’s time in prison is directly affected.
Id. at 367 (emphasis supplied). Gain-time forfeiture lengthens the time in prison regardless of the reason for the forfeiture. Thus, the rule in Schmidt applies when gain-time is forfeited, regardless of the reason for the forfeiture, and the court erred in refusing to cancel the lien and order reimbursement.
If a lien is erroneously placed on an inmate’s account, the inmate is entitled to removal of the lien and reimbursement of the funds that were withdrawn from the account to satisfy the lien. See, e.g., Marquez v. McDonough, 945 So. 2d 652, 653 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007). Until and unless the funds are reimbursed, the matter is not moot. Accordingly, the petition for writ of certiorari is granted “insofar as it seeks relief from the unauthorized lien.” Id. We vacate the order placing a lien on Mr. Turner’s inmate account, and we “remand for entry of an order directing the reimbursement of those funds withdrawn from his account pursuant to the lien.” Id.
The petition for writ of certiorari is otherwise denied.
DAVIS, BENTON, and ROBERTS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Schmidt v. Crusoe, 878 So. 2d 361 (Fla. 2003)
- Singletary v. Jones, 681 So. 2d 836 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996)
- Eldridge v. Moore, 760 So. 2d 888 (Fla. 2000)
- Smith v. State, 945 So. 2d 652 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007)