Mayes v. Moore, No. SC00-927.

• Court: Florida Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: PER CURIAM.
• Citation: 827 So.2d 967
• Decision Date: 19 September 2002
• Docket Number: No. SC00-927.
• Parties: James W. MAYES and Timothy J. Bennett, Petitioners, v. Michael W. MOORE, Respondent.

827 So.2d 967

James W. MAYES and Timothy J. Bennett, Petitioners,
v.
Michael W. MOORE, Respondent

No. SC00-927.

Supreme Court of Florida.

September 19, 2002.

827 So.2d 969

Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and Chet Kaufman, Assistant Public Defender, Second Judicial Circuit, Tallahassee, FL, for Petitioners

Carolyn Mosley, Assistant General Counsel and Judy Bone, Assistant General Counsel, Department of Corrections; William L. Camper, General Counsel, Kim M. Fluharty, Assistant General Counsel, and Mark J. Hiers, Assistant General Counsel, Florida Parole Commission, and Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, James W. Rogers, Tallahassee Bureau Chief, Criminal Appeals, and Trisha E. Meggs, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, for Respondents.

PER CURIAM.

James W. Mayes and Timothy J. Bennett petition this Court for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(9), Fla. Const. For the reasons expressed below, we deny the petition.

827 So.2d 970

FACTS

In 1991 and 1992, respectively, Bennett and Mayes were convicted of a number of offenses and sentenced to various prison terms. They assert that at the time of their pleas they were not informed that, due to the nature of their offenses, they were eligible for placement in the Conditional Release Program. Under this program, any gain time an inmate receives is converted into conditional release supervision upon his or her release from prison.

In 1998, both Mayes and Bennett were released and placed on conditional release. By 1999, however, both had violated the terms of their release, and as a result, their supervision was revoked and their gain time was forfeited. The Department of Corrections (Department) then audited their sentences to determine whether they were entitled to any overcrowding credits under Gomez v. Singletary, 733 So.2d 499 (Fla.1998), which held that inmates are entitled to overcrowding gain time based on statutes in effect at the time of their offenses. As a result of the audit, the Department determined that in the mid-1990s, both Mayes and Bennett were eligible for and should have received approximately 800 days of provisional credits. Therefore, in early 2000, the Department awarded those credits to Mayes and Bennett "nunc pro tunc." In other words, the credits were applied in the same manner as if they had been awarded in the mid-1990s. However, immediately after the credits were awarded, they were forfeited due to Mayes and Bennett's 1999 conditional release revocations.

Mayes and Bennett have filed a habeas petition in this Court raising several issues with regard to their placement on conditional release and the conditional release statute itself, as well as the propriety of the Department's action in forfeiting the provisional credits they received as a result of the audit of their sentences under Gomez.

ANALYSIS

I. Conditional Release

The first issue presented is whether Mayes and Bennett are entitled to relief under Oyler v. Boles, 368 U.S. 448, 82 S.Ct. 501, 7 L.Ed.2d 446 (1962), because they were not informed either before negotiating a plea or before they were sentenced that they were eligible for placement in the Conditional Release Program and that under that program any gain time they received would be converted into conditional release supervision upon their release from prison. In Oyler, the United States Supreme Court held that where an offender is subject to the provisions of a recidivist statute which imposes an enhanced criminal penalty or sentence, the State must provide the defendant with actual notice and an opportunity to be heard before the court imposes sentence. 368 U.S. at 452, 82 S.Ct. 501. Thus, only if the conditional release statute is found to be a recidivist statute imposing an enhanced penalty would Mayes and Bennett be entitled to relief.¹

827 So.2d 971

Under the current conditional release statute there are a number of different groups of inmates, including habitual offenders, who are subject to conditional release. See § 947.1405, Fla. Stat. (2001). For purposes of this case, the relevant group of inmates includes those who have committed crimes contained within category one through four of the Sentencing Guidelines (certain violent offenses) and who have also served a prior commitment to prison (either state or federal). See § 947.1405(2)(a), Fla. Stat. (2001). Neither Mayes nor Bennett disputes that he is within this group of inmates. They simply argue that under Oyler, at the time they pled guilty or nolo contendere they should have been given actual notice that they would be subject to the additional burden of postrelease supervision placed upon them by the conditional release statute

We conclude that even though the conditional release statute applies to recidivists or repeat offenders, it is not a "recidivist" statute under Oyler. Recidivist statutes increase the maximum prison sentence that may be imposed upon certain offenders to protect society. The conditional release statute does not increase the maximum sentence. Rather, it simply requires that certain inmates will complete their sentences outside of prison, but still under a degree of supervision. As we recognized in Duncan v. Moore, 754 So.2d 708, 710 (Fla.2000), conditional release is not an increased punishment program at all, but rather an assistance program designed to "help these former inmates in bridging the gap between prison and the outside world."

Further, conditional release is not a form of sentence, and it is not imposed by a court. Although the statute may impose an undesirable condition upon the release of those subject to the statutory requirements by converting gain time that might be awarded into postrelease supervision, neither gain time nor conditional release is a true part of a criminal sentence. An inmate's eligibility for conditional release is established by statute. Inmates who are subject to conditional release are identified and their placement on conditional release is required, not by the sentencing court, but by the Parole Commission. Thus, for all of these reasons, we conclude that conditional release is not a recidivist program which imposes an enhanced criminal penalty or sentence. Because conditional...