Mcleod v. State , 5D10–3372.

Decision Date13 April 2011
Docket NumberNo. 5D10–3372.,5D10–3372.
Citation58 So.3d 931
PartiesWilliam T. McLEOD, Appellant,v.STATE of Florida, Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

William T. McLeod, Avon Park, pro se.Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Carmen F. Corrente, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.

AMENDED OPINION

ORFINGER, J.

William T. McLeod seeks review of the trial court's summary denial of his motion seeking additional jail credit filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(a). The issue that we address is whether a defendant can, as part of a plea agreement, waive jail credit, which results in the defendant serving a term of imprisonment that exceeds the statutory maximum for the offense that he committed. We conclude that such a sentence is illegal and reverse the order under review.

McLeod's original sentence for a third-degree felony included a period of probation.1 The maximum sentence allowed by law for a third-degree felony is a term of imprisonment not to exceed five years. See § 775.082(3)(d), Fla. Stat. (2007). Following his second violation of probation, McLeod entered into a plea agreement with the State wherein he admitted his most recent violation in exchange for a five-year prison sentence, suspended upon the successful completion of five years of drugoffender probation. Included in the written plea agreement was the following language: “CTS from arrest on any future V.O.P.” 2 The trial court accepted the plea agreement and the agreed-upon sentence was imposed.

Not surprisingly, McLeod violated his probation yet again, and the court reimposed the previously suspended five-year prison term. The trial court awarded McLeod only 92 days of jail credit, apparently the amount of time that he spent in jail from the date of his most recent arrest to the date that his suspended sentence was reimposed. In his motion for additional jail credit, McLeod claims entitlement to a total of 318 days spent in the county jail awaiting the disposition of his various probation violations, and an additional 177 days for the time that he spent in a residential drug treatment facility. The trial court concluded that the language “CTS from arrest on any future V.O.P.” amounted to a waiver of all jail credit except for the 92 days that it awarded.

[A]lthough a defendant can waive jail credit as a condition of a plea, the waiver must be knowing and affirmatively appear as a condition of the plea agreement.” Canada v. State, 1 So.3d 338, 339 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009) (quoting Hill v. State, 985 So.2d 1216, 1217 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008)). We, however, do not view the statement “CTS from arrest on any future V.O.P.” as conclusive evidence that McLeod knowingly and voluntarily waived jail credit to which he would otherwise be legally entitled. Davis v. State, 968 So.2d 1051, 1052 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007). Consequently, reversal is required to allow the trial court to demonstrate that McLeod knowingly and voluntarily waived...

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2 cases
  • Pippins v. State
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • September 19, 2014
    ...a defendant may waive jail credit during plea negotiations only if the waiver is knowing and voluntary. See, e.g., McLeod v. State, 58 So.3d 931, 932–33 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011) (citing Davis v. State, 968 So.2d 1051, 1052 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007) ). Furthermore, an involuntary waiver can be a basis ......
  • Brasher v. State, s. 4D14–3031
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • March 18, 2015
    ...v. State, 141 So.3d 624 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014). Thereafter, appellant can revisit the legality of his sentence. See, e.g., McLeod v. State, 58 So.3d 931 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011) ; Lawson v. State, 46 So.3d 1189, 1190 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010).WARNER, TAYLOR and MAY, JJ, ...
1 books & journal articles
  • Judgment and sentence
    • United States
    • James Publishing Practical Law Books The Florida Criminal Cases Notebook. Volume 1-2 Volume 1
    • April 30, 2021
    ...the crime, the sentence is illegal. Even with the defendant’s agreement, the court cannot impose an illegal sentence. McLeod v. State, 58 So. 3d 931 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011) When defendant has served prison and probation time and violates probation, and the VOP sentence includes prison with cred......

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