State v. Matthews

• Decision Date: 23 December 2004
• Docket Number: No. SC03-1676.,SC03-1676.
• Citation: 891 So.2d 479
• Parties: STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Gary MATTHEWS, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

891 So.2d 479

STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Gary MATTHEWS, Respondent.

No. SC03-1676.

Supreme Court of Florida.

December 23, 2004.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL and Celia Terenzio, Assistant Attorney General, Bureau Chief and Jeanine M. Germanowicz, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, FL, for Petitioner.

Carey Haughwout, Public Defender and Marcy K. Allen, Assistant Public Defender, Fifthteenth Judicial Circuit, West Palm Beach, FL, for Respondent.

LEWIS, J.

We have for review the decision in Matthews v. State, 854 So.2d 238 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003), which certified conflict with the decision in Duncan v. State, 686 So.2d 701 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On June 14, 1990, Gary Matthews, the respondent, was charged in case number 90-1156 with battery on a law enforcement officer, escape, resisting a merchant without violence, petty theft, and two counts of resisting an officer with violence. Matthews entered a plea of nolo contendere to battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, and the escape charge.¹ On September 17, 1990, Matthews was sentenced to serve two concurrent prison terms of five years each as a habitual felony offender with 134 days credit for time served for the charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence, and was further sentenced to a consecutive five-year prison term for the escape charge pursuant to the sentencing guidelines. On October 25, 1990, the court amended Matthews' sentence for the escape charge and ordered him to instead serve five years of probation consecutive to the prison sentences for the other two charges. Matthews served his habitual offender prison sentences and subsequently was released on probation.

In 1994, while serving the probation portion of his 1990 sentence for the escape charge, Matthews was arrested and charged in case number 94-1592 with sexual battery with slight force and false imprisonment. On February 28, 1995, Matthews submitted a petition to the court to enter an admission to violating his probation on the escape charge. On March 23, 1995, the court revoked Matthews' probation for the escape charge in the 1990 case and sentenced him to serve four and one-half years in prison with credit for the 355 days he had served while awaiting sentencing. Matthews' prison term for the escape charge in case number 90-5611 was completed on May 29, 1996.

In case number 94-1592, a jury found Matthews guilty of sexual battery and false imprisonment. See Matthews v. State, 687 So.2d 908, 909 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). On March 23, 1995, the same day Matthews was sentenced for his violation of probation, he was also sentenced to serve two concurrent terms of 127.7 months in prison for sexual battery and false imprisonment with 243 days credit for time served. The trial court did not specify how the overall term imposed in case 94-1592 related to the sentence for the escape charge in case number 90-5611, i.e., whether it was to be served consecutive to or concurrent with his sentence following his violation of probation. However, pursuant to section 921.16(1) of the Florida Statutes (1995),² because the trial court did not make a specification, the overall 127.7-month sentence was automatically structured to run consecutive to the four and one-half years' prison sentence for the violation of probation for the escape charge in case number 90-5611.

On January 29, 1997, Matthews' convictions for sexual battery and false imprisonment in case number 94-1592 were reversed on appeal by the Fourth District. See Matthews, 687 So.2d at 910.³ Subsequently, on August 26, 1997, Matthews entered a plea of nolo contendere for attempted sexual battery and false imprisonment. He was sentenced to five years in prison followed by four years on probation, with 1099 days credit for time served plus all unforfeited gain time for attempted sexual battery, and to a consecutive term of one year in prison with 1099 days credit for time served plus all unforfeited gain time for false imprisonment. Again, because the court did not direct that the sentence in case number 94-1592 was to run concurrent to the sentence in case number 90-5611, the sentence was structured to run consecutively pursuant to section 921.16(1) of the Florida Statutes (1997).

On June 9, 1998, Matthews' sentence in case number 94-1592 was amended due to a scrivener's error. The probationary period was moved from the attempted sexual battery charge to the false imprisonment charge to reflect the oral pronouncement at the August 26, 1997, sentencing proceeding. Pursuant to the amended sentence, Matthews received a five-year prison sentence with credit for 248 days, plus all DOC (Department of Corrections) time and any and all unforfeited gain time for attempted sexual battery, and for the false imprisonment charge he received a consecutive term of one year and one day in prison followed by three years and 364 days of probation with credit for 248 days, plus all DOC time and any and all unforfeited gain time. Again, as the court did not direct that the sentence in case number 94-1592 was to run concurrent with the sentence in case number 90-5611, the sentence was structured to run consecutively pursuant to section 921.16(1) of the Florida Statutes (1998).

Matthews' time served in custody for attempted sexual battery in case number 94-1592 was calculated beginning May 29, 1996.⁴ Matthews served his prison term for attempted sexual battery, and on March 9, 1999, was released from prison. Matthews began serving the probationary term for the false imprisonment conviction upon his release.⁵ On March 15, 2001, Matthews violated his probation for the false imprisonment charge. On October 4, 2001, Matthews was sentenced to a term of sixty months in prison for violation of probation on the false imprisonment charge.

On July 12, 2001, Matthews filed a Motion to Correct Sentencing Error pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800 in case number 90-1156.⁶ In his motion, Matthews asserted that he should have been granted credit pursuant to Tripp v. State, 622 So.2d 941 (Fla.1993), for the time he served as a habitual offender for battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence. Matthews contended that Tripp credit should have been applied to the prison sentence imposed pursuant to the sentencing guidelines following the revocation of probation on the escape charge in case number 90-1156. Matthews asserted he was entitled to credit because the escape charge arose from the same scoresheet as the charges involving battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence. The trial court denied the motion. The trial court noted that when Matthews was resentenced on the escape charge following the probation violation, he was sentenced pursuant to the original sentencing guidelines scoresheet, which included the offenses for which he had been habitualized. The trial court held that Matthews was not entitled to Tripp credit on the escape charge because his sentence on the escape charge "was the only non-habitual sentence and was imposed pursuant to a sentencing guidelines scoresheet."

On appeal, the Fourth District examined this Court's decision in Tripp, and referred to Palmer v. State, 804 So.2d 455 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001), in which it had previously held that the Tripp rationale applied even where the defendant was sentenced as a habitual felony offender. See Matthews, 854 So.2d at 239. Relying upon Palmer, the Fourth District reversed the trial court's denial of relief. See Matthews, 854 So.2d at 240. The Fourth District determined that the record revealed that had Tripp credit been applied in the 1990 case, Matthews' sentence in the 1994 case would have started 453 days sooner than it did. See Matthews, 854 So.2d at 239. The district court also noted that a prisoner is entitled to correct credit for time served in an earlier case that impacts a subsequent release date. See id. With regard to the Tripp issue, the Fourth District certified conflict with Duncan v. State, 686 So.2d 701 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996), in which the Second District held that Tripp credit did not apply to habitual felony offender sentences. See Matthews, 854 So.2d at 240.

MOOTNESS

Matthews asserts that he was released from the Department of Corrections on October 1, 2003, without receiving any additional credit as a result of the Fourth District's decision. Matthews contends that the question of whether he was entitled to additional credit is moot.

The Fourth District below certified conflict with the Second District's decision in Duncan v. State, 686 So.2d 701 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996), providing this Court with discretionary jurisdiction to review its decision. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. Notwithstanding that Matthews has been released from prison, this Court is exercising its discretion to retain jurisdiction in the instant action to address the conflict and resolve uncertainty with regard to the applicability of Tripp credit to habitual felony offender sentences. The mootness doctrine does not destroy our jurisdiction because the question before this Court is of great public importance and is likely to recur. See Holly v. Auld, 450 So.2d 217, 218 n. 1 (Fla.1984) ("It is well settled that mootness does not destroy an appellate court's jurisdiction ... when the questions raised are of great public importance or are likely to recur."); see also Tormey v. Moore, 824 So.2d 137 (Fla.2002); Enter. Leasing Co. v. Jones, 789 So.2d 964, 965-66 (Fla.2001); Gregory v. Rice, 727 So.2d 251, 252 n. 1 (Fla.1999) (citing Dugger v. Grant, 610 So.2d 428, 429 n. 1 (Fla.1992)). Moreover, this Court elects to proceed because the problem that the instant action presents is capable of repetition yet evading review. See Logan v. State, 846 So.2d 472, 473...