Sutton v. Department of Corrections, s. 87-1371
| Decision Date | 27 September 1988 |
| Docket Number | 87-1724,Nos. 87-1371,s. 87-1371 |
| Citation | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 2219,531 So.2d 1009 |
| Parties | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 2219 Sherrell C. SUTTON, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS and Parole and Probation Commission, Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Sherrell C. Sutton, pro se.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Susan A. Maher, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellees.
Sherrell C. Sutton appeals that portion of the trial court's order denying his petition for writ of mandamus. The Department of Corrections (DOC) cross-appeals the requirement in that order that Sutton be afforded a hearing. We affirm the order, save for the modification stated below.
In July 1981, shortly after his incarceration for robbery, Sutton was informed by DOC that he was being released. Sutton and DOC agree that he was taken to the bus station by correctional personnel. DOC contends that Sutton fled the station when officials discovered their mistake, Sutton stated that he simply got on the bus officials told him to take. In any case, Sutton remained at liberty for 183 days until his arrest on other charges in January 1982.
When a prisoner is released from prison by mistake, his sentence continues to run in the absence of some fault on his part. Carson v. State, 489 So.2d 1236 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986). Based on its contention that Sutton "escaped", DOC has refused to deduct the 183 days he spent at liberty from his sentence. Further, while never charging or obtaining a conviction for escape, DOC has noted in its records that Sutton escaped in July 1981 so that that action has been counted against him by the Parole and Probation Commission in calculating his presumptive parole release date.
The instant mandamus petition sought the deduction of 183 days from Sutton's sentence and the expungement from his records of any reference to an escape in July 1981 so that his parole date might be recalculated without that factor. The trial court entered its order requiring DOC to afford Sutton an evidentiary hearing on the issue of the exact events of the day Sutton left DOC custody. The order went on to state that, if the hearing showed that Sutton had not escaped, or if DOC failed to afford such a hearing, Sutton's records were to be expunged of references to "escape." The trial court denied outright Sutton's claim for credit for the time he spent at liberty.
With regard to the trial court's requirement that DOC conduct a hearing on the basic...
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Gaines v. Florida Parole Commission
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State v. Mendiola, 3D04-2860.
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Dugger v. Jackson, 91-873
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