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Singletary v. Evans
Citations: 676 So. 2d 51; 1996 WL 355049Docket: 96-297
Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida; June 28, 1996; Florida; State Appellate Court
Harry K. Singletary, Secretary of the Department of Corrections (DOC), filed a petition for a writ of prohibition against Circuit Court Judge Robert Evans, seeking to prevent the judge from compelling DOC to award 12 years and 171 days of credit on Kevin Lee Galston's sentence for probation violation, or from requiring Singletary to appear at contempt proceedings. The court granted the writ. Galston was originally sentenced to two concurrent 12-year terms for DUI manslaughter, followed by probation. Due to prison overcrowding, he received provisional credit and gain time, was released, and subsequently violated probation, leading to a resentencing to two concurrent 15-year terms with credit for the time served. Judge Evans intended for Galston to serve no more than three years, but DOC later cancelled 90 days of provisional credit and forfeited 1749 days of gain time, resulting in a longer prison term. During a subsequent hearing, Judge Evans questioned why DOC did not award the credited time. The DOC attorney explained that under Florida Statutes, particularly sections 944.278 and 944.28, provisional credits must be cancelled and gain time forfeited upon probation violation, and that earlier statutes allowing for early release due to overcrowding had been repealed due to ongoing prison construction. Despite this, Judge Evans ordered DOC to award the credited time or face contempt proceedings. The appellate court found that Judge Evans lacked the authority to dictate how DOC calculated credits, as established by prior rulings including Griffin v. Singletary and Davis v. Singletary. It affirmed that DOC had both the duty and authority to cancel provisional credits and forfeit gain time as mandated by law when Galston was resentenced. The court thus granted the petition for a writ of prohibition, stating that Judge Evans' actions constituted an overreach of power, infringing upon DOC's statutory responsibilities. The decision was concurred by Chief Judge Peterson and Judge Antoon.