CYRENTHIA DENISE POWELL, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Cyrenthia Powell sought a writ of certiorari to challenge the dismissal of her motion for sentence reduction under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(c). The postconviction court erroneously dismissed the motion as untimely, failing to recognize that the filing deadline was extended by Powell's direct appeal.
Powell's motion was timely filed. The postconviction court erred in dismissing the motion as untimely because the filing deadline was extended by Powell's direct appeal, making her September 5, 2008 filing within the required sixty-day window from the mandate's issuance.
[1] A motion for correction, reduction, and modification of sentence filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(c) is timely if filed within sixty days of the…
[2] A postconviction court may err by dismissing a rule 3.800(c) motion as untimely when the motion was filed within sixty days of the issuance of a mandate affirming the def…
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Pursuant to the rule, a defendant may file a rule 3.800(c) motion within sixty days from the imposition of the legal sentence or within sixty days from the receipt by the circuit court of a mandate affirming the sentence or an order dismissing the appeal.”
Establishes the governing rule for calculating the filing deadline under rule 3.800(c)
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePowell was sentenced on June 15, 2007, to five years' incarceration for violating probation on a cocaine possession conviction. This court affirmed he…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Timeliness Of Postconviction Motions cases and more on FLexlaw
Cyrenthia Powell challenges, through a petition for writ of certiorari, the dismissal of her motion for correction, reduction, and modification of sentence filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(c). Based on the State’s proper concession of error and because the postcon-viction court erred by dismissing her motion as untimely, wé grant the petition.
Powell was originally sentenced on June 15, 2007, to five years’ incarceration for violating the probation she was serving for a possession of cocaine conviction. This court affirmed her sentence on direct appeal, see Powell v. State, 986 So.2d 610 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008) (table decision), and the mandate issued on July 31, 2008. On September 5, 2008, she filed her pro se motion for reduction of sentence pursuant to rule 3.800(e). The postconviction court dismissed the motion as untimely.
Pursuant to the rule, a defendant may file a rule 3.800(c) motion within sixty days from the imposition of the legal sentence or within sixty days from the receipt by the circuit court of a mandate affirming the sentence or an order dismissing the appeal. Since the mandate affirming Powell’s direct appeal was issued on July 31, 2008, and her rule 3.800(c) motion was received by the postconviction court on September 5, 2008, within sixty days of the issuance of the mandate affirming her direct appeal, Powell’s motion was timely.
It appears from the order of dismissal that the postconviction court erroneously believed that Powell had not filed a direct *733appeal of her revocation of probation and the resulting sentence. Because of this error, the postconviction court concluded that the motion was untimely as filed outside the sixty-day limit from the date of Powell’s sentence. However, because Powell did file a direct appeal, the time for the filing of the motion was extended and her motion was timely. See Byrd v. State, 920 So.2d 825, 826 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006). Accordingly, we grant the petition for writ of certiorari, quash the postconviction court’s order, and remand for the court to consider Powell’s rule 3.800(c) motion on its merits.
Petition granted.
SILBERMAN, and CRENSHAW, JJ., Concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Pickens v. State, 920 So. 2d 825 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006)
- Byrd v. State, 920 So. 2d 825 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006)