Robert B. Leftwich, Petitioner v. Florida Department of Corrections, Respondent

Summary

The court held that the 1988 provisional-credit statute made an inmate ineligible for future provisional credits on any sentence once the inmate received a habitual-offender sentence, including a later habitual-offender sentence imposed after an otherwise eligible sentence. Because this interpretation followed the statute's plain meaning and did not apply the 1992 amendment retroactively, the court found no ex post facto violation and approved the First District's decision. Justice Quince, joined by Justice Pariente, dissented, concluding that the 1988 statute was ambiguous, the 1992 amendment expanded the disqualification retroactively, and the rule of lenity required eligibility for credits.