The 60-Day Window to Modify a Criminal Sentence

In State v. Golden, 382 So. 2d 815 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980) the defendant filed a motion for the reduction of his sentence shortly after the sixty-day window first began. A hearing was held within the relevant time period, and at the hearing, the State agreed that the judge could modify the sentence at a later date after the expiration of the sixty-day limitation. Id. at 816. Although the State later changed its position and objected to the modification, the judge entered his order modifying the sentence after the sixty-day window. Id. On appeal, the First District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's order, holding that because the hearing was held within the relevant time period, the judge "effectively enlarged the period of time in which he could enter the order modifying [the] sentence." Id.