Terms Used In Florida Statutes 961.04

  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
  • person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
A wrongfully incarcerated person is not eligible for compensation under the act if:

(1) Before the person’s wrongful conviction and incarceration, the person was convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendere to, regardless of adjudication, any violent felony, or a crime committed in another jurisdiction the elements of which would constitute a violent felony in this state, or a crime committed against the United States which is designated a violent felony, excluding any delinquency disposition;
(2) Before the person’s wrongful conviction and incarceration, the person was convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendere to, regardless of adjudication, more than one felony that is not a violent felony, or more than one crime committed in another jurisdiction, the elements of which would constitute a felony in this state, or more than one crime committed against the United States which is designated a felony, excluding any delinquency disposition;
(3) During the person’s wrongful incarceration, the person was convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendere to, regardless of adjudication, any violent felony;
(4) During the person’s wrongful incarceration, the person was convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendere to, regardless of adjudication, more than one felony that is not a violent felony; or
(5) During the person’s wrongful incarceration, the person was also serving a concurrent sentence for another felony for which the person was not wrongfully convicted.