Florida Bar

389 So. 2d 610, 1980 Fla. LEXIS 4378
Supreme Court of Florida·Decided July 18, 1980·No. No. 58988·Published·Cited by 34 cases

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

The following amendments or additions to the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure are hereby adopted.

Rules 3.210-3.219, relating to mental competency of a defendant, argument HB 426 which became law effective July 1, 1980. These Rules shall take effect, nunc pro tunc, on July 1, 1980. All other Rules shall take effect on January 1, 1981, at 12:01 A.M., and govern all proceedings within their scope. These rules shall supersede all conflicting rules and statutes. The committee notes appended to each rule are not adopted by the Court.

It is so ordered.

SUNDBERG, C. J., and ADKINS, BOYD, OVERTON, ENGLAND, ALDERMAN and McDONALD, JJ., concur.

RULE 3.111: PROVIDING COUNSEL TO INDIGENTS

(a). When Counsel Provided. A person entitled to appointment of counsel as provided herein shall have counsel appointed when he is formally charged with an offense, or as soon as feasible after custodial restraint or upon his first appearance before a committing magistrate, whichever occurs earliest.

(b). Cases Applicable.

(1). Counsel shall be provided to indigent persons in all prosecutions for offenses punishable by imprisonment (or by incarceration in a juvenile corrections institution) including appeals from the conviction thereof. Counsel does not have to be provided to an indigent person in a prosecution for a misdemeanor or violation of a municipal ordinance if the judge, prior to trial, files in the cause a statement in writing that the defendant will not be imprisoned in the event he is convicted.

(2). Counsel may be provided to indigent persons in all proceedings arising from the initiation of a criminal action against a defendant, including post-conviction proceedings and appeals therefrom, extradition proceedings, mental competency proceedings, and other proceedings which are adversary in nature, regardless of the designation of the court in which they occur or the classification of the proceedings as civil or criminal.

(3). Counsel may be provided to a partially indigent person upon his request provided that person shall defray that portion of the cost of such representation and the reasonable costs of investigation as he is able to without substantial hardship to himself or his family, as directed by the court.

(4). “Indigent” as used herein shall mean a person who is unable to pay for the services of an attorney, including costs of investigation, without substantial hardship to himself or his family; “partially indigent” as used herein shall mean a person unable to pay more than a portion of the fee charged by an attorney, including costs of investigation, without substantial hardship to himself or his family.

[611] [(5). The court shall, prior to appointing a public defender,

(i). Inform the accused that if the public defender is appointed, a Hen for the services rendered by the public defender may be imposed pursuant to section 27.56, Florida Statutes (1979);

(ii). Make inquiry into the financial status of the accused in a manner not inconsistent with the guidelines established by section 27.52, Florida Statutes (1979). The accused shall respond to the inquiry under oath;

(iii). Require the accused to execute an affidavit of insolvency in the format provided by section 27.52, Florida Statutes (1979).)

(c)Duty of Booking Officer.

In addition to any other duty, the officer who commits a defendant to custody has the following duties:

(1) He shall immediately advise the defendant:

(i) of his right to counsel;

(ii) that if the defendant is unable to pay a lawyer, one will be provided immediately at no charge.

(2) If the defendant requests counsel or advises the officer he cannot afford counsel, said officer shall immediately and effectively place said defendant in communication with the (office of) Public Defender of the circuit in which the arrest was made.

(3) If the defendant indicates he has an attorney or is able to retain an attorney, the officer shall immediately and effectively place said defendant in communication with his attorney or the Lawyer Referral Service of the local bar association.

(4) The Public Defender of each Judicial Circuit may upon being contacted by, or on behalf of a defendant who is, or represents himself to be indigent as defined by law, forthwith interview said defendant and

(i) If the defendant is in custody and reasonably appears to be indigent, the Public Defender shall tender to him such advice as is indicated by the facts of the case; seek the setting of a reasonable bail and otherwise represent such defendant pending a formal judicial determination of indigency.

(ii) If the defendant is at liberty on bail or otherwise not in custody, the Public Defender shall elicit only such information from the defendant as may be reasonably relevant to the question of indigency and shall immediately seek a formal judicial determination of indigen-cy. If the court finds the defendant indigent, it shall immediately appoint counsel to represent said defendant.

(d) Waiver of Counsel.

(1) The failure of a defendant to request appointment of counsel or his announced intention to plead guilty shall not, in itself, constitute a waiver of counsel at any stage of the proceedings.

(2) A defendant shall not be deemed to have waived the assistance of counsel until the entire process of offering counsel has been completed and a thorough inquiry into accused’s comprehension of that offer and his capacity to make that choice intelligently and understandingly has been made.

(3) No waiver shall be accepted where it appears that the defendant is unable to make an intelligent and understanding choice because of his mental condition, age, education, experience, the nature or complexity of the case, or other factors.

(4) A waiver of counsel made in court shall be of record; a waiver made out of court shall be in writing with not less than two attesting witnesses. Said witnesses shall attest the voluntary execution thereof.

(5) If a waiver is accepted at any stage of the proceedings, the offer of assistance of counsel shall be renewed by the court at each subsequent stage of the proceedings at which the defendant appears without counsel.

(e) Withdrawal of defense counsel after judgment and sentence. Withdrawal of defense counsel after judgment and sentence is governed by Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.140(b)(3).

[612] COMMITTEE NOTE

Modification of the existing Rule provides a greater degree of uniformity in appointing counsel to indigent defendants. The defendant is put on notice of the lien for public defender services and must give financial information under oath.

A survey of Florida judicial circuits by the Committee on Representation of Indigents of the Criminal Law Section (1978--79) disclosed the fact that several circuits had no procedure for determining indigency and that there were circuits in which no affidavits of insolvency were executed (and no legal basis for establishing or collecting lien monies).

RULE 3.191: SPEEDY TRIAL

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Florida Bar, 389 So. 2d 610, 1980 Fla. LEXIS 4378 (Fla. 1980).

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