Hawkins v. State

451 So. 2d 903
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 1, 1984
DocketAM-492
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 451 So. 2d 903 (Hawkins v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hawkins v. State, 451 So. 2d 903 (Fla. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

451 So.2d 903 (1984)

Marcellus HAWKINS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. AM-492.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District,

June 1, 1984.
Rehearing Denied June 29, 1984.

Michael Allen, Public Defender, and P. Douglas Brinkmeyer, Asst. Public Defender, for appellant.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen. and Wallace Allbritton and Andrea Smith Hillyer, Asst. Attys. Gen., for appellee.

NIMMONS, Judge.

Hawkins appeals his conviction of the crime of sexual battery, contending, inter alia, that the trial court erred in denying *904 his motion for discharge under the Speedy Trial Rule, Fla.R.Cr.P. 3.191. We affirm on all grounds and deem it necessary to treat only the speedy trial issue.[1]

Hawkins committed the sexual battery in Tallahassee on the evening of February 2, 1980. He left town shortly after the offense and returned to his home in Rochester, New York. Hawkins was arrested in New York on January 28, 1981, on the basis of information from Florida authorities that he was a fugitive by reason of an outstanding Florida felony warrant. Hawkins was released on bond in New York on March 27, 1981. On May 7, 1981, he was discharged by the New York authorities since appropriate documents seeking Hawkins' return to Florida had not been received.

Although not specified in the record of this case as such, Hawkins' rearrest by New York authorities on August 20, 1981, was on the basis of a governor's warrant issued as a result of a requisition from the chief executive of this State. From the time of his discharge on May 7, 1981, until his arrest on the governor's warrant on August 20, Hawkins was under no detention or constraints.

At the hearing in the lower court on Hawkins' motion for discharge, a Rochester, New York, police detective testified regarding efforts by the Rochester police to execute the warrant after receiving it in June, 1981. It was apparent from his testimony that Hawkins was attempting to elude them. On one occasion when they were about to close in on him at an apartment, he crawled out a second floor window and eluded the police in a foot race. On another occasion, a number of police officers, acting on a tip that Hawkins was present at the same apartment and that he might be armed and dangerous, surrounded the building, announced their presence and purpose to execute the arrest warrant, and demanded that Hawkins surrender. After receiving no response, the officers searched the building and, with the aid of a police dog, eventually found Hawkins hiding in a closet.

Hawkins' testimony at the hearing was to the effect that the reason why he was attempting to elude the police was because the police had previously harassed and threatened him.

After his arrest on August 20, Hawkins resisted extradition, filing a habeas corpus petition on August 26. The extradition proceedings resulted in his eventual return to Florida on October 6, 1981.

Hawkins contends on appeal, as he did in the lower court, that he was entitled to be brought to trial under Fla.R.Cr.P. 3.191 within 180 days of his arrest in New York on January 28, 1981, and that the State of Florida, therefore, lost its right to prosecute him after July 27, 1981. We disagree.

We are of the view that under the present version of the Speedy Trial Rule,[2] the 180-day period does not commence to run until the fugitive has been returned to custody in the State of Florida.

Rule 3.191(b)(1) reads as follows:

Prisoners Outside Jurisdiction. A person who is in federal custody or incarcerated in a jail or correctional institution outside the jurisdiction of this State or a subdivision thereof, and who is charged with a crime by indictment or information issued or filed under the laws of this State, is not entitled to the benefit of this Rule until that person returns or is returned to the jurisdiction of the court within which the Florida charge is pending and until written notice of this fact is filed with the court and served upon the prosecutor. For such persons, the time period under (a)(1) commences on the date the last act required under this section *905 occurs. For such persons the time period under (a)(2) commences when the demand is filed so long as the acts required under this section occur prior to the filing of the demand. If the acts required under this section do not precede the filing of the demand, then the demand is invalid and shall be stricken upon motion of the prosecuting attorney. Nothing hereinabove stated shall affect a prisoner's right to speedy trial under section 941.45-941.50, Florida Statutes (1979).

The defendant urges an interpretation of the above rule such that it applies only to persons who are in federal custody on a charge or conviction of a federal crime or who are in the custody of a foreign jurisdiction on a charge or a conviction of a crime against that jurisdiction. On the contrary, we believe that a reasonable construction of that rule would include fugitives who have been incarcerated and are being held in another jurisdiction solely on the basis of the charges pending in this State. Prior to its amendment in 1980, the above rule read:

Prisoners Outside Jurisdiction. A person who is imprisoned upon conviction of a crime in a penal or correctional institution outside the jurisdiction of this State or a subdivision thereof, and who is charged with a crime by indictment or information issued or filed under the laws of this State, is entitled to a speedy trial upon demand filed with the court having jurisdiction and upon service on the prosecuting attorney. After the demand has been filed, such person is entitled to trial within the periods of time established by § (b)(2), commencing after the prosecuting attorney has filed a detainer or has otherwise attempted to secure the presence of the accused for trial or within a reasonable time as determined by the court if the prosecutor has not acted in response to the demand for trial; and if not brought to trial within such period of time shall upon motion timely filed with the court and served upon the prosecuting attorney be foreever discharged from the crime; provided, the court before granting such motion shall ascertain that such person has been continuously available for return to this jurisdiction for trial during such period of time. No rights shall accrue to a person under this section if such person refuses to execute every waiver, consent, or release necessary to secure his return to this jurisdiction, or if the custodial officials of the jurisdiction in which the prisoner is confined refuse to release him for return to this jurisdiction for trial while such refusal continues.
The primary burden for bringing about a speedy trial is on the defendant; however, upon demand, the State must act affirmatively to give such person a speedy trial and must employ all reasonable means to do so. A demand for speedy trial shall state the prisoner's name, place of incarceration, nature and term of sentence and tentative expiration date, and the nature and date of the charge, as well as the court and county in which said charge is pending in Florida; if a detainer has been filed, and its withdrawal is part of the relief sought, the prisoner shall so state. (Emphasis supplied.)

The emphasized portion of the above pre-1981 rule, that is "upon conviction of a crime," is conspicuously absent from the present rule.

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