Ho v. State

929 So. 2d 1155, 2006 WL 1502626
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 2, 2006
Docket5D06-1198
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 929 So. 2d 1155 (Ho 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
Ho v. State, 929 So. 2d 1155, 2006 WL 1502626 (Fla. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

929 So.2d 1155 (2006)

Viet HO, Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. 5D06-1198.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

June 2, 2006.

Michael D. Dicembre, Orlando, for Petitioner.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Pamela J. Koller, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM.

Viet Ho was charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic in MDMA (400 grams or more) and one count of conspiracy to traffic in cannabis (25 pounds or more). After a hearing, the trial court denied bond. Ho asserts that since the State did not file a motion for pretrial detention pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.132, bond cannot be denied.

We agree, grant Ho's petition for writ of habeas corpus, and direct the trial court to conduct a rule 3.131 pretrial release hearing. This decision is without prejudice for the State to file a motion for pretrial detention, should it choose to do so. See Nguyen v. State, 925 So.2d 435 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006); Griffith v. State, 914 So.2d 1053 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005). The trial court is directed to hold the hearing no later than three business days following the issuance of this opinion.

PETITION GRANTED; CAUSE REMANDED.

SHARP, W. and THOMPSON, JJ., concur.

SAWAYA, J., concurs specially, with opinion.

SAWAYA, J., concurring specially.

The issue here is whether a motion for pretrial detention filed by the state is a necessary prerequisite to detaining a criminal defendant prior to trial when the defendant is charged with an offense that may subject him or her to pretrial detention pursuant to section 907.041, Florida Statutes (2005), and the defendant is found to be a danger to the community, a flight *1156 risk, or one who will undermine the integrity of the judicial process. Precedent emanating from this court, see Nguyen v. State, 925 So.2d 435 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006), and Griffith v. State, 914 So.2d 1053 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005), and from the Second District Court, see Golden v. Crow, 862 So.2d 903 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003), holds that it is.

It is difficult to determine from the language of rules 3.131 and 3.132, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, whether the Florida Supreme Court intended a motion for pretrial detention to be a necessary prerequisite. I believe that if this is indeed what the court intended, far too much discretion is taken away from the trial court to hold an accused without bond, and too much discretion is placed in the hands of the prosecutor to make that determination. Moreover, I believe that such a requirement contravenes the expressed purpose of section 907.041, which provides, in pertinent part, that "[i]t is the policy of this state that persons committing serious criminal offenses, posing a threat to the safety of the community or the integrity of the judicial process, or failing to appear at trial be detained upon arrest." § 907.041(1), Fla. Stat. (2005).

Ho was charged with an offense for which pretrial detention may be ordered. See § 907.041(4)(c)(3), Fla. Stat. (2005) ("The court may order pretrial detention if it finds a substantial probability, based on a defendant's past and present patterns of behavior, the criteria in s. 903.046, and any other relevant facts, that any of the following circumstances exists: The defendant is charged with trafficking in controlled substances as defined by s. 893.135, that there is a substantial probability that the defendant has committed the offense, and that no conditions of release will reasonably assure the defendant's appearance at subsequent criminal proceedings...."). He was arrested pursuant to a capias, which provided that he be held without bond. Although the record does not contain a transcript of Ho's first appearance hearing or orders that may have emanated therefrom, the first appearance judge apparently ordered that he be held without bond. Subsequently, Ho filed a motion for bond and was given a full evidentiary hearing. After hearing all of the evidence presented, the trial court denied Ho's motion and explained its reasons as follows:

At this point the Court is going to make a decision that this individual is not to be admitted to — be admitted to bail [sic] for the following reasons. He meets, critically, the three prongs of the statute as to what is the case law. One, he is a risk not to return to court, particularly in light of the testimony of Agent Weiss that says that even though he must have known he was being — his phone call was being intercepted, he talks about not leaving, and based on the G.P.S. tracking, as well as the following, he is intercepted at the airport trying to leave.
He has a series of prior offenses. He has a Federal offense where he was a codefendant with a codefendant in this particular case.
In addition, he goes out, while on bond, and allegedly is being accused of a burglary. That's the other two prongs.
Number one, the integrity of the process, because he's not staying out on bond without being accused of something else. Plus, in addition, you're talking about protection of the public. If what is alleged is true, and I can take those priors into consideration, as well as pending offenses committed while — or, alleged to have been committed while on bail, certainly there's an issue of protection of the community.
*1157 There is also the immigration hold that, even if I were to set bail, he's not going anywhere at this point.
....
And it doesn't matter because at this point this individual, based on what has been clearly testified to here, will not return to court, will not abide by the Court's requirements and, quite frankly, the protection of the community requires that he be held. So at this point, I apologize, but at this point it's very clear that someone without visible means of a lawful employment, despite his testimony, it does not bode very well for someone to return to court.
So, at this point, my apologies, I will deny the Motion for Bond without prejudice for it to be refiled and reconsidered in the event that additional factors are found that might dictate that to occur.

Ho filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in this court citing Nguyen and Griffith and contending that the State's failure to file a motion for pretrial detention automatically entitles him to be released on bond. He asserts that holding him without bond violates his constitutional rights to be released pending trial.

The constitutional right of an individual charged with a crime to be released on bail is set forth in article I, section 14 of the Florida Constitution, which provides:

Unless charged with a capital offense or an offense punishable by life imprisonment and the proof of guilt is evident or the presumption is great, every person charged with a crime or violation of municipal or county ordinance shall be entitled to pretrial release on reasonable conditions. If no conditions of release can reasonably protect the community from risk of physical harm to persons, assure the presence of the accused at trial, or assure the integrity of the judicial process, the accused may be detained.

This constitutional provision was revised in 1983, when the article was "amended to broaden the group of persons to whom the courts could deny bail." State v. Paul, 783 So.2d 1042, 1045 (Fla.2001). The court in Paul further observed that

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929 So. 2d 1155, 2006 WL 1502626, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ho-v-state-fladistctapp-2006.