Hooper v. State

452 So. 2d 611
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 4, 1984
Docket83-2181
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 452 So. 2d 611 (Hooper 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
Hooper v. State, 452 So. 2d 611 (Fla. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

452 So.2d 611 (1984)

Dennis Maynard HOOPER, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 83-2181.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

June 4, 1984.

Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Lawrence Duffy, Asst. Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Laura L. Sellers, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

We reverse and remand for further proceedings on the authority of Hicks v. State, 452 So.2d 606 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984). As in Hicks we acknowledge that our decision herein is contrary to the decision in Sanderson v. State, 447 So.2d 374 (Fla. 1st DCA Case 1984).

ANSTEAD, C.J., and LETTS, J., concur.

GLICKSTEIN, J., concurs with reversal only and dissents as to directions on remand, with opinion.

GLICKSTEIN, Judge, concurs with reversal only and dissents as to directions on remand.

This is an appeal of an order of the trial court revoking Dennis Maynard Hooper's probation, and of the sentence thereupon imposed. While I would reverse because of the procedure followed by the trial court, on remand my direction would be different.

On June 3, 1982, Hooper pled guilty to grand theft and was adjudged guilty, but the trial court withheld imposition of sentence, instead placing Hooper on four years' probation, provided he serve 76 days in jail and make restitution as determined by his probation officer. On September 20, 1982, Hooper's probation officer filed an affidavit of probation violation, consisting of changing his residence and leaving his job without her consent, as well as absconding from supervision.

When Hooper appeared to answer the alleged probation violation, the trial judge asked him whether he admitted or denied the probation officer's allegations, explaining Hooper could have his probation revoked and be charged with his maximum sentence if the probation officer's charges were true. The judge then read Hooper the sworn allegations; and Hooper said they were true, admitting he had not reported to his probation officer since leaving her supervision; and that his whereabouts had been unknown until his recent arrest. The judge asked him if he had been pressured by anyone to admit his violation of his probation, and Hooper said he had not. At the close of the hearing, the trial court, having found that Hooper had materially violated his probation, and having revoked it, asked if he now desired counsel to be appointed. The public defender was appointed as a result of Hooper's affirmative answer. By that time, however, the public defender filed a motion to withdraw his client's admission of guilt and to set a final evidentiary hearing, citing as authority Smith v. State, 427 So.2d 773, 774 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983), wherein the court said, "We do not believe the right to counsel should be contingent upon appellant denying the charges or presenting a substantially complicated case." On the day of the sentencing hearing, after the court denied the foregoing motion, Hooper explained he had absconded because someone had stolen his car during his incarceration; his life had been threatened several times; there had been attempts to run him over; there was to be no pay, from the job he had taken, for four months; that he could not find another job; and that his probation officer said she could not help him after his life had been threatened. When he called someone in California to solicit a loan he was denied a loan but was offered a job. Accordingly, *612 he moved to California, where he managed a flower shop for about a year and lived completely within the law until arrested for the probation violation.

The trial court sentenced Hooper to three years and nine months in state prison with credit for time served. This appeal is based upon Hooper's contention that absent a valid waiver, an indigent probationer is entitled to appointed counsel at a probation revocation hearing.

The present case involves two issues; namely, (a) the circumstances in which an indigent probationer is entitled to appointed counsel at a revocation hearing and (b) what a trial court may require a probationer to admit or deny at that hearing.

Taking the issues in reverse order because of the ease in answering the second and difficulty in deciding the first, the governing principles and dichotomy are recited in State v. Heath, 343 So.2d 13 (Fla.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 893, 98 S.Ct. 269, 54 L.Ed.2d 179 (1977), which held:

We now hold that a probationer, upon a specific request and at periodic intervals, may be required to identify himself and provide all necessary information for his supervision including the place of his residence and his employment. He may also be required to confirm or deny his location at a particular place at a particular time, to explain his noncriminal conduct, and to permit the search of his person and quarters by the supervisor. Failure to do so may itself be grounds for revocation or [sic] probation. His agreement to accept the terms of probation effectively waives his Fifth Amendment privilege with regard to this information. There would be no practical means to properly supervise an individual on probation without a requirement that the probationer respond to directions and requests for information from the probation supervisor. On the other hand, the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination must be applicable to specific conduct and circumstances concerning a separate criminal offense.

Id. at 16. I see no difference in the inquiry being made in the office of a supervisor or at the probation revocation hearing. See Hall v. State, 421 So.2d 188 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982).

In order to understand the present setting of the primary issue, I believe we must consider the relationship of two decisions by this nation's highest court, one by this state's highest court and the governing Florida Statute, as all of them present a clear, logical picture.

Chronologically, the first decision was Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972), which held that before parole could be revoked, there must be a revocation hearing, saying:

There must also be an opportunity for a hearing, if it is desired by the parolee, prior to the final decision on revocation by the parole authority. This hearing must be the basis for more than determining probable cause; it must lead to a final evaluation of any contested relevant facts and consideration of whether the facts as determined warrant revocation. The parolee must have an opportunity to be heard and to show, if he can, that he did not violate the conditions, or, if he did, that circumstances in mitigation suggest that the violation does not warrant revocation. The revocation hearing must be tendered within a reasonable time after the parolee is taken into custody. A lapse of two months, as respondents suggest occurs in some cases, would not appear to be unreasonable.
We cannot write a code of procedure; that is the responsibility of each State. Most States have done so by legislation, others by judicial decision usually on due process grounds. Our task is limited to deciding the minimum requirements of due process.

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452 So. 2d 611, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hooper-v-state-fladistctapp-1984.