State v. Mercer

112 So. 3d 523, 2013 WL 811477, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 3616
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 6, 2013
DocketNo. 2D11-2096
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 112 So. 3d 523 (State v. Mercer) 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
State v. Mercer, 112 So. 3d 523, 2013 WL 811477, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 3616 (Fla. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

SILBERMAN, Chief Judge.

The State appeals an order discharging Denice Mercer based on a violation of the speedy trial rule. Mercer filed a motion for discharge after the State nolle prossed a misdemeanor petit theft charge in county court and filed a felony petit theft charge based on the same conduct in circuit court. The circuit court determined that the State violated the speedy trial rule by failing to provide Mercer notice of the felony charge prior to the expiration of the misdemeanor speedy trial period. We reverse.

On October 15, 2010, Mercer was arrested for shoplifting at Walmart and given a notice to appear in county court. The State filed a misdemeanor information charging Mercer with petit theft on December 3, 2010. Mercer was appointed counsel, and she filed a written plea of not guilty. At the arraignment hearing on January 6, 2011, the prosecutor informed the county court of its intention to dismiss the case and file it in circuit court as a felony.1 The county court then directed the clerk to take the case off the calendar.

On January 11, 2011, two days before the ninety-day misdemeanor speedy trial period expired,2 the State filed a nolle prosequi of the misdemeanor charge in which it expressed its intent to file the charge as a felony. The next day, the State filed a felony information in circuit court charging Mercer with felony petit theft based on the same conduct. No capi-as was issued on the felony information, and Mercer was therefore never arrested for the felony.

Mercer was appointed counsel for the felony case, and she filed a written plea of not guilty on January 31, 2011. She appeared with counsel at the arraignment hearing on March 10, 2011, and the case was set for pretrial on March 18, 2011, and for trial on March 21, 2011.

On March 10, 2011, Mercer also filed a notice of expiration of speedy trial time and motion for discharge. The circuit court held a hearing on the motion on March 14, 2011. The State initially argued that the motion should be struck as untimely because speedy trial did not run on the felony until April 8, 2011, which was 175 days after Mercer was given a notice to appear on the misdemeanor charge.3 Defense counsel argued that the ninety-day misdemeanor period applied and that the State was not entitled to the fifteen-day recapture period because Mercer was not provided notice of the felony charge [525]*525before the expiration of the ninety-day misdemeanor period. The State countered that, even if the ninety-day period applied, the State had filed the felony charge within that time. The State asserted that once the charge was timely filed, the State had the felony speedy trial period in which to provide Mercer notice of the felony charge and bring her to trial.

The circuit court ruled that the State was required to both file the felony charge and provide Mercer notice of the felony charge before the misdemeanor speedy trial period had run. The court recognized that the State had filed the felony charge within the misdemeanor speedy trial period, but it granted the motion for discharge because the State failed to arrest Mercer or notify her of the felony charge during the misdemeanor speedy trial period. The circuit court relied upon State v. Agee, 622 So.2d 473 (Fla.1993), Cordero v. State, 686 So.2d 737 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997), and State v. Morris, 662 So.2d 378 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995), in reaching its decision. We review the propriety of the court’s interpretation of the speedy trial rule de novo. See State v. Nelson, 26 So.3d 570, 573-74 (Fla.2010).

Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191(a) provides that a defendant must be brought to trial within ninety days of being taken into custody if the charge is a misdemeanor and within 175 days of being taken into custody if the charge is a felony. A defendant is taken into custody if she is either arrested or served with a notice to appear in lieu of arrest. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.191(d). If the State enters a nolle prosequi after a defendant is taken into custody, the speedy trial period does not start over but continues to run. Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.191(o); Agee, 622 So.2d at 475. The State may still file charges based on the same conduct, but it must do so before the applicable speedy trial period has expired. Agee, 622 So.2d at 475.

The expiration of the applicable speedy trial period does not automatically entitle a defendant to discharge. State v. Pfeiffer, 872 So.2d 313, 314 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004). Instead, she must file a notice of expiration of speedy trial. Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.191(p)(2); Pfeiffer, 872 So.2d at 314. Upon such a filing, the court must conduct a hearing on the notice within five days. Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.191(p)(3); Pfeiffer, 872 So.2d at 315. If the court does not find that one of certain enumerated exceptions applies, then the State must bring the defendant to trial within ten days. Pfeiffer, 872 So.2d at 315. If the defendant is not brought to trial within this ten-day recapture period, she is entitled to discharge. Id.

There are some limited situations in which a defendant’s remedy for a violation of speedy trial is immediate discharge. The exception that the circuit court relied upon in this case occurs when the State terminates its prosecutorial efforts and then files charges without rearresting the defendant or providing the defendant notice of the new charges prior to expiration of the applicable speedy-trial period. See Cordero, 686 So.2d at 738; Morris, 662 So.2d at 379. But see State v. Jimenez, 44 So.3d 1230, 1236-37 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010) (holding that a defendant is not entitled to automatic discharge upon the expiration of speedy trial even though he was not provided actual notice that the charges were filed).

There are two aspects of the circuit court’s decision that require discussion. First, the circuit court held that, under Agee, the State was required to file the felony petit theft charge within the ninety-day misdemeanor speedy trial period. In Agee, the defendant was charged with attempted second-degree murder. 622 So.2d at 474. The State nolle prossed the charge prior to the expiration of the felony [526]*526speedy trial period, and it filed a charge of attempted first-degree murder after the speedy trial period expired. The circuit court dismissed the charge on speedy trial grounds, and the district court affirmed. The district court held that when a defendant could have moved for discharge on speedy trial grounds the State may not enter a nolle prosequi and then refile charges after the speedy trial time period has expired. Id.

On appeal to the supreme court, the State argued that the speedy trial rule was inapplicable after the State nolle prossed the charges because the defendant was no longer an accused at that point. Id. The State alternatively argued that it was at least entitled to bring the defendant to trial within the recapture period. The supreme court rejected both arguments. Id. at 475. The court explained that allowing the filing of a nolle prosequi to toll the speedy trial period would eviscerate the speedy trial rule. Thus, the court concluded that the charges were properly dismissed. Id. at 476.

In this case, the circuit court relied on Agee to determine that the applicable speedy trial period for refiling was the original misdemeanor period even though the petit theft charge was refiled as a felony.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
112 So. 3d 523, 2013 WL 811477, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 3616, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mercer-fladistctapp-2013.