State v. Paul

783 So. 2d 1042, 2001 WL 298960
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMarch 29, 2001
DocketSC95265
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 783 So. 2d 1042 (State v. Paul) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court 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. Paul, 783 So. 2d 1042, 2001 WL 298960 (Fla. 2001).

Opinion

783 So.2d 1042 (2001)

STATE of Florida, Petitioner,
v.
Jean David PAUL, Respondent.

No. SC95265.

Supreme Court of Florida.

March 29, 2001.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Celia Terenzio, Assistant Attorney General, Bureau Chief, West Palm Beach, and Leslie T. Campbell, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, FL, for Petitioner.

Alan H. Schreiber, Public Defender, and Diane M. Cuddihy, Chief Assistant Public Defender, Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Respondent.

PARIENTE, J.

We have for review the opinion in Paul v. Jenne, 728 So.2d 1167 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999), which certified conflict with the opinion in Houser v. Manning, 719 So.2d 307 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998), as to whether the trial courts have the inherent authority to deny a subsequent application for bail after a defendant breaches a bond condition, or whether the trial courts' discretion to deny a subsequent application for bail is circumscribed by the parameters established by the Legislature in section 907.041, Florida Statutes (1997). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. For the reasons explained in this opinion, including our conclusion that section 907.041 expressly addresses the circumstance of a defendant who breaches a *1043 bond condition or commits a new crime, we hold that a trial court's discretion to deny a subsequent application for bail is circumscribed by statute.[1]

FACTS

Jean David Paul was charged with attempted second-degree murder and thereafter released on a $25,000 bond. The only specific condition set forth in the order setting bond was that Paul was not to have direct or indirect contact with the victims of the crime. Approximately six months later, while Paul was still released on bond, he was arrested on new charges.[2] Based on these new charges, the State moved to revoke Paul's bond on the original charge and detain him without bond pending trial. The Fourth District explained:

At the hearing on the state's motion to revoke bond, the arresting officer testified that he observed petitioner and four companions smoking marijuana behind a Pembroke Pines movie theater. The group left the area and entered a vehicle. When officers approached the vehicle, petitioner was seated in the driver's seat. As petitioner stepped from the vehicle, several plastic baggies containing marijuana dropped to the ground. A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed a .38 caliber handgun, with the serial number removed, under the driver's seat and a loaded 9 mm handgun in a bookbag behind the front passenger seat. Petitioner admitted to the arresting officer that the guns belonged to him. He explained that he was previously involved in a shooting incident and that he was carrying guns for protection in case the victim of the shooting decided to retaliate. Additionally, petitioner admitted that he was smoking marijuana just before his arrest.
*1044 Petitioner testified at the bond revocation hearing. He acknowledged telling the police that the firearms belonged to him, but testified that he did so to protect the true owners, his brother and a friend. He also denied telling the police that he purchased the firearms for protection from the victim of an earlier shooting. He said he only told the police that he was on bond for another offense and did not want to be re-arrested. The trial judge commented upon the petitioner's low credibility after noting several contradictions in his testimony at the hearing.
Petitioner's father testified that petitioner is an obedient and respectful son, but acknowledged that petitioner gets "wild" when he is out with certain friends. He requested the court to set new bond conditions and expressed confidence in his ability to supervise petitioner if house arrest were ordered.

Paul, 728 So.2d at 1167-68.

Based on the evidence adduced at the bond revocation hearing, the trial court found that Paul had violated his pretrial release conditions by engaging in criminal activity.[3]See id. at 1168. The trial court then evaluated Paul's application to be re-admitted to bail and the State's contrary position that there was a need for pretrial detention pursuant to section 907.041(4)(b), Florida Statutes (1997). In determining that Paul qualified for pretrial detention, the trial court relied on section 907.041(4)(b)4.b. and remanded Paul into custody.[4]See Paul, 728 So.2d at 1168. In so ruling, the trial court rejected Paul's argument that his prior adjudication for burglary of a dwelling did not qualify as a conviction because it occurred when Paul was a juvenile. See id. at 1169.

Paul thereafter filed an emergency petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Fourth District Court of Appeal, "alleging that the court erred in refusing to set a new bond." Id. at 1167. The Fourth District granted the writ, explaining initially that

both parties concede that only the condition [for pretrial detention] in section 907.041(4)(b)4.b. applies. This subsection allows pretrial detention if the court finds that a person accused of committing a dangerous crime "poses a threat of harm to the community" and has a prior conviction "of a dangerous crime within the 10 years immediately preceding the date of his arrest for the crime presently charged."

Id. at 1168 (footnote omitted). The Fourth District then concluded, as did the First District in Moody v. Campbell, 713 So.2d 1032, 1033 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998), that the Legislature's failure to include juvenile adjudications in section 907.041(4)(b)4.b. precluded the State from using a delinquency adjudication to satisfy its burden of proving a prior conviction for a dangerous crime under that section of the pretrial detention statute. See Paul, 728 So.2d at 1169. Accordingly, the Fourth District held that although a trial court has the power to order the arrest and commitment of a defendant for a violation of a bond condition, the trial court's decision whether to deny a subsequent bond application must be based on the criteria for pretrial *1045 detention set forth in section 907.041(4)(b). See id. at 1169-72. In so holding, the Fourth District certified conflict with Houser v. Manning, 719 So.2d 307, 309 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998), in which the Third District held that once a defendant violates a bond condition, the question as to whether to grant pretrial release is addressed to the discretion of the trial court without regard to the pretrial detention criteria in section 907.041. See Paul, 728 So.2d at 1172.

In analyzing the conflict between these two cases, we consider the broader backdrop of the constitutional right to bail and the presumption of innocence that exists before a defendant is adjudicated guilty of a crime.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

The constitutional right of the accused to be released on bail is set forth in article I, section 14 of the Florida Constitution. Before January 1, 1983, this constitutional provision read as follows:

Until adjudicated guilty, every person charged with a crime or violation of municipal or county ordinance shall be entitled to release on reasonable bail with sufficient surety 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.

Art. I, § 14, Fla. Const. (amended 1983).

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Bluebook (online)
783 So. 2d 1042, 2001 WL 298960, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-paul-fla-2001.