Thompson v. State

1 So. 3d 1107, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 199, 2009 WL 78043
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJanuary 14, 2009
Docket4D08-1849
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 1 So. 3d 1107 (Thompson 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
Thompson v. State, 1 So. 3d 1107, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 199, 2009 WL 78043 (Fla. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

TAYLOR, J.

James Thompson petitions this court for a writ of prohibition to prevent his further prosecution for felony driving under the influence (DUI). He contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for discharge on speedy trial grounds. Specifically, petitioner, who initially faced a misdemeanor DUI charge that was dismissed and upgraded to a felony, argues that, because he was not served with a summons or formally arrested for the felony charge until after the speedy trial period had run, he is entitled to discharge and the state is not entitled to the fifteen-day recapture window of the speedy trial rule. We deny the petition because petitioner received actual notice of the felony filed by the state before the speedy trial period ran; he was not misled into believing that *1109 the charge had been abandoned and precluded from timely filing a notice of expiration of speedy trial time.

On July 30, 2007, the petitioner was arrested for felony DUI. The felony charge was filed in Case Number 07-14097CF10A. On August 23, 2007, the state filed an information charging misdemeanor DUI for this offense in Case Number 07-19134MM10A. On August 30, 2007, the state filed an information charging petitioner with felony DUI for the same offense in Case No. 07-17804CF10A and announced a “no information” on the original felony case (Case No. 07-14097CF10A). An arrest warrant issued for this case on that day.

On September 26, 2007, counsel for petitioner filed a notice of appearance in the misdemeanor DUI case. At a calendar call for that case, which was held on October 18, 2007 and attended by counsel for the petitioner, the state announced a nolle prosequi of the misdemeanor DUI and advised that the case had been “upfiled” to a felony DUI. The state also advised that the petitioner was scheduled for an arraignment on the felony charge on October 26. Petitioner was not personally served with a summons or formally arrested on the warrant for the “upfiled” felony. However, on October 11, 2007 a notice of the arraignment date was mailed to petitioner’s home address.

Because the petitioner failed to appear at arraignment, the trial court issued a “no bond” capias. On February 6, 2008, petitioner surrendered on the capias at the Broward County Jail. On February 8, 2008, petitioner’s counsel successfully argued that the petitioner’s failure to appear at arraignment was not willful, as he had not been personally served with a summons. The trial court released petitioner on his own recognizance with special conditions.

On March 4, 2008, the petitioner moved for immediate discharge, asserting that the speedy trial period expired before the state arrested him or served him with sufficient legal notice. According to the petitioner, the speedy trial period expired on January 21, 2008, 175 days from his arrest on July 30, 2007. 1 Petitioner further argued that, because he was not served with process or formally arrested on the “upfiled” felony DUI until after the speedy trial period had run, the state was not entitled to the “recapture window” of rule 3.191(p)(3). The trial court denied petitioner’s motion, whereupon he filed this petition for writ of prohibition.

In response to our order to show cause, the state argued that the petitioner had notice of the filing of the felony charge and notice of the arraignment date. The state attached exhibits to its response showing that the petitioner was sent written notice and that his attorney was given verbal notice of the filing of the felony charge and arraignment date in open court. According to the state, these facts distinguish this case from cases relied upon by petitioner, because in those cases the defendant was not notified in any manner that the state had re-filed charges.

The state cannot circumvent the speedy trial rule or toll the period by filing a nolle prosequi or by dismissing the charges before an information or indictment has been filed. Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.191(o); State v. Agee, 622 So.2d 473 (Fla.1993); Genden v. Fuller, 648 So.2d 1183 (Fla.1994). Similarly, the state may not arrest the defendant and then simply do nothing until after the speedy trial peri *1110 od has run. State v. Williams, 791 So.2d 1088 (Fla.2001); see also Cordero v. State, 686 So.2d 737, 738 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997) (holding that the state may not dismiss charges, refile them without notice to the defendant, and thereby circumvent the rule by later availing itself of the recapture window). In the above situations, the state’s actions, or inaction, made it impossible for the defendant to file a notice of expiration of the speedy trial time or to demand a speedy trial. Permitting the state the benefit of the recapture period under those circumstances would eviscerate the rule.

In Puzio v. State, 969 So.2d 1197, 1201 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007), the First District Court of Appeal .explained the link between the state’s right to recapture and the defendant’s ability to exercise the right to file a notice of expiration when the speedy trial period has run. Id. at 1201-02. Because there the state had failed to notify the defendant when it finally filed charges against him, the court explained that the defendant “could not have known that he needed to file a notice of expiration.” The defendant “was lulled into believing that the charges against him had been dropped.”

In State v. Morris, 662 So.2d 378 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995), cited by petitioner, we affirmed the speedy trial discharge of a defendant who was not notified or arrested on a cocaine trafficking charge re-filed by the state until after the speedy trial period had expired. There, the defendant had filed a demand for speedy trial on April 12, 1994. His demand entitled him, under Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.191(b) and (p)(3), to have his trial commence no more than a total of sixty-five days later. Id. at 379. On May 18, 1994, the state nolle prossed the charge because of an unavailable witness, but re-filed the charge the next day, still within the speedy trial period. However, the defendant was not arrested on the re-filed charge, and his June 20, 1994 arraignment, at which he voluntarily appeared, did not occur until after expiration of the speedy trial period. The defendant moved for discharge on June 23. We rejected the state’s argument that it was entitled to the fifteen-day recapture period, under rule 3.191(p)(3), to bring the defendant to trial. 2 We explained that “[ujnder these circumstances, the state, by nolle pressing and failing to notify defendant of the refiled charges or take him back into custody within the fifty days, deprived defendant of his right to have his trial commence no later than sixty-five days from his April 12 demand.” Id. We stated that the state’s failure to do anything to put the defendant on notice of the re-filed charges, so that he could have moved for discharge fifty days after filing his demand, violated the purpose of the rule and Agee. Id.

In petitioner’s case, the state did not mislead him into believing the charges had been abandoned.

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Bluebook (online)
1 So. 3d 1107, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 199, 2009 WL 78043, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-state-fladistctapp-2009.