Thourtman v. Junior

275 So. 3d 726
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 12, 2019
DocketNo. 3D18-2433
StatusPublished

This text of 275 So. 3d 726 (Thourtman v. Junior) 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
Thourtman v. Junior, 275 So. 3d 726 (Fla. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinions

LOGUE, J.

The defendant, Brandon Thourtman, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging his confinement in the Miami-Dade County jail. The question presented concerns whether Article I, section 14 of the Florida Constitution prohibits a trial court from detaining a defendant beyond first appearance for a reasonable time pending an Arthur bond hearing unless the trial court makes a preliminary finding of "proof evident, presumption great."

By way of background, the Florida Constitution gives a person arrested for a crime the right to pretrial release on reasonable conditions such as bond, subject to certain exceptions. Art. I, § 14, Fla. Const. The "capital or life offense" exception applies when the person is charged with a crime punishable by capital punishment or life imprisonment and the State can demonstrate "the proof of guilt is evident or the presumption is great." Id. A person held under this exception is entitled to an adversarial, evidentiary bond hearing that examines the State's evidence to determine *729if it rises to the level of "proof evident, presumption great." State v. Arthur, 390 So. 2d 717 (Fla. 1980). The parties agree that it is neither constitutionally required nor practical to hold the full Arthur bond hearing at first appearance, which occurs within 24 hours of arrest.

Here, the trial court at first appearance found probable cause that the defendant committed a crime punishable by capital punishment or life imprisonment. But the trial court did not make a preliminary finding of "proof evident, presumption great." Without such a preliminary finding, the defendant contends, Article I, section 14 prohibits his detention beyond first appearance, even for a reasonable time to conduct the Arthur bond hearing. In making this argument, he concedes that the State will in many cases be unable to meet the high standard of "proof evident, presumption great" at first appearance.

We are not persuaded by the defendant's argument. For the same reasons that it is not constitutionally required or practical to conduct a full Arthur hearing at first appearance, it is not constitutionally required or practical to hold a "preliminary" Arthur hearing at first appearance. Nothing in Article I, section 14 prohibits a trial judge at first appearance, upon finding probable cause that the defendant committed a crime punishable by capital punishment or life imprisonment, to defer ruling on a bond and to detain the defendant for a reasonable time necessary to conduct an Arthur bond hearing. To exercise such discretion, the court is not required by the Constitution to make a preliminary finding of "proof evident, presumption great." That issue is reserved for the Arthur hearing.1

FACTS

On November 9, 2018, the defendant was arrested for armed robbery with a firearm. The next day, November 10, 2018, the defendant made his first appearance. The defendant appeared by video from the jail. The matter was scheduled for an afternoon court calendar involving first appearances for approximately 40 defendants.

When the defendant's case was called, the court reviewed the arrest affidavit. In it, the arresting officer averred he obtained the following information from the investigating detective:

The victim is an overnight security [guard], who was working at the incident location, when the def[endant] approached her from the rear, as she sat in a golf cart. The def placed a firearm to the victims head (left side) and demanded that the victim lay on the ground. The victim in fear complied at which point the def asked the victim if she was armed. The victim advised the def that she was not. The def then patted the victim down removing a bus pass from her front shirt pocket. The def then grabbed the victim's purse and fled on foot with her property.
During the course of the investigation the def's identity was established. The victim positively identified the def from a photographic array.
On 11/9/2018 the defendant was apprehended by MDPD Officers Ortiz and Coello. A routine records check of the defendant revealed the P[robable] C[ause] message pursuant to this investigation. The defendant was arrested and transported to [the jail] without incident.

*730Noting the defendant was charged with a crime punishable by life imprisonment, the court announced "no bond" at first appearance, thereby deferring the bond decision to the full Arthur hearing. In doing so, the trial court followed the standard practice taught to trial judges in Florida. See, e.g., Fla. Court Educ. Council, Criminal Benchguide for Circuit Judges at 7 (2016) ("In cases in which death or life imprisonment is a possible penalty, the first appearance judge, upon finding of probable cause, will typically order that the defendant be held with no bond. The defendant is then obligated to set the matter for an Arthur hearing."). Neither the defendant nor his attorney spoke. The hearing took less than two minutes.

On Friday, November 30, 2018, the defendant was arraigned. The State filed an information charging the defendant with one count of robbery using a firearm or deadly weapon, a first-degree felony punishable by life imprisonment. The defendant entered a plea of not guilty, propounded discovery, demanded a jury trial, and requested an Arthur hearing. The defendant also objected to being detained beyond first appearance without a preliminary finding of "proof evident, presumption great." The court overruled the objection. The court, the State, and the defendant then agreed to set the Arthur hearing on the following Thursday, December 6, 2018, four working days later. On Monday, December 3, 2018, the defendant filed this petition for habeas corpus.

On December 6, 2018, the court held the Arthur hearing as scheduled. The investigating detective testified. He authenticated the victim's December 5, 2018, written statement which was entered into evidence. He authenticated surveillance videos retrieved from the scene which showed the defendant fleeing with a purse. He testified that a GPS record, entered into evidence, revealed the victim's stolen cellphone was moved to the vicinity of the defendant's house after the robbery. He explained how the defendant, after signing a Miranda warning, confessed to the robbery but denied using a firearm. He also described the photographs, entered into evidence, which were used in a line-up where the victim identified the defendant.

At the end of the Arthur hearing, the court found the State's evidence that the defendant committed a robbery rose to the level of "proof evident, presumption great," but the State's evidence that the defendant used a firearm did not. Because unarmed robbery is not punishable by life, the court ordered the pretrial release of the defendant on house arrest with a $ 25,000 bond.

At the oral argument in this court, the defendant's counsel, an experienced assistant public defender, conceded three points.

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Bluebook (online)
275 So. 3d 726, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thourtman-v-junior-fladistctapp-2019.