Willie Davis v. State of Florida

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: August 28, 2025
• Docket: 5D2024-0997
• Status: Published

Opinion

FIFTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA _____________________________

Case No. 5D2024-0997 LT Case No. 2023-CF-005665-A _____________________________

WILLIE DAVIS,

Appellant,

v.

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Appellee. _____________________________

On appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County. R. Anthony Salem, Judge.

Matthew J. Metz, Public Defender, and George D.E. Burden, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.

James Uthmeier, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Christina Piotrowski, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.

August 28, 2025

PER CURIAM.

In this appeal from his conviction and sentence for grand theft auto, Appellant claims that the trial court committed fundamental error in failing to make an independent determination of Appellant’s competence after appointing an expert to evaluate Appellant’s competence to proceed. Because the record reflects that the trial court had reasonable grounds to believe that Appellant might not be competent to proceed, the court fundamentally erred when it failed to make an independent determination regarding Appellant’s competence. See Carnley v. State, 403 So. 3d 1094, 1097 (Fla. 5th DCA 2025). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for a nunc pro tunc determination of Appellant’s competence at the time of trial or for a new trial, if such determination cannot be made by the court. Id.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

JAY, C.J., and LAMBERT and HARRIS, JJ., concur.

_____________________________

Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331. _____________________________