SAMUEL KING, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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King pleaded no contest to second-degree murder charges after the trial court found him mentally competent to stand trial despite conflicting expert testimony. The appellate court affirmed the competency determination, holding that because King had not been formally adjudicated incompetent (only hospitalized for observation in 1958), the burden of proving incompetency remained on him rather than shifting to the state.
The trial court's competency determination was affirmed because it did not abuse its discretion in weighing conflicting expert testimony. The burden of proving incompetency remained on King because he had not been formally adjudicated incompetent in 1958; mere involuntary commitment for observation and treatment does not trigger the presumption that shifts the burden to the state.
[1] A trial court's ruling on a defendant's competency to stand trial will be affirmed absent an abuse of discretion.
[2] Conflicting expert testimony on a defendant's competency requires the trial court to resolve the disputed factual issue.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The trial judge must be affirmed absent a showing he abused his discretion.”
Establishes the standard of review for trial court's competency determination
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceKing was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. The trial court found him mentally competent to stand trial. Two defense experts (a psychiatr…
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PER CURIAM.
King pleaded no contest to two counts of second-degree murder after the trial court found him mentally competent to stand trial on two first-degree murder charges. He reserved his right to appeal the competency question. We affirm.
Appellant first contends the evidence did not justify the trial judge’s ruling. A psychiatrist and a psychologist, provided by the defense, said King was incompetent. A court-appointed psychiatrist, however, believed otherwise.
The trial judge must be affirmed absent a showing he abused his discretion. Brown v. State, 69 So. 2d 344 (Fla.1954). Given the conflicting expert testimony on competency, it was the court’s responsibility to resolve the disputed factual issue; the record does not reveal abuse of his discretion to weigh the evidence before him. Fowler v. State, 255 So. 2d 513 (Fla.1971).
We need not decide whether our resolution of appellant’s first point would be different if the state had had the burden of showing competency. Appellant argued the state did have such a burden because he was declared legally incompetent in 1958, and his competency has never been judicially restored. In Florida, if a person is adjudicated to be mentally incompetent, it is presumed he continues to be so until it is shown his sanity has returned. Perkins v. Mayo, 92 So. 2d 641 (Fla.1957). This presumption shifts the burden of proving competency to the state. Wells v. State, 98 So. 2d 795 (Fla.1957).
We hold, however, that the burden did not shift to the state because appellant had not been previously declared incompetent. We adopt the trial judge's findings and conclusions with regard to the significance of the 1958 New York judge’s order:
The defense seeks to have the State be required to carry the burden of proof to show the defendant competent because of his hospitalization at the Creedmoor State Hospital of New York pursuant to an order dated the 3rd day of November 1958, entered by the Supreme Court of Kings County, New York. That order merely required the defendant to be admitted to the Creedmoor Hospital for observation and treatment as an alleged mentally ill person for a period not to exceed 60 days. If within that period the director of the hospital certifies that the alleged mentally ill patient is in need of continued care, the order becomes final. . The records of the Creedmoor State Hospital reflect that the director of said hospital did sign such a certificate on the defendant on December 16, 1958
* * * * * *
From the exhibits introduced into evidence, the Court makes a finding that the defendant was not heretofore declared incompetent in 1958, although he was involuntarily committed to the hospital for observation as an alleged mentally ill patient. The evidence submitted by the defendant adequately shows there was never an adjudication of incompetency in the specific findings of the hospital. The defendant never having been adjudicated incompetent negates this Court from requiring the State to carry the burden of proving his competency.
On that basis then, the defendant under the law has the burden of carrying the proof on the issues of his incompetency to stand trial before the Court.
AFFIRMED.
MILLS, C. J., and McCORD and WENT-WORTH, JJ., concur.
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Watts v. State, 593 So. 2d 198 (Fla. 1992)…trial. Where there is conflicting expert testimony presented on the issue of competency, it is the trial court’s responsibility, as finder of fact in such proceedings, to resolve the disputed factual issue. Fowler, 255 So. 2d at 514; King v. State, 387 So. 2d 463 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). Absent a showing of abuse of discretion, the decision of the trial court on such matters will be upheld. Carter v. State, 576 So. 2d 1291, 1292 (Fla.1989), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 225, 116 L.Ed.2d 182 (1991). The recor…
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Ponticelli v. State, 593 So. 2d 483 (Fla. 1991)….S. -, 112 S.Ct. 225, 116 L.Ed.2d 182 (1991). However, where there is conflicting expert testimony on competency, it is the court’s responsibility to resolve the disputed factual issue. Fowler v. State, 255 So. 2d 513, 514 (Fla.1971); King v. State, 387 So. 2d 463 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). Absent a showing of abuse of discretion, the decision of the trial court on such matters will be upheld. 576 So. 2d at 1292. The record contains sufficient evidence that Ponticelli understood the charges against him and could as…
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Sallee v. State, 244 So. 3d 1143 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018)
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Fowler v. State, 255 So. 2d 513 (Fla. 1971)
- Perkins v. Mayo, 92 So. 2d 641 (Fla. 1957)
- Brock v. State, 69 So. 2d 344 (Fla. 1954)
- Wells v. State, 98 So. 2d 795 (Fla. 1957)