HENRY DUANE ALLEN, PETITIONER,
v.
WILLIAM S. ROWLEY, ETC., RESPONDENT

Fla. 1st DCA | 1980-12-02
No. WW-442
MILLS and McCORD, JJ., concur.
390 So. 2d 491 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1980) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

A criminal defendant sought a writ of prohibition to prevent trial proceedings, arguing that the state violated speedy trial rules under Florida Criminal Procedure Rule 3.191 by failing to serve him with a capias within the required timeframe. The court held that the defendant was continuously available for trial despite voluntarily removing himself from the jurisdiction, and thus the speedy trial clock was not tolled, entitling him to dismissal.


Holding

The court held that the defendant was continuously available for trial despite voluntarily removing himself from the jurisdiction because he had received specific permission from his juvenile counselor to do so, subsequently participated in a required daily counseling program within the court's jurisdiction, and there was no showing that trial was delayed because of his conduct or that he would not have responded immediately upon notification. Therefore, the speedy trial clock was not tolled and the state violated the defendant's speedy trial rights.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant's speedy trial rights are not automatically tolled when they voluntarily leave the jurisdiction if they remain available for trial and no delay is attributabl…

[2] A defendant's voluntary removal from the court's jurisdiction does not void speedy trial time limits if the defendant remains available for trial and no delay is caused b…

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Key Quotes

“If an accused voluntarily removes himself from the jurisdiction of the court or otherwise acts to make himself unavailable for trial, the right to trial within the time herein provided shall on motion by the state be voidable by the court in the interest of justice.”

The statutory framework for tolling speedy trial rights when a defendant voluntarily removes himself from jurisdiction

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Facts & Procedural History

Petitioner was arrested on February 19, 1979, and criminal information was filed on March 7, 1979. A capias issued on March 8, 1979, but the state mad…

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Opinion of the Court
WENTWORTH, Judge.

WENTWORTH, Judge.

This case is before the court upon petition for writ of prohibition; petitioner is the defendant in a pending criminal action and seeks to prohibit the trial judge from any further proceedings in the action, alleging that the time limits of the speedy trial rule, Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.191, have run. The relevant dates are:

2/19/79-Petitioner is arrested and taken to county jail; detention petition is then filed in juvenile court and petitioner is transferred to a regional center where he is detained by juvenile authorities. Petitioner is subsequently released to the custody of his parents.

3/7/79-Criminal information is filed against petitioner as an adult.

3/8/79-Capias issues. (State does not attempt service of capias, although aware of petitioner’s address and telephone number.)

6/ /79-With his juvenile counselor’s knowledge and permission, petitioner moves with his parents to Alabama. Petitioner is advised by his juvenile counselor that he will be notified if it is necessary to respond to any capias; petitioner maintains contact with his juvenile counselor, who is aware of the outstanding capias.

10/ /79-Petitioner is enrolled in “Operation Divert,” a mental health counseling program which requires petitioner’s daily attendance at a facility in Pensacola. Petitioner’s attendance at this program continues until February 1980.

1/ /80-Petitioner becomes aware of the outstanding capias and turns himself in to the authorities.

Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.191(e) provides that:

If an accused voluntarily removes himself from the jurisdiction of the court or otherwise acts to make himself unavailable for trial, the right to trial within the time herein provided shall on motion by the state be voidable by the court in the interest of justice.

In Mishan v. Crews, 363 So. 2d 1178 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978), the court concluded that the petitioner in that case was continuously available for trial, and that the speedy trial time limits were not tolled, despite the fact that petitioner had voluntarily removed himself from the jurisdiction of the court. In Mishan the petitioner had removed himself from the court’s jurisdiction after receiving “specific permission by the trial court” to make a trip. The court further noted that there had been no showing that the trial was delayed because of petitioner’s trip, or that petitioner would not have returned immediately if notified of trial during his trip.

Petitioner in the present case received specific permission from his juvenile coun selor to move with his parents (into whose custody he had been released) to the nearby city of Mobile, Alabama. Petitioner subsequently participated in a counseling program at Pensacola, Florida, requiring his daily presence within the court’s jurisdiction. As in Mishan, there has been no showing that the trial was delayed or that petitioner would not have responded immediately upon notification of the outstanding capias. We find that petitioner was continuously available for trial.

The writ of prohibition is granted and the cause is remanded with directions that the prosecution upon the charge against petitioner be dismissed.

MILLS and McCORD, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Keel, 410 So. 2d 966 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982)
    …PER CURIAM. AFFIRMED. See Alien v. Rowley, 390 So. 2d 491 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980); Healey v. State, 389 So. 2d 278 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); and State ex rel. Smith v. Nesbitt, 355 So. 2d 202 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978). ANSTEAD and GLICKSTEIN, JJ., concur. DOWNEY, J., dissents with opinion.…

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