MICHAEL LEONARD O'CONNELL, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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O'Connell was extradited from Michigan to Florida under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers to face robbery charges. The trial court denied his motion to dismiss for failure to comply with the agreement's speedy trial provisions. The appellate court reversed, holding that the state's request for custody under the agreement implicitly established the existence of a detainer, and the state is estopped from denying it.
The court held that the state's request for custody combined with custody-in-fact sufficiently evidenced the existence of a detainer. By alleging and proving the state's request for temporary custody, O'Connell adequately alleged and proved the detainer's existence. Because the trial court erred in not discharging the information, the judgment and sentence were reversed.
[1] A state's request for temporary custody of a prisoner incarcerated in another state, combined with the actual transfer of custody, sufficiently evidences the existence of…
[2] A state that obtains custody of a prisoner from another jurisdiction under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers is estopped from later denying the existence of a detaine…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the state's request for custody combined with custody-in-fact sufficiently evidenced the existence of a detainer”
The court's holding that the state implicitly established the detainer through its actions under the Interstate Agreement
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWhile serving a sentence in Michigan, O'Connell was charged with robbery in Florida. The Florida state attorney requested O'Connell's temporary custod…
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COBB, Judge.
His motion to dismiss having been denied, appellant O’Connell pled nolo contendere to a robbery charge. The trial court adjudicated O’Connell guilty, sentenced him to twenty years imprisonment, and imposed the costs of transporting him from a Michigan prison and back. O’Connell specifically reserved the right to appeal the trial court’s ruling on the motion to dismiss, and now timely appeals the judgment and sentence. We reverse.
While he was serving a sentence in Michigan, the State of Florida charged O’Connell with robbery. Subsequent to filing the information, the state attorney in Orange County sent the warden of the State Prison of Southern Michigan a request for temporary custody of O’Connell pursuant to the Interstate Agreement on Detainers, sections 941.45-50, Florida Statutes (1979). As a result of the request for temporary custody, O’Connell was sent to Florida to face the robbery charge. Through no fault of his own, O’Connell was not tried within the time period set by the agreement.1 Pursuant to section 941.45(5)(e), Florida Statutes (1979), the dismissal provision of the agreement, O’Connell moved to dismiss the information.
O’Connell made no mention of the existence of a detainer against him either in his motion to dismiss or at the hearing on the motion. He did, however, allege and prove the existence of the state’s request for temporary custody, a prerequisite under the agreement to obtaining custody of a prisoner incarcerated in another state.
On appeal, the state contends that in the absence of a detainer, the interstate agreement and its dismissal provisions do not apply, and that therefore O’Connell was required to specifically allege and prove the existence of a detainer. O’Connell argues that because the state utilized the “Request for Custody” provision of the statute in order to gain custody over him, an implication arose that a detainer had been lodged.2 Given the statutory scheme of the interstate agreement, we hold that the state’s request for custody combined with custody-in-fact sufficiently evidenced the existence of a detainer. By alleging and proving these facts in his motion to dismiss, O’Con-nell adequately alleged and proved the detainer’s existence and the trial court erred by not discharging the information.
The state correctly argues that in order for the interstate agreement and its speedy trial provisions to apply, a detainer must have been lodged against O’Connell with the Michigan authorities. Allen v. State, 390 So. 2d 806 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980).
See also United States v. Mauro, 436 U.S. 340, 98 S.Ct. 1834, 56 L.Ed.2d 329 (1978); United States v. Gravitt, 590 F. 2d 123 (5th Cir. 1979).
The state errs in this case, however, by questioning the existence of the detainer. The state obtained custody of O’Connell upon the authority of the agreement. Like the speedy-trial provisions invoked by O’Connell, the custody provisions relied upon by the state to gain custody of O’Connell depend upon the existence of a detainer. By requesting and obtaining custody of O’Connell pursuant to the terms of the agreement, the state clearly relied upon the existence of a detainer and is estopped to deny its existence.
Because the information against O’Con-nell should have been dismissed, the judgment and sentence, including the imposition of costs, are reversed, and the trial court is instructed to enter an order discharging the information against O’Connell with prejudice.
REVERSED and REMANDED with instructions.
DAUKSCH, C. J., and FRANK D. UP-CHURCH, Jr., J., concur. . § 941.45(4)(c), Fla.Stat. (1979).
. Section 941.45(4)(a), Florida Statutes (1979), provides that the appropriate officer of the jurisdiction in which an untried information is pending shall be entitled to have a prisoner against whom he has lodged a detainer made available upon written request for temporary custody.
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Cited By
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Maggard v. Louie L. Wainwright, 411 So. 2d 200 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)…ding that its IAD does not extend to parole violations. The offer was not accepted by Kentucky, and petitioner has not changed his position nor been prejudiced in any manner by Florida’s action. Peti [*203] tioner’s reliance upon O'Connell v. State, 400 So. 2d 136 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981), is misplaced, since in that case Florida was the receiving state and did request and obtain temporary custody of O’Connell from Michigan under Florida’s IAD. Had petitioner Maggard been sent to Kentucky pursuant to his request a…
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Devine v. State, 120 So. 3d 171 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013)…prisoner. § 941.45, art. 111(a) (emphasis added). From this section, we can glean the following. Devine’s first attempt to invoke the IAD was ineffective. It was premature because a detainer had not been lodged against him. See O’Connell v. State, 400 So. 2d 136, 137-38 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981) (“[I]n order for the interstate agreement and its speedy trial provisions to apply, a detainer must have been lodged against [the defendant] with the [out-of-state] authorities.”). In addition, as the court noted in its o…
Authorities Cited
- United States v. Mauro, 436 U.S. 340 (U.S. 1978)
- United States v. Gravitt, 590 F.2d 123 (5th Cir. 1979)
- Allen v. State, 390 So. 2d 806 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980)