JOHN L. RICO, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1984-12-19
No. 83-2414
RYDER, C.J., and GRIMES, J., concur.
463 So. 2d 1172 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1984) Positive Treatment
Cited by 14 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

John Rico was convicted of trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine alongside co-defendants. The court reversed his convictions, holding that the trial court erred in extending the speedy trial period beyond 180 days and denying his motion for discharge, as Rico's right to a speedy trial should have prevailed over the state's interest in a consolidated trial with his co-defendants.


Holding

The court reversed Rico's convictions, holding that the trial court erred in extending the speedy trial period and denying the motion for discharge. The court concluded that Rico's right to a speedy trial should have prevailed over the state's interest in a consolidated trial, and that the state failed to demonstrate exceptional circumstances required by Rule 3.191(f)(5) to justify the extension. The record did not support either ground cited by the trial court: accommodation of co-defendants and defendant-caused delay.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court errs in setting a defendant's case for trial outside the speedy trial time period and denying a motion for discharge when the state fails to demonstrate a r…

[2] The state bears the burden of showing that a delay in a defendant's trial is necessary to accommodate a co-defendant, which includes demonstrating a reason not to sever t…

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Key Quotes

“Rule 3.152(b)(l)(i) requires that a severance be granted if necessary to protect a defendant's right to speedy trial.”

Establishes the mandatory nature of severance when speedy trial rights are at stake.

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Facts & Procedural History

Rico and two co-defendants (Watkins and Brown) were charged in a consolidated information in March 1983, with trial initially set for June 6, 1983. Th…

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Opinion of the Court
LEHAN, Judge.

LEHAN, Judge.

Defendant appeals his convictions and sentences for trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, violations of section 893.135, Florida Statutes (1983). We reverse. We agree with defendant that the trial court erred in setting defendant's case for trial outside the 180-day speedy trial time period and in thereafter denying defendant’s motion for discharge. Under the facts of this case, we conclude that the interest of defendant in a severance of his case from the cases against his co-defendants in order to protect his speedy trial rights pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.152(b)(l)(i), should have prevailed over the state’s interest in an extension of the speedy trial time pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191(f)(5).

Defendant and two co-defendants (Watkins and Brown) were charged in a consolidated two-count information in March, 1983. Defendant was represented by the same private counsel from the arraignment stage onward. At arraignment, the court set a trial date of June 6, 1983.

The 180-day speedy trial period was to expire on September 6, 1983. There is no disagreement among the parties that the speedy trial time expired on or within three days of that date; the disagreement as to the exact date is not material to this appeal.

In May, defendant filed a motion to sever. At a pre-trial motion hearing the court did not rule on that motion. At the hearing the public defender was appointed to represent co-defendant Watkins after Watkins’ privately-retained counsel had withdrawn. In June, defendant again brought to the court’s attention his pending motion to sever, but the prosecutor stated that she was not prepared to argue the motion.

In July, co-defendant Watkins’ public defender informed the court that he needed to depose a confidential informant whose identity had not been disclosed. Two days later, when the name of the informant had not been made available, the court ordered the state to “get the confidential informant to them today. I don’t know what the problem is.”

The trial date was changed to July 18. On July 18, all parties were present, but co-defendant Brown’s counsel had withdrawn. Brown’s counsel was later replaced by other private counsel. The name of the confidential informant had been disclosed by the state, and Watkins’ public defender apprised the court that there was a conflict of interest because the public defender’s office also represented the confidential informant on an unrelated pending charge. However, defendant announced that he was prepared to go to trial. The state also announced that it was “ready for trial other than the fact that if there is a problem with the other two defendants.” The court denied defendant’s motion for severance and reset the trial for August 22.

On July 22, co-defendant Watkins moved for a continuance and waived his speedy trial rights. The court noted that if defendant would not waive speedy trial, “we are going to have to try it August 22, unless it is severed.” Three days prior to August 22 both co-defendants moved for a continuance. Defendant objected .and again announced he was ready for trial. Thereafter, the court granted the co-defendants’ motions and said,

We will go ahead with the trial on Rico [defendant]. We may end up having to try it twice, but I don’t see any way out of it in this particular case.

The prosecutor objected and filed and argued a motion under rule 3.191, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, to extend the speedy trial period. The prosecutor did not assert any argument as to why defendant’s case should be tried with the co-defendants’. The prosecutor stated that he believed the case was not complicated. The court granted the prosecutor’s motion and reset the trial date to September 26. We do not conclude that defendant, in order to preserve the point for appeal, was obliged to again move for a severance after the prosecutor filed the motion to extend the speedy trial time. As noted above, the trial court had indicated that a severance would be ordered.

On September 14, defendant filed a motion for discharge on speedy trial grounds. The motion was denied. Four days prior to the September 26 trial, co-defendant Brown pleaded guilty to one charge and the state dismissed the other charge against him. On the day of trial, co-defendant Watkins pleaded nolo contendere to one charge, and the state dismissed the other charge against him. Defendant proceeded to trial alone and was convicted.

In its order granting the state’s motion for an extension of the speedy trial time, the trial court, in recognition of rule 3.191(f)(5), listed as grounds for the extension what were referred to as two exceptional circumstances: (1) a delay was necessary to accomodate the co-defendants, and (2) the defendant caused a major delay or disruption by preventing the attendance of witnesses because defendant’s witness list did not include the addresses of those witnesses.

The record does not support the ground that an extension of defendant’s speedy trial time was necessary to accomo-date the co-defendants. There is nothing in the record showing why defendant’s motion for severance was not granted, i.e., showing why there was reason to have a consolidated trial. Thus, the state did not fulfill the requirements, of 3.191(f)(5). Rule 3.191(f)(5) places the burden on the state to show that a delay in the trial of a defend ant is necessary to accomodate a co-defendant which must, of logical necessity in this case, include a showing that there is reason not to sever the defendant’s case from that of a co-defendant. Also, rule 3.152(b)(l)(i) requires that a severance be granted if necessary to protect a defendant’s right to speedy trial. The trial judge had indicated his intention to sever the defendant’s case.

The record also does not support the ground that the defendant caused a major delay. At the hearing on the August motions of co-defendants for a continuance, the state argued that the witness list furnished by defendant in June, 1983, did not contain addresses and that this omission caused a major delay in the proceedings. Defense counsel responded that at the time of the depositions of the various witnesses, he informally gave a copy of the list of addresses to the prosecutor assigned to the case at that time. In any event, the record reflects that after defendant filed on June 28, 1983, his original list of witnesses without addresses, the prosecutor announced on July 18th that he was ready for trial. Also, it appears that if there had been any delay caused by the defendant in this regard, any such delay would have been small, and certainly not major, compared to delays which can be readily perceived from the record to have been incident to other events, such as, three changes of defense counsel for the co-defendants and the failure of the state to sooner disclose the identity of the confidential informant, not to mention summer vacations and two changes of assistant state attorneys. We arrive at the foregoing conclusion without addressing defense counsel’s argument that the state had copies of defendant’s witness subpoenas issued for the July trial date.

Accordingly, the order extending the speedy trial time was not properly granted, and defendant’s speedy trial time had expired on September 6, 1983.

An inconsistency may seem to exist between rules 3.191(f)(5) and 3.152(b)(l)(i). Rule 3.191(f)(5) provides for a speedy trial extension when there is reason (presumably from the state’s standpoint in prosecuting the case) not to sever. This would seem to place the state’s interest in trying a consolidated case against all co-defendants, i.e., the state’s interest in not severing, above an individual defendant’s right to a speedy trial. Rule 3.152(b)(l)(i) provides that the trial court “shall” order a severance if necessary to protect the defendant’s right to speedy trial. This would seem to place an individual defendant’s right to a speedy trial above the state’s interest in trying a consolidated case against all co-defendants, i.e., the state’s interest in not severing.

We need not directly address that inconsistency in this case in which we conclude that defendant’s right to a speedy trial was paramount. As we have said, the state made no showing of a reason not to sever. See Machado v. State, 431 So. 2d 337 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983). See also State v. Littlefield, 457 So. 2d 558 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984), where the Fourth District Court of Appeal pointed out that a defendant makes a prima facie showing of his entitlement to a severance by a showing that his speedy trial rights would be violated if co-defendants’ motions for a continuance are granted. Thereupon, “it was the obligation of the state to respond by demonstrating that despite the speedy trial consequences to defendant ‘there is reason not to sever the eases.’ See rule 3.191(f)(5).” Id.

For the foregoing reasons defendant’s convictions and sentences for trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine are vacated. Defendant shall be discharged.

RYDER, C.J., and GRIMES, J., concur. . Consistent with our holding is Westlake v. Miner, 460 So. 2d 430 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984) (question certified), decided after our opinion in this case was written. In Westlake the First District Court of Appeal said "the convenience [to the state] of a joint trial is not an exceptional circumstance justifying a state's motion for extension of the speedy trial time."


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Citator

Cited By

  • Darby v. State, 463 So. 2d 496 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)
    …there is reason not to sever the cases in order to proceed promptly with trial of the defendant” (e.s.). On the other hand, rule 3.152(b)(l)(i) mandates severance of the defendants to protect a defendant's right to a speedy trial. See Rico v. State, 463 So. 2d 1172 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). The state argues that an appropriate reason for extending the time for speedy trial is if severance were granted and the time for trial of both cases not extended, a material witness would be forced to travel from Miami to Talla…
  • Martin v. Honorable Manuel Menendez, Jr., 467 So. 2d 1035 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)
    …ants were, from the beginning of the proceeding below, all charged in a single information and petitioner, though once severed solely for the purpose of an early trial within his speedy trial deadline, never moved for a severance. Cf. Rico v. State, 463 So. 2d 1172 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985); Darby v. State, 463 So. 2d 496 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). Littlefield is distinguishable because there the state never moved for an extension of speedy trial as the state did in petitioner’s case below. As the court in Littlefield sta…
  • Watts v. State, 516 So. 2d 346 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)
    …7 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985); cf. Cappetta v. State, 471 So. 2d 1290, 1291 (Fla. 3d DCA) (trial court’s stated basis for extension of speedy trial period not supported on record, defendant discharged), rev. denied, 480 So. 2d 1296 (Fla.1985); Rico v. State, 463 So. 2d 1172, 1174 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984) (same). The final judgment of conviction and probation order under review are reversed, [*348] and the cause is remanded to the trial court with directions to discharge the defendant. Reversed and remanded.…

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