MANUEL PAYRET, PETITIONER,
v.
HONORABLE DON T. ADAMS, JUDGE, 15TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, AND RICHARD WILLE, SHERIFF OF PALM BEACH COUNTY, RESPONDENTS

Fla. 4th DCA | 1985-06-26
No. 85-932
DOWNEY and HERSEY, JJ., concur.
471 So. 2d 218 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1985) Caution
Cited by 8 cases

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Synopsis

A pretrial detainee sought habeas corpus relief based on a local administrative order provision requiring personal recognizance release if formal charges were not filed within 21 days. The court held that this administrative provision conflicted with Florida Criminal Procedure Rule 3.133(b) and was therefore invalid, as it mandated release without regard to probable cause or other relevant considerations.


Holding

The court held that Administrative Order No. 3.003-9/83, Provision 1(C) is null and void because it conflicts with rule 3.133(b), Fla.R.Crim.P. The provision undercuts the statutory scheme by mandating personal recognizance release without regard to probable cause or other legally relevant considerations.


Headnotes

[1] Local administrative orders cannot contravene rules of criminal procedure promulgated by the Supreme Court.

[2] A local administrative provision mandating personal recognizance release without regard to probable cause is inconsistent with rules governing adversary preliminary heari…

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Key Quotes

“Provision 1(C) of the administrative order undercuts the entire scheme of rule 3.133(b), Fla.R.Crim.P. Rather than predicating release on a finding of no probable cause, the administrative provision mandates personal recognizance release without regard to the existence of probable cause or other relevant considerations.”

Establishes why the administrative order conflicts with the criminal procedure rule

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Facts & Procedural History

Petitioner Payret was arrested on March 26, 1985, for conspiracy to traffic in cocaine in excess of 400 grams with bond set at $150,000, later reduced…

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Opinion of the Court
HURLEY, Judge.

HURLEY, Judge.

Petitioner, a prisoner unable to post pretrial bond, seeks a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to a provision in a local administrative order which indicates that he is entitled to personal recognizance release. We conclude that the provision conflicts with a rule of criminal procedure and, consequently, we invalidate the conflicting provision and deny the writ.

Petitioner was arrested on March 26, 1985, for conspiring to traffic in' cocaine in excess of 400 grams.1 He was confined in the Palm Beach County jail with bond set at $150,000. This amount was reduced to $100,000 after a bond reduction hearing, but the petitioner has been unable to post a bond in the reduced sum.

On April 17, 1985, twenty-two days after his arrest, petitioner filed a motion for an adversary preliminary hearing pursuant to rule 3.133, Fla.R.Crim.P. The trial court heard and granted the motion on April 18, 1985. It scheduled an adversary preliminary hearing for the following Thursday, April 25, 1985.

In addition to the foregoing relief, petitioner sought personal recognizance release pursuant to Administrative Order No. 3.003-9/83 of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. Provision 1(C) of that order states: “If formal charges are not filed by the 21st day, the prisoner shall be brought to first appearance and released O.R.” The trial court declined to follow this provision, noting that the state had filed an information on April 17, 1985, (twenty-two days after arrest), which the court found to be “a good faith effort to comply with the rule.” We affirm, but for a different reason.

Rule 3.133(b)(1), Fla.R.Crim.P., provides that “[a] defendant who is not charged in an information or indictment within 21 days from the date of his arrest ... shall have a right to an adversary preliminary hearing. ...” Subsection (5) of the same rule further provides that

[i]f from the evidence it appears to the magistrate that there is probable cause to believe that an offense has been committed and that the defendant has committed it, the magistrate shall cause the defendant to be held to answer to the circuit court; otherwise, the magistrate shall release the defendant from custody unless an information or indictment has been filed, in which event the defendant shall be released on his or her own recognizance. ...

Provision 1(C) of the administrative order undercuts the entire scheme of rule 3.133(b), Fla.R.Crim.P. Rather than predicating release on a finding of no probable cause, the administrative provision mandates personal recognizance release without regard to the existence of probable cause or other relevant considerations. In Berkheimer v. Berkheimer, 466 So. 2d 1219, 1221 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985), we noted that “courts of this state are not empowered to develop local rules which contravene those promulgated by the Supreme Court. Nor may courts devise practices which skirt the requirements of duly promulgated rules.” (Citation omitted.) Since provision 1(C) of Administrative Order No. 3.003-9/83 is inconsistent with rule 3.133, Fla.R.Crim.P., we hold that provision 1(C) is null and void. See Rule 2.020(c), Fla.R.Jud. Admin.

We recognize that provision 1(C) was developed as a safeguard to prevent prisoners from being “lost” in the system. Indeed, the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration expressly charge the chief judge of the circuit with the responsibility for developing an administrative plan which allows for “mandatory periodic review of the status of the inmates of the county jail.” Rule 2.050(b)(3), Fla.R.Jud.Admin. Thus, we wish to emphasize that nothing in this opinion prevents the chief judge from developing an alternate safeguard provision to provide bond review in the event that the state fails to file formal charges in a timely fashion. Reductions in bond, however, must be made on a case-by-case basis with full consideration of legally relevant factors. See Rule 3.131, Fla.R.Crim.P. Accordingly, the petition for writ of ha-beas corpus is denied. However, in view of the importance of the issues involved, we certify the following question to be of great public importance:

Is provision 1(C) of Administrative Order No. 3.003-9/83 inconsistent with rule 3.133(b), Fla.R.Crim.P.?

DOWNEY and HERSEY, JJ., concur. . § 893.135(4), Fla.Stat. (1983).


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Rawls v. State, 540 So. 2d 946 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989)
    …0.” Although bond schedules serve a valid purpose, they may not provide a justification for excessive bail. Reductions in [*947] bond must be made on a case-by-case basis with full consideration of the legally relevant factors. See Payret v. Adams, 471 So. 2d 218 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). Such factors include an accused’s financial resources, family ties, employment history, length and stability of his residence in the community, past criminal convictions, and record of appearing or failing to appear at prior cou…
  • Obando v. Ric L. Bradshaw, 920 So. 2d 198 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)
    …it is null and void. “[CJourts of this state are not empowered to develop local rules which contravene those promulgated by the Supreme Court. Nor may courts devise practices which skirt the requirements of duly promulgated rules.” Payret v. Adams, 471 So. 2d 218, 220 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985) (quoting Berkheimer v. Berkheimer, 466 So. 2d 1219, 1221 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985)). In Payret, the defendant sought habeas corpus relief pursuant to a local administrative order providing for release of a prisoner on his own rec…
  • Kennedy v. Crawford, 479 So. 2d 758 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)
    …ry practice of recommending recognizance release may have originated with a no longer viable administrative order which, to the extent that it required trial judges to release the defendant on his own recognizance, went too far. See Payret v. Adams, 471 So. 2d 218 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). In Payret the court struck down as inconsistent with Rule 3.133(b) an administrative order which provided that “ ‘[i]f formal charges are not filed by the 21st day, the prisoner shall be brought to first appearance and released…

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