LINDSEY LEE THOMAS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1986-04-09
No. 85-1018
LETTS, GLICKSTEIN and DELL, JJ„ concur.
486 So. 2d 69 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1986) Negative Treatment
Cited by 14 cases


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Reversed. At sentencing the trial court imposed a public defender’s fee and advised appellant that he could contest the fee at a later date. Appellant contends that the trial court erred in imposing the fee without giving him notice and an opportunity to be heard prior to its imposition. We agree. Section 27.56(7), Florida Statutes (1985) permits the trial court to assess a defendant for the value of the services of his public defender after adequate notice and an opportunity to be heard and offer objections. In Jenkins v. State, 444 So. 2d 947 (Fla.1984), our Supreme Court held that assessment of costs was not appropriate where there was no prior notice given to the defendant that costs would be imposed against him at the sentencing hearing. The First District later held in Walker v. State, 458 So. 2d 396 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984) that an assessment made in open court on the day of the sentencing hearing did not comport with the notice requirement of the statute. We strike the fee and remand this matter to the trial court without prejudice to the State to reassess the fee upon proper notice and hearing.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

LETTS, GLICKSTEIN and DELL, JJ„ concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Bull v. State, 548 So. 2d 1103 (Fla. 1989)
    …f a statutory right to have notice and be heard before the fee is set and the lien attaches. Sec. 27.56(7), Fla.Stat. (1979); Gryca v. State, 315 So. 2d 221 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975). McGeorge, 386 So. 2d at 30 (emphasis added). See also Thomas v. State, 486 So. 2d 69 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986); Shaffer v. State, 446 So. 2d 1156 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). Cf. Mays v. State, 519 So. 2d 618 (Fla.1988) (due process requires notice and an opportunity to be heard prior to assessment of costs under section 27.3455). Notice and an o…
  • Bradley v. State, 559 So. 2d 283 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)
    …7 (Fla.1984), the supreme court held that prior notice must be given to an indigent defendant before assessment of costs against him. Moreover, a judicial finding must be made that the defendant has the ability to pay. Similarly, in Thomas v. State, 486 So. 2d 69 (Fla.4th DCA 1986), we held that assessment of public defender fees without notice constitutes reversible error. Finally, before restitution is imposed, a defendant is entitled to a hearing to consider the factors set forth in section 775.089(6) and…
  • In the Interest of P.J., 579 So. 2d 299 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991)
    …Appellant’s remaining point as to the sufficiency of the evidence does not, in our view, warrant discussion. See Smith however, we hold that the trial court erred in imposing a public defender’s fee without notice and a hearing. See Thomas v. State, 486 So. 2d 69 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986). GLICKSTEIN, WARNER and GARRETT, JJ., concur.…

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