REGINALD CLIMPSON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1988-08-02
No. 87-495
BOOTH and WENTWORTH, JJ., concur.
528 So. 2d 1296 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1988) Negative Treatment
Cited by 22 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

Appellant Climpson was arrested for cocaine offenses and filed a motion for discharge under Florida's speedy trial rule. Although the trial court failed to conduct the required hearing within five days of filing the motion, the court scheduled trial within the mandatory fifteen-day period, and the appellate court affirmed the denial of the discharge motion, holding the procedural delay harmless.


Holding

Although the hearing was not timely, the trial court's scheduling of trial within the fifteen-day period required by Rule 3.191(i)(4) rendered the untimely hearing harmless error. The core intent of the speedy trial rule is to ensure the defendant is brought to trial within the fifteen-day window, and strict compliance with the five-day hearing requirement is not reversible error when this deadline is met.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court's failure to hold a hearing on a motion for discharge within the prescribed five-day period is not reversible error if the defendant is brought to trial wit…

[2] The primary intent of the speedy trial rule regarding motions for discharge is to ensure the defendant is brought to trial within the specified time frame, not necessaril…

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Key Quotes

“although the hearing itself exceeded the five-day time limit required by Rule 3.191(i)(4), the fact that appellant was to be tried within fifteen days from the date of the filing of his motion for discharge renders the untimely hearing harmless.”

Establishes the core holding that procedural delay in conducting the hearing is harmless when trial is scheduled within the fifteen-day deadline.

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Facts & Procedural History

Climpson was arrested on November 4, 1986, and charged with two counts of sale of cocaine and two counts of possession of cocaine. On May 13, 1987, he…

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Opinion of the Court
ERVIN, Judge.

ERVIN, Judge.

The appellant contends that the trial court reversibly erred in denying his motion for discharge, in that the court failed to conduct a hearing within five days from the filing of the motion. We conclude that, although the hearing on the motion was not timely, the trial court set appellant’s trial within the fifteen-day time limit as required by Florida Rule Criminal Procedure 3.191(i)(4);1 therefore the appellant’s right to a speedy trial was not violated.

The appellant was arrested on November 4,1986 and charged with two counts of sale of cocaine and two counts of possession of cocaine. On May 13, 1987, he filed a motion for discharge pursuant to Rule 3.191(a)(1), providing that a defendant charged with a felony offense shall be brought to trial within 175 days after being taken into custody. A hearing was held on May 22, 1987, at which time the trial court denied the motion for discharge and scheduled the appellant for trial on May 26, 1987 — within fifteen days from the filing of the motion for discharge, as required by Rule 3.191(i)(4). The appellant later entered a plea of nolo contendere, specifically reserving his right to appeal the denial of the motion for discharge.

We agree with the state that, although the hearing itself exceeded the five-day time limit required by Rule 3.191(i)(4), the fact that appellant was to be tried within fifteen days from the date of the filing of his motion for discharge renders the untimely hearing harmless. Although not specifically adopted by the Florida Supreme Court in its adoption of the amendments to Rule 3.191, see The Florida Bar Re: Amendment to Rules — Criminal Procedure, 462 So. 2d 386 (Fla.1984), the committee note appended to Rule 3.191(i)(4) provides that “[t]he intent of (i)(4) is to provide the state attorney with 15 days within which to bring a defendant to trial from the date of the filing of the motion for discharge. This time begins with the filing of the motion and continues regardless of whether the judge hears the motion.” (e.s.) Similarly, in Lasker v. Parker, 513 So. 2d 1374 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), in holding that it was the state’s burden to arrange for a prompt hearing on a motion for discharge, the Second District stated:

An obvious corollary to the state’s burden is its ability, if it chooses, to convey to the trial court, in lieu of a formal hearing, its concession that the motion for discharge is well taken and its agreement to have the trial scheduled within the 10 day period provided by the rule. In that situation the defendant would be hardpressed to demonstrate prejudice stemming solely from the court’s failure to conduct a hearing.

513 So. 2d at 1376 (emphasis in original). We agree with these authorities that, in determining a violation of the speedy trial rule, the intent of the rule is to ensure that a defendant is brought to trial within the fifteen-day time period. Therefore, failure to strictly comply with the time limitations for the hearing is not reversible error. See also, Yetter, Florida’s New Speedy Trial Rule: The “Window of Recapture", 13 Fla.St.U.L.Rev. 9 (1985). As the trial judge below scheduled the appellant for trial within the fifteen-day time period, we conclude that the appellant has failed to demonstrate any prejudice resulting from the failure of the trial court to conduct a timely hearing, and

AFFIRM.

BOOTH and WENTWORTH, JJ., concur. . Sub-paragraph (i)(4) provides:

No later than 5 days from the date of the filing of a motion for discharge, the court shall hold a hearing on the motion, and unless the court finds that one of the reasons set forth in section (d)(3) exists, shall order that the defendant be brought to trial within 10 days. If the defendant is not brought to trial within the 10 day period through no fault of the defendant, the defendant shall be forever discharged from the crime.

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Citator

Cited By

  • McKINNEY v. Honorable Theron A. Yawn, Jr., 625 So. 2d 885 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)
    …that where the state does not either hold a hearing on a motion for discharge within 5 days or commence the trial within 15 days, the defendant is entitled to discharge. See Ariza v. Cycmanick, 548 So. 2d 304 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989); Climpson v. State, 528 So. 2d 1296 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988); Lenard v. Moxley, 497 So. 2d 973 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986). The state responds to the petition with a “shot gun” argument that can be summarized as follows. The state contends that defense counsel has acted inconsistently with the sp…
  • State v. Koch, 605 So. 2d 519 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
    …n that the motion for discharge is well taken and its agreement to have the trial scheduled with reasonable notice within the ten-day period provided by Rule 3.191(i)(3). Lasker v. Parker, 513 So. 2d 1374, 1376 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987); Climpson v. State, 528 So. 2d 1296, 1297 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988). The failure of the state to observe these requirements, however, is ordinarily harmless so long as the defendant is in fact brought to trial with reasonable notice within fifteen days after the filing of the motion for dis…
  • State v. Salzero, 714 So. 2d 445 (Fla. 1998)
    …e have for review Salzero v. State, 697 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997) (en banc), [*446] which certified conflict with State v. Driggers, 680 So. 2d 601 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); State v. McGruder, 664 So. 2d 1126 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995); and Climpson v. State, 528 So. 2d 1296 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988). We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(4) of the Florida Constitution. On February 11, 1996, Salvador Salzero was charged with possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia. On August 5,1996, Sal-zero filed his…
    1 / 2

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