NATINA WARREN APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 1989-05-04
No. 88-1068
ORFINGER, J., concurs., COWART, J., concurs and concurs specially with opinion in which
543 So. 2d 315 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1989) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases
Topics
Mental Incompetence Competency Hearing Competency To Stand Trial Due Process

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Opinion of the Court
COBB, Judge.

COBB, Judge.

The appellant was convicted of four counts of sale of cocaine and four counts of possession of cocaine. She appeals and we reverse for a new trial.

We believe the instant appeal is controlled by the recent opinion of Tingle v. State, 536 So. 2d 202 (Fla.1988). The trial judge, based on his own personal observation, denied a pretrial motion seeking a competency hearing. The motion, predicated on erratic behavior and statements to counsel by the defendant, was renewed at trial. As stated in Tingle, the trial judge's independent investigation is not sufficient to insure that a defendant is not deprived of his due process right of not being tried while mentally incompetent.

REVERSED and REMANDED for new trial consistent with the requirements of Tingle.

ORFINGER, J., concurs.

COWART, J., concurs and concurs specially with opinion in which

ORFINGER, J., also concurs.

Concurrence
COWART, Judge,

COWART, Judge,

concurring specially.

I agree that Tingle v. State, 536 So. 2d 202 (Fla.1988), requires this court to. reverse in this case. However, I am greatly concerned that Tingle appears to hold that criminal defense counsel’s personal assertion, contention or opinion that the defendant may be incompetent to stand trial, based solely on defense counsel’s personal observation of a defendant’s behavior and statements constitutes reasonable grounds necessitating a full competency hearing under Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.210 and 3.211 so conclusive that it cannot be met or overcome by the trial judge’s opinion and judgment that the defendant is competent to stand trial based on the trial judge’s observation of the defendant’s behavior and statements. Before the State is required to delay prosecution and incur the expense of an examination by 2 or 3 experts, the trial judge and state’s attorney should agree with the need or the defense counsel’s position should be supported by some evidence from an independent source, such as, a physician’s recommendation that the defendant’s medical condition be examined by experts; otherwise a trial advocate’s personal opinion as to a matter as to which he has no expertise, is given more weight than the similar opinion of a disinterested trial judge and can alone, in every case, cause a substantial expenditure of public funds and a delay in trial.

ORFINGER, J., concurs.

Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus

Citator

Cited By

  • Carrion v. State, 859 So. 2d 563 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003)
    …f competency based on the petitioner’s return to school is insufficient to ensure that Mr. Carrion is not deprived of his due process right not to be tried while incompetent. See Brockman v. State, 852 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003); Warren v. State, 543 So. 2d 315 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989). The State argues that writ relief is not available in this case because the petitioner has an adequate legal remedy; namely, that he can appeal if convicted. The supreme court has concluded on a number of occasions, however, th…
  • Brockman v. State, 852 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)
    ….210(b). A trial court’s independent investigation into the defendant’s competency is not sufficient to ensure that the defendant is not deprived of his due process right not to be tried while incompetent. Tingle, 536 So. 2d at 203; Warren v. State, 543 So. 2d 315 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989). In this case, an objective evaluation of the facts presented to the trial court establishes that the trial court had more than reasonable grounds to believe that Brockman may have been incompetent to stand trial. The trial cour…
  • Wendall Maxwell v. State, 974 So. 2d 505 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008)
    …defendant’s mental competency to stand trial for life felony, trial court required to conduct competency hearing, regardless of subsequent determination that defendant’s return to school indicated ability to function in community); Warren v. State, 543 So. 2d 315, 315 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989) (holding that trial judge could not deny pretrial motion seeking competency hearing based on his own personal observation; such investigation insufficient to insure defendant not deprived of due process right of not being tr…

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