JEROME DEWITT BROWN
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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Jerome Dewitt Brown appealed his convictions and sentences for traffic and obstruction offenses, as well as a direct criminal contempt conviction for failure to appear. The court affirmed the traffic and obstruction convictions but reversed the contempt conviction, holding that failure to appear must be charged as indirect contempt under a different procedural rule, and that the trial court failed to comply with strict procedural requirements for direct contempt proceedings.
The court held that failure to appear must be treated as indirect criminal contempt under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.840, not direct contempt under 3.830. The conviction for direct criminal contempt was reversed because the trial court failed to strictly comply with rule 3.830's procedural requirements, including the requirement to provide the defendant the opportunity to present evidence of excusing or mitigating circumstances.
[1] A failure to appear in court must be treated as indirect criminal contempt under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.840, not direct criminal contempt under Florida Rule…
[2] The procedures governing direct criminal contempt are not suited for application to a failure to appear.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the failure to appear pursuant to an order should be treated as indirect criminal contempt under [Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure] 3.840”
Establishes that failure to appear cases must be prosecuted as indirect contempt, not direct contempt under rule 3.830
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJerome Dewitt Brown was convicted of violating sections 316.1935(2), 322.32(2)(c), and 843.02, Florida Statutes (2018), and was also convicted of dire…
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NORTHCUTT, Judge. We affirm without further comment Jerome Dewitt Brown's convictions and sentences for violating sections 316.1935(2), 322.32(2)(c), and 843.02, Florida Statutes (2018). However, we
reverse his judgment and sentence for direct criminal contempt pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.830 for failing to appear. Florida law is clear that "the failure to appear pursuant to an order should be treated as indirect criminal contempt under [Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure] 3.840." State v. Diaz de la Portilla, 177 So. 3d 965, 972 (Fla. 2015) (explaining the plethora of reasons that "[t]he procedures . . . governing direct criminal contempt [under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.830] simply are not suited for application to a failure to appear"). The only basis for charging Brown with contempt in this case was his failure to appear.
Therefore, the conviction for direct criminal contempt under rule 3.830 was error.
Moreover, rule 3.830 specifically requires a trial court to "strictly comply" with several procedural requirements, such as "provid[ing] the defendant the opportunity to present evidence of excusing or mitigating circumstances." Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.830(b); see also Phelps v. State, 236 So. 3d 1162, 1163–64 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018) (holding that a failure to comply with rule 3.830’s requirements is a violation requiring reversal).
The trial court here
did not provide Brown with the procedural safeguards to which he was entitled. As in Phelps, then, "the error [here] is fundamental and we are required to correct it." Phelps, 236 So. 3d at 1164. In sum, we affirm all of Brown's convictions and sentences except the judgment and sentence for direct criminal contempt. On that conviction and sentence, we reverse. Affirmed in part and reversed in part. VILLANTI and SLEET, JJ., Concur. Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.