JEFFREY WILKINS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1996-02-21
No. 94-2913
PARIENTE and STEVENSON, JJ., concur.
668 So. 2d 305 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1996) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 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

Jeffrey Wilkins appeals his conviction for possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia. The court affirmed the conviction but reversed and remanded the trial court's imposition of attorney's fees and costs of prosecution because the trial court failed to comply with statutory notice requirements and procedural protections.


Holding

The court affirmed the conviction and denial of the jury instruction on possession of cocaine and the use of the reasonable doubt instruction without further discussion. However, the court reversed and remanded the trial court's imposition of attorney's fees and costs of prosecution because the trial court failed to follow required statutory procedures.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court may sua sponte impose a public defender's fee, but the defendant must be given prior notice and an opportunity to be heard.

[2] Imposing a public defender's fee without statutory notice and an opportunity to object constitutes error.

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

Key Quotes

“However, pursuant to section 27.56(7), Florida Statutes, the defendant must first be given prior notice of the intent to seek public defender's fees and provided an opportunity to be heard, offer objection, and be represented by counsel.”

Establishes the statutory requirement for notice and hearing before imposing public defender's fees.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Wilkins was convicted by jury of possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. The trial court had declared Wilkins indigent and appoint…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
SHAHOOD, Judge.

SHAHOOD, Judge.

Appellant, Jeffrey Wilkins, appeals a final judgment and sentence entered after a jury found him guilty of possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. We affirm the judgment and sentence, but reverse and remand on the issue of attorney’s fees and costs of prosecution.

Appellant raises three issues on appeal. First, he alleges that the trial court erred in denying his requested special jury instruction on possession of cocaine based on his theory of defense. Second, he alleges that the Florida standard jury instruction on reasonable doubt is unconstitutional in that it deprives him of his right to a fair trial and due process of law as guaranteed him under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and Article I, Section 9 of the Florida Constitution. We affirm the trial court on these two issues without farther discussion.

Appellant’s final point on appeal is that it was error for the trial court to order that he pay $650.00 in attorney’s fees and $50.00 in costs of prosecution. It is significant that in the order for entry of final judgment for attorney’s fees the trial court found that appellant had previously been declared indigent in this ease.

It has been determined that a trial court may sua sponte impose a public defender’s fee pursuant to section 27.56(l)(a), Florida Statutes (1993). See Gant v. State, 640 So. 2d 1180 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994); Mounts v. State, 638 So. 2d 602 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994).

However, pursuant to section 27.56(7), Florida Statutes, the defendant must first be given prior notice of the intent to seek public defender’s fees and provided an opportunity to be heard, offer objection, and be represented by counsel. See Smiley v. State, 590 So. 2d 1116 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991); Hostzclaw v. State, 561 So. 2d 1328 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990); see also, Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.720(d)(1).

In this case, the public defender’s fee was assessed without fulfilling the statutory notice requirements or affording Wilkins the opportunity to object. This was error. In order to assess and recover costs of prosecution pursuant to section 939.01, Florida Statutes (1993), the state is required to document its expenses and the trial court must consider those expenses along with the defendant’s financial resources, his financial needs and earning abili ty, and such other factors the trial court deems appropriate. Gant, 640 So. 2d at 1180; Sutton v. State, 635 So. 2d 1032 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994) (citing Tennie v. State, 593 So. 2d 1199 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992)); see also Wheeler v. State, 635 So. 2d 140 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994); Pickrel v. State, 609 So. 2d 65 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992).

In this case, the $50.00 assessment for costs of prosecution was ordered by the court without notice to the defendant of the state’s intent to seek costs of prosecution, documentation by the state of its expenses, or the court’s consideration of the appellant’s financial resources. This, too, was error.

Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s assessment of costs of prosecution and remand with directions, to consider the state’s actual expenses and the appellant’s financial resources. We also reverse the trial court’s imposition of attorney’s fees and remand with directions to provide notice of intent to seek the fee and afford appellant a hearing and an opportunity to contest the assessment of the fee. See Mounts.

Affirmed in part; Reversed and Remanded in part with directions.

PARIENTE and STEVENSON, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Adams v. State, 681 So. 2d 917 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
    …if Adams-is convicted after a new trial, public defender’s fees can be imposed only if Adams is given prior notice of the intent to seek such fees, and an opportunity to be heard and offer objection to the imposition of such fees. Wilkins v. State, 668 So. 2d 305 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); § 27.56(7), Fla. Stat. (1993). We affirm all other points on appeal. GUNTHER, C.J., and FARMER, J., concur.…
  • Griesheimer v. State, 682 So. 2d 677 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
    …ject of the main appeal. Appellant, however, was deprived of notice of his right to contest the public defender fees and costs; therefore, we reverse that part of his sentence and remand with direction to proceed in accordance with Wilkins v. State, 668 So. 2d 305 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996). GLICKSTEIN and DELL, JJ., and OFTEDAL, RICHARD L., Associate Judge, concur.…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw