RAYMOND JONES, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1997-07-16
No. 96-03687
THREADGILL, J., concurs., SCHOONOVER, A.C.J., concurs in result only.
696 So. 2d 1288 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1997)

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Synopsis

Raymond Jones appealed his robbery conviction, challenging the trial court's denial of his peremptory strike of an African-American juror and the imposition of a public defender's fee. The court affirmed the conviction but remanded for a hearing on the public defender's lien, finding the trial court erred by not advising Jones of his right to contest the fee amount.


Holding

The court affirmed the conviction on the juror strike issue because Jones's trial attorney waived the Neil objection by accepting the jury panel without reservation. However, the court held the trial court erred in imposing the public defender's lien without advising Jones of his right to a hearing to contest the amount, requiring remand for proper procedures.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant waives a challenge to a juror strike under State v. …

[2] A trial court errs by imposing a public defender's lien without advising the defendant of their right to a hearing to contest the amount.

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Key Quotes

“when counsel accepts a jury without reserving an earlier Neil objection, the objection is waived”

Establishes the waiver rule that prevented Jones from raising the juror strike issue on direct appeal

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Facts & Procedural History

Jones was convicted of robbing a fast food restaurant. During jury selection, Jones attempted to peremptorily strike an African-American member of the…

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Opinion of the Court
NORTHCUTT, Judge.

NORTHCUTT, Judge.

Raymond Jones challenges his convictions and sentences stemming from the robbery of a fast food restaurant. He raises several issues on appeal, but we address only his contentions that the court erred in denying his request to peremptorily strike an African-American juror, and in assessing a public defender’s fee. We find no merit in Jones’s other points on appeal, and we affirm them without discussion.

When Jones attempted to strike an African-American member of the venire, the state objected and asked the court to conduct the hearing required in State v. Neil, 457 So. 2d 481 (Fla.1984). After it conducted the Neil inquiry, the court ruled that Jones had not provided a sufficient race-neutral reason for the strike. It disallowed his challenge, and the juror sat on the panel that later convicted Jones. Unfortunately, Jones’s trial attorney waived this issue for purposes of direct appeal. Although he objected to the court’s decision when it was announced, he later accepted the jury panel without reservation. In Joiner v. State, 618 So. 2d 174, 176 (Fla.1993), our supreme court held that when counsel accepts a jury without reserving an earlier Neil objection, the objection is waived. See also Cruz v. State, 660 So. 2d 792, 793 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995) (applying Joiner holding where defendant attempts to strike a potential juror), review denied, 667 So. 2d 774 (Fla.1996). Like the court in Joiner, we question whether the trial court’s ruling on the Neil challenge was correct. But we cannot provide Jones a remedy on direct appeal.

Turning to Jones’s next argument, the trial court erred in imposing a public defender’s lien without advising Jones of his right to a hearing to contest the amount of the lien, as required under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.720(d)(1). We remand with instructions that Jones be given thirty days to file a written objection to the amount of the lien. If he files an objection, the lower court must strike the lien and it may not impose a new assessment without notice and a hearing. Trice v. State, 655 So. 2d 1270 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995); Bourque v. State, 595 So. 2d 222 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992).

Convictions affirmed, remanded for further proceedings on the court’s imposition of a public defender’s hen.

THREADGILL, J., concurs.

SCHOONOVER, A.C.J., concurs in result only.


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