CAROLE E. FOTHERGILL, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2000-03-31
No. 5D99-1712
COBB and HARRIS, JJ., concur.
754 So. 2d 174 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2000) Caution
Cited by 7 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

Carole Fothergill was charged with failure to stop at an accident resulting in injuries. She moved to dismiss based on speedy trial grounds, arguing the speedy trial clock began running when she was issued a traffic citation. The court affirmed the denial of her motion, holding that speedy trial time does not commence until a person is 'taken into custody,' which requires either arrest or service of a notice to appear—neither of which occurred here.


Holding

Speedy trial time does not commence upon issuance of a traffic citation alone. It commences only when a person is 'taken into custody,' which requires either arrest or service of a notice to appear. Because Fothergill was neither arrested nor served with a notice to appear, she was not taken into custody, and speedy trial time had not begun running when she filed her motion for discharge.


Headnotes

[1] Speedy trial time begins to run when a person is taken into custody, defined as being arrested or served with a notice to appear in lieu of physical arrest.

[2] Issuance of a Florida Uniform Traffic Citation that does not require a court appearance or indicate a date, time, or place to appear does not constitute being taken into…

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Key Quotes

“For purposes of this rule, a person is taken into custody (1) when the person is arrested as a result of the conduct or criminal episode that gave rise to the crime charged, or (2) where the person is served with a notice to appear in lieu of physical arrest.”

Establishes the legal definition of 'taken into custody' under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191(d), which triggers speedy trial obligations.

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Facts & Procedural History

On November 12, 1996, an accident occurred. On November 18, 1996, a highway patrol trooper located Fothergill and issued her a traffic citation that d…

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Opinion of the Court
ORFINGER, M., Senior Judge.

ORFINGER, M., Senior Judge.

Carole E. Fothergill was charged by information for failure to stop at an accident resulting in injuries, a third degree felony. The record indicates that the accident occurred on November 12, 1996. On November 18, 1996 a highway patrol trooper located her, and issued what is entitled “Florida Uniform Traffic Citation” which specified the date and nature of the alleged violations, but did not indicate any date, time or place to appear or otherwise indicate that a court appearance was required. Instead, in the space headed up by the words “court information,” the trooper wrote “summons to be sent.” Appellant was not arrested or otherwise taken into custody.

The information charging her with the felony was filed on March 13, 1998 following which appellant moved for discharge on speedy trial grounds, arguing that more than 175 days had elapsed between the issuance of the traffic citation without appellant being charged or brought to trial. After her motion for discharge was denied, appellant pled nolo contendere, reserving her right to appeal the dispositive motion for discharge. Finding no error, we affirm.

Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191(a) starts the running of “speedy trial” .. .when the person is taken into custody as defined under subdivision(d). Subdivision (d) states:

“For purposes of this rule, a person is taken into custody (1) when the person is arrested as a result of the conduct or criminal episode that gave rise to the crime charged, or (2) where the person is served with a notice to appear in lieu of physical arrest.”

Appellant relies on cases such as Genden v. Fuller, 648 So. 2d 1183 (Fla.1994) and Rodriguez v. State, 453 So. 2d 175 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1984) for the proposition that speedy trial commenced to run when she was issued the citation, rather than when the information was filed. In Genden, Fuller had been arrested on a charge of grand theft. After the arrest but before an information was filed, the state voluntarily terminated the prosecution by announcing that it would take no action. Some seven months later it filed an information based on the same event for which Fuller had originally been arrested. In affirming his discharge, the supreme court held that speedy trial time began to run when Fuller was first taken into custody, rather than when charges were filed against him.

In Rodriguez, appellant was issued a criminal traffic citation and notice to appear for willful and wanton reckless driving and driving while license suspended, both misdemeanors. Later, the state filed an information charging appellant with two counts of manslaughter by culpable negligence as a result of the same incident which gave rise to the traffic citations. In holding that Rodriguez was entitled to discharge because he was not brought to trial within 180 days after issuance of the traffic citation. The court held that “(T)he service of a citation to appear for a criminal traffic offense constitutes a taking into custody” under Rule 3.191(a).

Here, appellant was not arrested nor was she issued a notice to appear. All the traffic citation indicated was that “summons to be sent.” There was no requirement that appellant respond in any way. Thus, for the purposes of Rule 3.191 she was not taken into custody, so speedy trial time had not expired when she filed her motion for discharge.

AFFIRMED.

COBB and HARRIS, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Takara Williams v. State, 946 So. 2d 1163 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006)
    …le barred the State from prosecuting Williams for that offense. See Rodriguez, 453 So. 2d at 176. Thus, the trial court erred in denying the amended motion for discharge. The State correctly notes on appeal that the decisions in Fothergill v. State, 754 So. 2d 174 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000), and State v. Coughlin, 871 So. 2d 935 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004), on which it relied in the trial court, are materially distinguishable in that neither defendant in those two cases was issued a notice to appear. We are constrained to…
  • State v. Coughlin, 871 So. 2d 935 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)
    …d. The circuit [*936] court affirmed, citing Rodriguez v. State, 453 So. 2d 175 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984), and State v. Hancock, 529 So. 2d 1200 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988). We conclude that this case is controlled by this court’s decision in Fothergill v. State, 754 So. 2d 174 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000), wherein we said: Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191(a) starts the running of “speedy trial” ... when the person is taken into custody as defined under subdivision (d). Subdivision (d) states: “For purposes of this rule,…
  • Ayres v. State, 898 So. 2d 1154 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005)
    …endant to respond to the criminal charge. When a defendant is not required to “respond in any way,” the document is not utilized as a substitute for arrest, and is, therefore, not served “in lieu of arrest.” Id. at 936; see also Fothergill v. State, 754 So. 2d 174, 175 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000) (stating that traffic citation did not trigger speedy trial because defendant was not “required to respond in any way”). Here, although Petitioner responded to the citation by hiring counsel, her response, although perhaps p…

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