MICHAEL STOUT, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal granted a petition for writ of mandamus requiring a trial court to accept a defendant's written waiver of personal appearance at a pretrial status conference in a criminal case. The court held that Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure explicitly permit such waivers and the trial judge's refusal to accept the waiver was improper.
A trial court must accept a defendant's written waiver of personal appearance at pretrial status conferences, as explicitly permitted by Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.180(a)(3) and 3.220(p)(1). The trial court's refusal to accept Stout's waiver was improper.
[1] A defendant may waive their presence at a pretrial conference in writing.
[2] A trial court must accept a defendant's signed, written waiver of appearance for a pretrial status conference.
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 trial court's refusal to accept Petitioner's written waiver of his appearance at the upcoming status conference contravenes Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.180(a)(3) (requiring the presence of the defendant at pretrial conferences "unless waived by the defendant in writing") and 3.220(p)(l)”
Establishes the core holding that trial courts must honor written waivers under the specified rules
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMichael Stout, facing criminal prosecution, submitted a signed, written waiver of his personal appearance at a pretrial status conference. The trial j…
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.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Waiver Of Appearance cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
This case presents nearly the same factual situation as Lynch v. State, 736 So. 2d 1221 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999), which counsel for Petitioner cited to the trial court below to no effect. As in Lynch, the instant trial court rejected Petitioner’s signed, written waiver of appearance for a pretrial status conference in his criminal prosecution, instead requiring his personal appearance. In the instant case, Judge Goldstein explained that Stout’s personal appearance was required because most pleas in his division were entered at status conferences. Counsel for Petitioner assured the judge that if he were able to negotiate a plea, he would advise Petitioner to attend the conference or schedule a change of plea hearing for that purpose, but if there was to be no plea, then there may be no reason to require Petitioner to miss work for every hearing and possibly jeopardize his employment. Nevertheless, Judge Goldstein would not accept the waiver and required Petitioner’s personal appearance.
We adopt the reasoning of the Fifth District in Lynch and also hold that the trial court’s refusal to accept Petitioner’s written waiver of his appearance at the upcoming status conference contravenes Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.180(a)(3) (requiring the presence of the defendant at pretrial conferences “unless waived by the defendant in writing”) and 3.220(p)(l) (allowing the trial court to hold one or more pretrial conferences and stating that “[t]he defendant shall be present unless the defendant waives this in writing”).
As the Fifth District did in Lynch, we hereby grant the petition for writ of mandamus and direct the trial court to accept Petitioner’s written waiver of appearance in accordance with the foregoing rules.
POLEN, C.J., KLEIN and STEVENSON, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Belgica Nubia Cruz v. State, 822 So. 2d 595 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002)…t be waived and that she could not appear through counsel. Accordingly, there appears to be no legal basis for issuance of the capias and it is hereby quashed. Reynolds v. State, 696 So. 2d 1275 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997) (emphasis added); Stout v. State, 795 So. 2d 227 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001); Lynch v. State, 736 So. 2d 1221 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999); see also Kearse v. State, 770 So. 2d 1119, 1125 (Fla.2000), cert. denied, 532 U.S. 945, 121 S.Ct. 1411, 149 L.Ed.2d 352 (2001). As is implicit in the Reynolds decision, the t…
-
Erick Jimenez v. State, 201 So. 3d 214 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016)…e criminal rules. See McDermott v. State, 824 So. 2d 333, 333 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002) (quashing the issued capias and directing the trial court to accept the defendant’s written waiver of appearance in accordance with the criminal rules); Stout v. State, 795 So. 2d 227, 228 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001) (requiring the trial court to accept the petitioner’s written waiver of appearance); Lynch v. State, 736 So. 2d 1221, [*217] 1221 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) (“[T]he mandatory appearance language [stating Tour appearance is mandator…
-
McDERMOTT v. State, 824 So. 2d 333 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002)…confession of error, and our own review of the record, we grant the petition for writ of mandamus, and direct the trial court to accept the petitioner’s written waiver in accordance with Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.180. See Stout v. State, 795 So. 2d 227 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001), citing Lynch v. State, 736 So. 2d 1221 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999). Furthermore, since a defendant’s presence at a pretrial conference may be waived in writing, see Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.220, we find no legal basis for is…
Previewing 3 of 7 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Lynch v. State, 736 So. 2d 1221 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999)