STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
JORGE JESUS LEON, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2007-10-31
No. 4D07-1003
GUNTHER, WARNER and GROSS, JJ., concur.
967 So. 2d 437 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2007) Positive Treatment
Cited by 11 cases


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The State charged the defendant, Jorge Jesus Leon, with bigamy in violation of section 826.01, Florida Statutes. Although another assistant state attorney was in attendance, when the filing attorney for the State failed to appear as ordered by the trial court, the trial court sua sponte entered an order of dismissal dismissing the case without prejudice and concluding that the State wasted the court’s time and acted in bad faith in initiating the prosecution. The State appeals the order of dismissal. The defendant concedes error and we agree that reversal is required because the trial court’s action in dismissing the case was an abuse of discretion and constituted an improper infringement upon the State’s discretion to prosecute. State v. Wheeler, 745 So. 2d 1094, 1096 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). Therefore, we reverse and remand for reinstatement of the bigamy charge against the defendant.

Revereed and Remanded.

GUNTHER, WARNER and GROSS, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (11 total)

  • State v. Brosky, 79 So. 3d 134 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012)
    …n whether to prosecute or to dismiss charges is a determination to be made by solely the State. State v. Bonnett, 985 So. 2d 1194 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (finding dismissal of charges as sanction for State’s behavior was reversible error); State v. Leon, 967 So. 2d 437, 437 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) (“[W]e agree that reversal is required because the trial court’s action in dismissing the case was an abuse of discretion and constituted an improper infringement upon the State’s discretion to prosecute.”); Dawson v. State,…
  • State v. Trisha Nicole Bonnett, 985 So. 2d 1194 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008)
    …the appellee. See State v. T.H., 592 So. 2d 759, 760 (Fla. 5th DCA, 1992) (citing State v. Del Gaudio, 445 So. 2d 605, 608 (Fla. 3d DCA) rev. denied, 453 So. 2d 45 (Fla.1984)). State v. L.E., 754 So. 2d 60, 61 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000); see State v. Leon, 967 So. 2d 437, 437 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) (“[W]e agree that reversal is required because the trial court’s action in dismissing the case was an abuse of discretion and constituted an improper infringement upon the State’s discretion to prosecute.”); Dawson v. State,…
  • State v. C.W., 166 So. 3d 950 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)
    …State v. D.W., 821 So. 2d 1179, 1180 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002) (“The trial court may adjudicate only those issues or questions which are properly placed before the court, such as occurs when the defendant files a sworn motion to dismiss.”); State v. Leon, 967 So. 2d 437 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007). Additionally, the trial court’s sua sponte dismissal of the case encroached upon the State’s discretion to prosecute. Leon, 967 So. 2d at 437. We have previously instructed that “it is the state attorney, not the trial court[],…

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