J.C., A CHILD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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 court held that a defendant has a constitutional right to be present at a restitution hearing, and it is error to proceed in their absence without a knowing and voluntary waiver.
J.C. appealed a trial court's restitution order, contending the hearing was conducted in her absence. The record showed J.C. was in custody, then in a…
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 Notice Of Hearing cases and more on FLexlaw
J.C. appeals the trial court’s restitution order. She contends that the trial court erred by conducting the restitution hearing in her absence. We agree and reverse.
A defendant has the constitutional right to be present at all stages of a criminal proceeding, including a restitution hearing. Coney v. State, 653 So.2d 1009, 1013 (Fla.1995). “[U]nless the State can show that a defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to be present at his restitution hearing, it is error to proceed in his absence.” Baker v. State, 979 So.2d 453, 455 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008). A defendant’s waiver of the right to be present may be express, or it may be implied from the defendant’s voluntary absence. Capuzzo v. State, 596 So.2d 438, 439-40 (Fla.1992). In order for a defendant to voluntarily absent himself from a hearing, a defendant must have had notice of the hearing and intentionally avoided it or left the court during the proceeding. Id. at 440.
Here, no competent substantial evidence exists to show that J.C. voluntarily absented herself from the restitution hearing. The record does not reflect that J.C. received notice the first time the hearing was set. The second time the hearing was set, J.C. was in custody in an adjacent county and no transport order was issued. The last time the hearing was set, J.C. was in a residential drug treatment program. While these delays crowded the court’s docket and unnecessarily wasted valuable court time, we cannot conclude that J.C.’s absence was voluntary or an intentional waiver of her right to be present.
Accordingly, we reverse the restitution order and remand for a new hearing.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
SAWAYA, ORFINGER and TORPY, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Elmer v. State, 140 So. 3d 1132 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014)…estitution hearing without determining if Elmer’s waiver of presence was knowing, intelligent and voluntary. Defendants have a constitutional right to be present at all stages of a criminal proceedings, including restitution hearings. J.C. v. State, 1 So. 3d 1196, 1197 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009). The State has the burden to show that the defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to be present, either by an express waiver or as implied by the circumstances of his voluntary absence. Id. Although a defendan…
-
C.A.M. v. State, 24 So. 3d 1274 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)…t present for the first session of a two-part restitution hearing, and because there is nothing in the record to suggest a voluntary and intelligent waiver of his right to attend, the juvenile is entitled to a new restitution hearing. J.C. v. State, 1 So. 3d 1196 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009); I.M. v. State, 955 So. 2d 1163 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007). In addition, the record contains no determination by the trial court that the restitution amount did “not exceed an amount the child and the parent or guardian could reasonab…
Authorities Cited
- Coney v. State, 653 So. 2d 1009 (Fla. 1995)
- Capuzzo v. State, 596 So. 2d 438 (Fla. 1992)
- Baker v. State, 979 So. 2d 453 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)