MARCUS L. BLACKMON, 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.
Blackmon appeals his guilty pleas and sentence for burglary charges. The court reversed because the trial court accepted his pleas without holding a competency hearing to determine if he had been restored to competence after being adjudicated incompetent to proceed.
The court reversed Blackmon's pleas and sentence because he remained incompetent to proceed. An individual adjudicated incompetent is presumed to remain incompetent until adjudicated restored to competence through a formal competency hearing with testimony and a written order.
[1] A person adjudicated incompetent is presumed to remain incompetent until adjudicated restored to competence.
[2] A trial court must hold a competency hearing and enter a written order finding a defendant competent to proceed before continuing against that defendant.
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“A person accused of an offense or a violation of probation or community control who is mentally incompetent to proceed at any material stage of a criminal proceeding shall not be proceeded against while incompetent.”
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.210(a) establishing the fundamental prohibition against proceeding against incompetent defendants
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBlackmon was charged with two counts of burglary of a conveyance. The trial court adjudicated him incompetent to proceed and ordered competency restor…
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 Competency To Proceed cases and more on FLexlaw
We have for review the negotiated plea agreement and sentence of the appellant, Marcus Blackmon. Blackmon argues that his pleas of guilty were improperly accepted because he was incompetent at the time. We agree and reverse.
Blackmon was charged with two counts of burglary of a conveyance. The trial court adjudicated him incompetent to proceed and ordered the Department of Chil*240dren and Families to provide competency-restoration and treatment.
At a later hearing, Blackmon entered into a negotiated plea of guilty to one count of burglary of a conveyance and one count of attempted burglary of a conveyance. Blackmon was sentenced as a habitual felony offender to one year plus one day in prison on both counts, running concurrently. Prior to entering these pleas, no hearing was held adjudicating Black-mon competent to proceed.
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.210(a) states:
A person accused of an offense or a violation of probation or community control who is mentally incompetent to proceed at any material stage of a criminal proceeding shall not be proceeded against while incompetent.
“An individual adjudicated incompetent is presumed to remain incompetent until adjudicated restored to competence.” Samson v. State, 853 So.2d 1116, 1116 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003) (citations omitted). To proceed against an incompetent defendant, the trial court must hold a competency hearing and enter a written order finding the defendant competent to proceed. See Macaluso v. State, 12 So.3d 914, 915 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009) (citations omitted).
In the present case and almost identical to the circumstances in both Ma-caluso and Samson, the trial judge did not conduct a competency hearing, did not take the testimony of any examining physicians and did not enter a written order stating that Blackmon was restored to competence. Therefore, he remained incompetent to proceed and his negotiated pleas and subsequent sentence must be reversed. See Godinez v. Moran, 509 U.S. 389, 396, 113 S.Ct. 2680, 125 L.Ed.2d 321 (1993); Catinella v. State, 732 So.2d 444, 445 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999).
Reversed and remanded for further 'proceedings consistent with this opinion.
MAY, DAMOORGIAN and CIKLIN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Bennie John Ross v. State, 155 So. 3d 1259 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015)…nding that appellant had been restored to competence, appellant was presumed incompetent to proceed at any material stage, rendering his plea invalid as a matter of law and subject to challenge for the first time on direct appeal. Blackmon v. State, 23 So. 3d 239, 240 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009); Blow v. State, 902 So. 2d 340, 342 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005); Samson v. State, 853 So. 2d 1116, 1117 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003). Because appellant had been adjudicated incompetent prior to the entry of the plea, the competency issue was…
-
Vestal v. State, 50 So. 3d 733 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010)…, 853 So. 2d 1116 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003). Thus, had Vestal been adjudicated incompetent prior to the entry of the plea, the competency issue would have been cognizable on direct appeal without a motion to withdraw plea. Id.; see also Blackmon v. State, 23 So. 3d 239 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009).…
-
Blackmon v. State, 32 So. 3d 148 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)…unts. The defendant appealed [*150] his conviction and sentence. We reversed, holding that the defendant remained incompetent to enter guilty pleas until the trial court held a hearing and adjudicated him competent to proceed. See Blackmon v. State, 23 So. 3d 239 (Fla. 4th DCÁ 2009). The appeal now before us arose from a separate case, wherein the defendant was charged with armed sexual battery, kidnapping, and unlawful activity with a minor. The defendant’s trial on these charges began on June 3, 2008, abo…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Godinez v. Moran, 509 U.S. 389 (U.S. 1993)
- Elizar Samson v. State, 853 So. 2d 1116 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)
- Catinella v. State, 732 So. 2d 444 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)
- In the Interest of D.W. v. Dep't of Child. & Fam. Servs., 12 So. 3d 914 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009)
- MacAluso v. State, 12 So. 3d 914 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)