ANTHONY WILLIAMS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court reversed a trial court's finding of no probable cause to release a sexually violent offender from civil commitment, holding that the trial court improperly weighed evidence rather than analyzing sufficiency of the committed person's evidence alone at the probable cause hearing.
At a limited probable cause hearing under section 394.918(3), the trial court must base its probable cause determination solely on the sufficiency of evidence presented by the committed person, without weighing that evidence against evidence presented by the State.
[1] At a limited probable cause hearing under section 394.918(3) for release from civil commitment as a sexually violent offender, the trial court must determine probable cau…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“if the committed person presents evidence supporting release at a limited probable cause hearing, the trial court considers only that evidence to determine probable cause; it does not weigh the evidence against any information from the Florida Civil Commitment Center or other evidence presented by the State”
Explaining the proper standard for probable cause determination at limited hearings under section 394.918(3)
Anthony Williams, civilly committed as a sexually violent offender under Florida's sexually violent predator statute, sought release and presented evi…
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Anthony Williams appeals an order finding no probable cause to release him from his involuntary civil commitment as a sexually violent offender pursuant to sections 394.910-.932, Florida Statutes (2010). Finding that he met his burden of proof at the limited probable cause hearing held pursuant to section 394.918(3), we reverse the trial court’s order and remand for trial held pursuant to section 394.918(4).
Probable cause is a question of law subject to de novo review. Pagan v. State, 830 So.2d 792, 806 (Fla.2002). In determining whether a petitioner has met the burden of proof to establish probable cause, the court should base its decision “upon an analysis of the sufficiency of the evidence presented, rather than by weighing the evidence presented by both parties .... ” Westerheide v. State, 888 So.2d 702, 706 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004). In other words, if the committed person presents evidence supporting release at a limited probable cause hearing, the trial court considers only that evidence to determine probable cause; it does not weigh the evidence against any information from the Florida Civil Commitment Center or other evidence presented by the State. In re Commitment of Allen, 927 So.2d 1070, 1074 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006).
Having considered this matter de novo, we reverse the order finding no probable cause and remand for a trial under section 394.918(4).
REVERSED and REMANDED.
ORFINGER, C.J., PALMER and JACOBUS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Spivey v. State, 100 So. 3d 1254 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012)…e program. The report concluded that Spivey was unlikely to engage in acts of exhibi-tionistic behavior if discharged in the community. This report is adequate to establish probable cause and to entitle Spivey to a trial. See also Williams v. State, 92 So. 3d 288 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012); Chukes v. State, 90 So. 3d 950 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012). REVERSED and REMANDED. SAWAYA and PALMER, JJ., concur.…
Authorities Cited
- Pagan v. State, 830 So. 2d 792 (Fla. 2002)
- Westerheide v. State, 888 So. 2d 702 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)
- Burgal v. State, 888 So. 2d 702 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004)
- In re Commitment OF Stephen Allen. Stephen Allen v. State, 927 So. 2d 1070 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006)