JUAN OSPINA MENDOZA, PETITIONER,
v.
RAY CROSS, ETC., ET AL., RESPONDENTS

Fla. 3d DCA | 2014-08-07
No. 3D14-1863
Before SHEPHERD, C.J., and SUAREZ and EMAS, JJ.
143 So. 3d 1155 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2014) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Holding

The trial court erred by failing to make the necessary findings required by statute to justify pretrial detention, even after the defendant willfully violated a condition of release.


Headnotes

[1] A defendant may not be held without bond solely upon a finding that the defendant willfully violated a condition of pretrial release by failing to appear.

[2] A trial court must make an additional finding that no conditions of release can reasonably protect the community from risk of physical harm to persons or assure the prese…

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Facts & Procedural History

Juan Mendoza failed to appear for his trial and a subsequent bond hearing. The trial court denied his motion to set bond, finding his failure to appea…

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Opinion of the Court
EMAS, J.

EMAS, J.

While out of custody on bond, Juan Mendoza failed to appear for his trial on June 23, 2014. The trial court estreated his bond and issued a warrant for his arrest.

Mendoza’s attorney thereafter filed a motion to quash the warrant, asserting that Mendoza failed to appear that day because he overslept. A hearing was scheduled on that motion for June 27, but Mendoza failed to appear at that hearing. It was later rescheduled for July 2. Prior to July 2, however, Mendoza was arrested in Hernando County on the outstanding warrant, and thereafter held without bond.

Mendoza hired new counsel who filed a motion to set bond, which was heard before the trial judge. At that hearing, the trial judge determined that Mendoza’s failure to appear for trial based on having overslept was willful, denied the motion to set bond, and continued to hold Mendoza in custody and without bond pending trial.

Mendoza filed the instant petition for writ of habeas corpus, contending that the trial court failed to make the necessary findings and determination that there were no reasonable conditions of pretrial release to protect the community from risk of physical harm to person and to assure Mendoza’s appearance in court. We agree.

A review of the transcript reveals that, although the trial court did make a finding that Mendoza wilfully violated a condition of pretrial release by his failure to appear for trial, it failed to make the additional *1157finding required under section 907.041(4), which provides in pertinent part:

(c) The court may order pretrial detention if it finds a substantial probability, based on a defendant’s past and present patterns of behavior, the criteria in s. 903.046, and any other relevant facts, that any of the following circumstances exists:
7. The defendant has violated one or more conditions of pretrial release or bond for the offense currently before the court and the violation, in the discretion of the court, supports a finding that no conditions of release can reasonably protect the community from risk of physical harm to persons or assure the presence of the accused at trial.

§ 904.071(4)(c)7., Fla. Stat. (2014). See also Art. I, § 14, Fla. Const.; Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.131(a).

A defendant may not be held without bond (i.e., pretrial detention) upon the sole finding that the defendant violated a condition of pretrial release by willfully failing to appear. Rather the trial court must make the additional finding that no conditions of release can reasonably protect the community from risk of physical harm to persons or assure the presence of the defendant at trial. State v. Blair, 39 So.3d 1190 (Fla.2010).

We decline to adopt the State’s view that this judicial determination may be implied from the transcript,1 especially given the constitutional dimension of an accused’s right to pretrial release.2 Moreover, the trial court’s “pretrial detention order shall be based solely on evidence produced at the hearing and shall contain findings of fact and conclusions of law to support it. The order shall be made either in writing or orally on the record.” Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.132(c)(2) (emphasis added). Finally, even if we were so inclined, a review of the transcript reveals no such implied determination.

We therefore grant the petition, withhold formal issuance of the writ, and direct the trial court to immediately conduct a hearing and for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. This opinion shall become effective immediately, notwithstanding the filing of any motion for rehearing.

Petition granted.


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