TYSHEONA SMITH, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA AND CORNITA A. RILEY, AS CHIEF OF ORANGE COUNTY CORRECTIONS, RESPONDENTS.
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Tysheona Smith, found incompetent to proceed and arrested on new charges while on conditional release, petitioned for habeas corpus to challenge her pretrial detention. The court granted the petition, holding that when an incompetent defendant on conditional release commits a new offense, the trial court may only modify release conditions or involuntarily commit the defendant—not detain them pending commitment evaluation.
The trial court lacks authority to detain an incompetent defendant pending involuntary commitment determination. Under Florida Statute § 916.17(2), the trial court has only two options: modify the conditions of release or involuntarily commit the defendant to the Department of Children and Family Services.
[1] A trial court lacks a basis to order a defendant detained pending a determination of eligibility for involuntary commitment when insufficient evidence exists to support s…
[2] Following an adjudication of incompetence and conditional release, a defendant arrested for a new offense can only have their conditional release modified or be involunta…
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“[W]here... a defendant has been found incompetent to proceed and is then released upon conditions and commits a new offense, section 916.17(2)[,Florida Statutes,] leaves the trial judge with only two options: modify the conditions of release or involuntarily commit the defendant to DCFS for treatment.”
Establishes the exclusive statutory options available to trial courts when incompetent defendants on conditional release commit new offenses.
Previewing 1 of 2 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSmith was charged with drug possession offenses in October 2017, evaluated by three experts who all found her incompetent, and adjudicated incompetent…
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Tysheona Smith, an incompetent defendant, petitions for a writ of habeas corpus seeking immediate release from the Orange County jail. Because the trial court had no basis to order Petitioner detained until it could make a determination as to whether Smith qualified for involuntary commitment, we grant the petition.
In October 2017, Smith was charged with possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was evaluated *78for competency by three experts between October 2017 and January 2018. Each concluded that she was incompetent. Thereafter, on February 16, 2018, Smith was adjudicated incompetent to proceed and placed on conditional release.
On April 24, 2018, Petitioner was arrested again and charged with possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. On May 7, 2018, the trial court adjudicated Smith incompetent to proceed based on the prior adjudication and denied conditional release. The court then ordered two of the experts that had already examined Smith to reexamine her for the purpose of determining whether she meets the criteria for involuntary hospitalization.
"[W]here... a defendant has been found incompetent to proceed and is then released upon conditions and commits a new offense, section 916.17(2)[,Florida Statutes,] leaves the trial judge with only two options: modify the conditions of release or involuntarily commit the defendant to DCFS for treatment." Douse v. State, 930 So.2d 838, 839 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) ; accord Paolercio v. State, 129 So.3d 1174, 1175-76 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014) (citing Douse, 930 So.2d at 839 ). Here, because there was insufficient evidence at the time Smith was detained for the trial court to find that she qualified for involuntary commitment, the only other option was to release her with the appropriate conditions. See § 916.13(1), Fla. Stat. (2017).
Therefore, we grant the petition and direct the trial court to hold an immediate hearing to determine whether Smith's release conditions should be modified or remain the same. If the experts have already completed the reexaminations and rendered reports, the trial court should hold an immediate hearing to make the appropriate determination under section 916.17(2).
PETITION GRANTED.
SAWAYA, BERGER and EDWARDS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Titus O. Dodd v. State of Fla. & Cornita A. Riley as Chief of Orange Cnty. Corr., 259 So. 3d 311 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018)
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Titus Onesimus Dodd v. State of Fla. & Louis A. Quinones, JR., 304 So. 3d 809 (Fla. 5th DCA 2020)…. That evaluation determined Petitioner was not competent to proceed, but did not meet the criteria for involuntary commitment. Petitioner then filed another motion for conditional release which the trial court denied. As we said in Smith v. State, 247 So. 3d 77, 78 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018): 2 “[W]here . . . a defendant has been found incompetent to proceed and is then released upon conditions and commits a new offense, section 916.17(2)[, Florida Statutes,] leaves the trial judge with only two options: modify t…
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Pagan v. State of Fla. & Wayne Ivey (Fla. 5th DCA 2022)
Authorities Cited
- Douse v. State, 930 So. 2d 838 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)
- Paolercio v. State, 129 So. 3d 1174 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014)