TOM BRUCE TRIMBLE, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Due process requires legal counsel for an insolvent defendant at the time sentence is imposed.
Appellant was represented by counsel throughout proceedings except for sentencing. He appeals the denial of his motion to vacate the judgment and sent…
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The appellant takes an appeal from an order denying his motion to vacate judgment and sentence under Criminal Procedure Rule No. 1 F.S.A. ch. 924 Appendix. Having been represented by counsel at all stages of his proceedings except sentencing, the only question raised is whether the appellant was entitled to be represented by counsel at the time sentence was imposed.
This court, in the case of Evans v. State, Fla.App.1964, 163 So.2d 520, through Judge Smith, stated:
“• * * * The prevailing view among the state courts is that the defendant in a criminal case should be represented by counsel at the time of sentence. Annotation, 20 A.L.R.2d 1240. Although there are numerous decisions to the contrary, most of them were rendered long before the United States Supreme Court decided the Gideon case, supra. We conclude that due process of law requires that an insolvent defendant in a felony case be represented by legal counsel at the time sentence is imposed upon him.”
As was pointed out in the Evans case, supra, lack of counsel at sentencing does not vitiate the judgment entered, but only the sentence. That portion of the order which imposes the sentence is reversed and the cause is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
Affirmed in part and reversed in part.
ALLEN, Acting C. J., and SHANNON and WHITE, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Randall v. State, 188 So. 2d 334 (Fla. 2d DCA 1966)…of post-conviction relief with directions that the lower court grant the motion, set aside the sentence, and bring the defendant before that court for re-sentencing. This appears to be the procedure later followed in Trimble v. State, Fla.App.1965, 170 So. 2d 452. These cases all seem to say that even if an indigent defendant is sentenced without counsel or without waiving the right to counsel, a conviction obtained when counsel was present at all critical stages is not invalidated; but that the sentence is…
Authorities Cited
- Evans v. State, 163 So. 2d 520 (Fla. 2d DCA 1964)