STATE OF FLORIDA EX REL. ROBERT SHIRLEY OWENS, APPELLANT,
v.
ROSS E. BOYER, SHERIFF, 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.
In this extradition case, Florida District Court of Appeal reversed the lower court's discharge order and held that a rendition warrant for extradition must be evaluated for sufficiency as of the time of arrest based on documents actually attached or recited, not documents obtained later. Owens was unlawfully arrested under an insufficient rendition warrant that failed to establish the affidavit was made before a committing magistrate as required by Florida law.
A rendition warrant must be evaluated for sufficiency as of the time of arrest. The warrant must either recite the substance of jurisdictional facts or have documents annexed that establish those facts at the time of execution. Here, the warrant failed to state the affidavit was made before a committing magistrate, and no documents were attached at arrest, so Owens was unlawfully arrested and entitled to discharge.
“The sufficiency of a rendition warrant must be determined as of the time of the arrest.”
Establishes the critical temporal standard for evaluating whether a rendition warrant contains sufficient jurisdictional facts.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRobert Shirley Owens was arrested in Florida pursuant to a rendition warrant issued by the Florida Governor in response to Virginia's demand for extra…
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 Fugitive From Justice cases and more on FLexlaw
Robert Shirley Owens appeals from an order discharging a writ of habeas corpus and remanding him to the custody of Sheriff Ross E. Boyer.
Appellant was taken into custody pursuant to a rendition warrant issued by the Governor of the State of Florida. The relevant portion of the warrant reads as follows:
“WHEREAS, The Executive authority of the State of Virginia has demanded of the Executive authority of the State of Florida the delivery and surrender of the body of Robert Shirley Owens as a fugitive from justice from said State of Virginia to said State of Florida, and has produced and filed with the Executive authority of said State of Florida to which said State Robert Shirley Owens has fled from the State of Virginia a copy of Demand, Affidavit, Warrant and Allied Papers charging the said person so demanded with having committed in said State of Virginia against the laws of said State of Virginia the crime of Grand Larceny and which is certified as authentic by the Executive of said State of Virginia:
“NOW, THEREFORE, This is to command you to apprehend and arrest the body of the said Robert Shirley Owens * *
No papers were attached to the warrant at the time of appellant’s arrest.
*31At the habeas corpus proceedings below appellant contended, inter alia, that the rendition warrant was insufficient in that it failed to show that the affidavit referred to therein had been made before a committing magistrate of the demanding State. Prior to such proceedings, however, appellant’s attorney had obtained the documents referred to in the rendition warrant and had attached them to appellant’s petition. Consequently, all the documents from Virginia, including the affidavit (which showed that it in fact had been made before a committing magistrate), appeared in the record before the court below. The court held that the fact that such documents appeared in the record as of the time of the proceedings was sufficient.
The sufficiency of a rendition warrant must be determined as of the time of the arrest. See Kelly v. State ex rel. Rosenthal, Fla.App.1963, 149 So.2d 85, 86, cert. denied mem., Fla.1963, 155 So.2d 616. It must either recite the substance of the jurisdictional facts which authorize its execution and issuance or must have annexed to it the documents from the demanding State which clearly establish such jurisdictional facts. Kelly v. State ex rel. Rosenthal, supra at 86; see State ex rel. Peck v. Chase, 1926, 91 Fla. 413, 419-420, 107 So. 541, 543. Once such jurisdictional requirement is that the demand for extradition, in lieu of an accompanying indictment or of an information supported by affidavit, be accompanied by a warrant supported by an affidavit made before a committing magistrate of the demanding State. Fla.Stat., Sec. 941.03, F.S.A. (1965).
As indicated by the rendition warrant here assailed, the demand from Virginia for appellant’s extradition was accompanied by a warrant and an affidavit and not by an indictment or information. Accordingly, such affidavit was required to have been made before a committing magistrate. The rendition warrant failed to state that the affidavit had been so made, and, at the time of appellant’s apprehension, there were no documents annexed to it which would have established such fact. Consequently, appellant was unlawfully arrested and detained and was entitled to be discharged from appellee’s custody upon the writ of habeas corpus.
The order here appealed is reversed and the cause remanded for the entry of an order discharging appellant from appellee’s custody.
Reversed and remanded.
ALLEN, Acting C. J., SHANNON, J., and SMITH, CULVER, Associate Judge, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Bonazzo v. Michell, 221 So. 2d 186 (Fla. 4th DCA 1969)…67. . Crusoe v. State, Fla.App.1966, 183 So. 2d 600; People v. Hamm, 1957, 5 A.D.2d 696, 169 N.Y.S.2d 513, aff’d 1958, 5 N.Y.2d 803, 181 N.Y.S.2d 201, 155 N.E. 2d 114. . F.S.1967, Section 941.03, F.S.A.; State ex rel. Owens v. Boyer, Fla.App.1968, 207 So. 2d 29; Rion v Purdy, Fla.App.1968, 212 So. 2d 304.…
-
Shufty v. State, 419 So. 2d 1171 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982)…03, Florida Statutes (1981), a copy of a warrant supported by an affidavit made before a committing magistrate of the demanding state shall be recognized in lieu of an authenticated copy of an indictment or information. State ex rel. Owens v. Boyer, 207 So. 2d 29 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968). Furthermore, since the provisions of the statute were correctly followed here, we hold that the denial of appellant’s petition for writ of habeas corpus was proper. Affirmed. OTT, C. J., and RYDER and CAMPBELL, JJ., concur.…
-
Meleah E. France v. Grady Judd, 932 So. 2d 1263 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006)…urse, the filing of the amended affidavit did not cure the other deficiencies discussed herein. In any event, the new information was not known to the deputy at the time of France’s arrest, and it cannot retroactively justify it. See Owens v. Boyer, 207 So. 2d 29, 31 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968) (holding that the [*1268] sufficiency of a rendition warrant must be determined at the time of the arrest, and rejecting lower court’s reasoning that subsequent submission of omitted information cured defect in the warrant so…
Authorities Cited
- State of Fla. ex rel v. Chase, 91 Fla. 413 (Fla. 1926)
- Kelly v. State of Fla. ex rel. Frank Larry Rosenthal, 149 So. 2d 85 (Fla. 3d DCA 1963)
- Vesta Corp. v. McGAHA, 155 So. 2d 616 (Fla. 1963)
- Arrington v. Arrington, 155 So. 2d 616 (Fla. 1963)