STATE OF FLORIDA EX REL. RUDOLPH VALENTINE LEE, PETITIONER,
v.
HONORABLE FRANK H. ELMORE, AS ONE OF THE JUDGES OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FOURTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR DUVAL COUNTY, FLORIDA, RESPONDENT

Fla. 1st DCA | 1972-06-15
No. R-268
WIGGINTON and CARROLL, DON ALD K., JJ., concur.
263 So. 2d 254 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1972) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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.

Synopsis

In this original action for prohibition, petitioner Lee sought to prevent his murder trial, arguing he was entitled to discharge because he was not tried during the term in which his indictment was filed. The court held that Section 907.055, Florida Statutes, does not authorize discharge for failure to try a defendant within the term of indictment, and that adequate protection is provided by Florida's speedy trial rule.


Holding

Section 907.055 does not entitle a defendant to discharge merely because he was not tried during the term in which the indictment was filed. The statute contains no language authorizing discharge, unlike Florida's speedy trial rule. Relief for delays in trial is adequately provided by the speedy trial rule and a defendant's right to file a motion requesting expedited trial.


Headnotes

[1] A statute requiring trial during the term an indictment is filed does not entitle a defendant to discharge if not tried within that term, absent language analogous to spe…

[2] The Florida speedy trial rule, Rule 3.191, provides ample relief by setting maximum time periods for trial and allowing defendants to expedite their trials by filing a mo…

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Key Quotes

“There is no merit to petitioner's contention that he is entitled to be discharged because he was not tried during the term when his murder indictment was filed. A minute examination of the statute upon which he relies fails to reflect language entitling petitioner to be discharged from the crime with which he is charged.”

Establishes the core holding that Section 907.055 lacks discharge language

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Facts & Procedural History

Rudolph Valentine Lee was indicted by the Duval County Grand Jury on March 10, 1972, for first-degree murder in the death of Edward James Parker, alle…

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Opinion of the Court
SPECTOR, Chief Judge.

SPECTOR, Chief Judge.

This is an original action wherein petitioner, Rudolph Valentine Lee, seeks a writ of prohibition restraining the respondent Circuit Judge from exercising any jurisdiction with respect to the charges brought against petitioner by that certain indictment returned by the Duval County Grand Jury on March 10, 1972, charging petitioner with murder in the first degree.

Said indictment charges that the petitioner on February 6, 1972, unlawfully and from a premeditated design to effect the death of Edward James Parker did kill the said Edward James Parker by shooting him to death with a pistol.

In support of his petition, Rudolph Valentine Lee relies upon the provisions of Section 907.055, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., which provides as follows:

“A defendant who is in custody when an indictment or information for a felony is filed shall be arraigned and tried during the term when the indictment or information is filed unless good cause is shown for a continuance.”

In Duval County, the Fall Term begins on the first Monday in November, and the Spring Term begins on the first Monday in May. Thus, petitioner was indicted during the Fall Term of 1971. Petitioner con*255tends that by operation of the provisions of Section 907.055, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., it was incumbent upon the State to try him on the charges brought during the term in which the indictment was filed, that is, before the end of the Fall Term of 1971 which ended the day before the first Monday in May of 1972 when the Spring Term began.

There is no merit to petitioner’s contention that he is entitled to be discharged because he was not tried during the term when his murder indictment was filed. A minute examination of the statute upon which he relies fails to reflect language entitling petitioner to be discharged from the crime with which he is charged. The trial court’s interpretation of the statute is correct. Unlike the speedy trial rule adopted by the Florida Supreme Court, Rule 3.191, 33 F.S.A., the subject statute does not contain language analogous to that found in the rule which states: “Upon motion timely filed with the court having jurisdiction and served upon the prosecuting attorney (the defendant shall) be forever discharged from the crime; . . . ”

In Gagnon v. State, 243 So.2d 219 (Fla.App.1971), cert. denied 246 So.2d 113, the court refused to give Section 909.23, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., the precursor of 907.-055, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., the effect sought by petitioner. Although the contention that a person was entitled to be discharged if not tried within the term during which the indictment was filed had not been timely raised in Gagnon and thus was not directly ruled upon, the court nonetheless stated that in State of Florida ex rel. Greenwood v. Goodman, 234 So.2d 181 (Fla.App.1970), it had dismissed an original proceeding for a writ of prohibition making the same argument as now urged in the instant case because the petition failed to state a prima facie case for a writ of - prohibition.

Ample relief is afforded persons charged with crimes by the speedy trial rule adopted by the Florida Supreme Court, Rule 3.-191. Maximum time periods are provided in said rule within which the State must try a person accused of crime. Moreover, the rule provides that the defendant may expedite his trial by the simple expedient of filing a motion requesting to be tried. That was not done by petitioner in this case. Accordingly, he is not entitled to be discharged.

Petition for writ of prohibition is denied.

WIGGINTON and CARROLL, DON ALD K., JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Diaz, 734 So. 2d 1082 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)
    …informa-tions against appellees should be reinstated. However, my reason differs from the majority. In my view, section 907.055, Florida Statutes (1997) is aspirational only and provides no remedy for its violation. See State ex rel. Lee v. Elmore, 263 So. 2d 254 (Fla. 1st DCA 1972).…

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