HOMER WAYNE MITCHELL, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, 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.
Mitchell was convicted of assault with intent to murder after his motion for a sanity inquisition was denied. The appellate court reversed, holding that the trial court erred in denying the motion where the defense presented sufficient evidence of reasonable grounds to question Mitchell's competency to stand trial.
The trial court erred in denying the motion for sanity inquisition. Under Pate v. Robinson and similar precedent, when sufficient evidence is produced indicating reasonable grounds to believe the accused lacks capacity to assist in preparation of defense, the court must conduct a full hearing to determine competency. The facts here presented such reasonable grounds.
[1] A trial court must grant a motion for a sanity inquisition if sufficient evidence is produced to indicate reasonable grounds for the belief of the existence of incapacity…
[2] Allegations that an accused has been committed to a mental institution, is a drug addict, and was insane at the time of the offense and trial may constitute reasonable gr…
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“If sufficient evidence is produced to indicate reasonable grounds for the belief of existence of incapacity to assist in the preparation of a defense, the court's failure to make such inquiry is a deprival of the accused's constitutional right to a fair trial.”
States the controlling constitutional standard from Pate v. Robinson requiring courts to hold competency hearings when reasonable grounds exist
Previewing 1 of 2 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMitchell was charged with two counts of assault with intent to murder involving different victims allegedly occurring the same night. Approximately th…
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 Constitutional Right To A Fair Trial cases and more on FLexlaw
BOARDMAN, Judge.
Appellant, Homer Wayne Mitchell, was charged in two separate informations with assault with intent to murder. The offenses involved different victims and allegedly occurred on the same night. In due course the cases were scheduled for trial. Approximately three days prior to the date case number 73-417 was to be tried, counsel for appellant filed motions for continuance and for sanity inquisition. The trial court, after proper hearing, denied the appellant’s motions. Subsequently, at a second hearing on the same motions, the trial court granted the motion for continuance and again denied appellant’s motion for sanity inquisition.
Appellant was tried by jury and found guilty as charged. He was sentenced to a term of 15 years in the state prison.
Appellant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a sanity inquisition. The grounds in support of the motion were (1) that the appellant was unable to recall anything about the incidents under which he was charged, and so could not assist counsel in his defense, (2) that counsel had recently been advised by appellant that he had previously received treatment in a mental institution, and (3) that they had recently discovered that appellant had been indicted for first-degree murder in Texas.
At the hearing on the motion, the appellant’s counsel informed the judge that the appellant couldn’t give any information whatsoever concerning the events with which the appellant had been charged. Counsel further stated that appellant was “. . .a little bit spacey, very nervous and up tight. . . .’’In denying the motion the trial judge stated:
I would have to have indication, substantially a strong probability that he was either not able to go to trial, or that he was unable to distinguish between right and wrong on the date of the offense. .
If sufficient evidence is produced to indicate reasonable grounds for the belief of existence of incapacity to assist in the preparation of a defense, the court’s failure to make such inquiry is a deprival of the accused’s constitutional right to a fair trial. Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S. 375, 86 S.Ct. 836, 15 L.Ed.2d 815 (1966).
In Pedrero v. State, Fla.App.2nd, 1972, 262 So. 2d 737, it was held to be error, under the circumstances presented, to deny a mental examination to determine competency to stand trial. The facts in the cited case are very similar to the facts in the case at bar.. The allegations therein were that the accused had been committed to a mental institution in the past, that he was a drug addict, and that he was insane at the time of the offense and the time of trial. The allegations in Pedrero, supra, were held to state “reasonable grounds” for belief of insanity as required by CrPR 3.-210(a), 33 F.S.A. Accordingly, we follow the procedure set forth in Pedrero in which this court adopted the method outlined by the Supreme Court of Florida in Fowler v. State, Fla.1971, 255 So. 2d 513. Therefore, we remand this case to the trial court with the same instructions contained in Pedrero, i. e., to conduct a full hearing as required by CrPR 3.210(a) to determine the appellant’s claim of insanity at the time of trial.
HOBSON, Acting C. J., and Mc-NULTY, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Walker v. State, 384 So. 2d 730 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980)…niformly involved records where defense counsel presented something more than a bare or vague assertion of incompetency. See, e. g., Pedrero v. State, 262 So. 2d 737 (Fla. 2d DCA 1972), on remand 271 So. 2d 201 (Fla. 2d DCA 1973); Mitchell v. State, 289 So. 2d 418 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974), on remand 311 So. 2d 181 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975); Meeks v. State, 289 So. 2d 479 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974); Boggs v. State, 375 So. 2d 604 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979). Support for this position can also be found in Federal decisions dealing with the…
-
Mitchell v. State, 311 So. 2d 181 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975)…BOARDMAN, Judge. In our original opinion filed in this case (Fla.App.2d, 1974, 289 So. 2d 418) we remanded the cause to the Circuit Court of Pinellas County (trial court) with directions to determine, according to RCrP 3.-210(a), whether appellant was mentally competent at the time of his trial. Subsequently, the trial court carried out our…
Authorities Cited
- Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S. 375 (U.S. 1966)
- Fowler v. State, 255 So. 2d 513 (Fla. 1971)
- Pedrero v. State, 262 So. 2d 737 (Fla. 2d DCA 1972)