STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
GARY WAYNE GUNDELL, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1974-07-09
No. U-291
RAWLS, C. J., and JOHNSON, J., concur., SPECTOR, J., dissents.
298 So. 2d 504 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1974) 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

Florida appealed the dismissal of criminal charges against Gundell for LSD sale and possession based on a speedy trial violation. The court affirmed the dismissal, reinterpreting the defendant's motion as a habeas corpus petition after finding his initial speedy trial demand premature.


Holding

The court held that the initial speedy trial demand was premature and filed before formal charges, but affirmed the dismissal by reinterpreting the defendant's subsequent pro se motion to dismiss as a habeas corpus petition, which provided an independent basis for the trial court's order of release.


Headnotes

[1] A demand for a speedy trial under Rule 3.191(a)(2) is a nullity if filed before the defendant has been formally charged by indictment or information.

[2] A pro se motion to dismiss charges for lack of speedy trial may be construed as a petition for writ of habeas corpus.

Previewing 2 of 3 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

Key Quotes

“a demand for speedy trial within 60 days may only be filed by a criminal defendant after he has been formally charged with a crime by indictment or information”

States the legal rule that Gundell's initial speedy trial demand was premature

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Gundell was arrested on July 13, 1973, and filed a motion for speedy trial on July 24, 1973. A direct information charging him with sale and possessio…

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.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

This appeal by the State seeks reversal of the trial court’s order dismissing all criminal charges against appellee because of the failure to afford him a speedy trial in accordance with Criminal Procedure Rule 3.191, 33 F.S.A. The only relevant facts of this case are that appellee was arrested on July 13, 1973, and incarcerated in the Volusia County Jail. On July 24, 1973, appellee filed a motion for speedy trial. On August 20, 1973, 38 days after h'is arrest, a direct information was filed charging appellee with the crimes of sale and possession of LSD. On October 2, 1973, seventy (70) days after his demand, appellee filed a pro se motion to dismiss the charges pending against him, claiming lack of a speedy trial. On October 10, 1973, after a hearing, the trial court ordered that all criminal charges against appellee be dismissed “for the reason that the Defendant has not been afforded his right to a Speedy Trial as set forth in Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.191(a)(2).”

The State contends that the demand for a speedy trial filed by appellee was a nullity inasmuch as the demand was filed thirty-one days before appellee was charged by an information. Various cases are cited by the State starting with State ex. rel. Hanks v. Goodman, 253 So. 2d 129 (Fla.1971), for the proposition that a demand for speedy trial within 60 days may only be filed by a criminal defendant after he has been formally charged with a crime by indictment or information. We are bound by these pronouncements and, thus, insofar as the trial judge construed the motion for speedy trial to have been timely made, we must hold that he erred.

However, in accordance with the opinion of this Court written by Judge Boyer in State v. Hill, 299 So. 2d 625 (dated June 18, 1974), we hereby construe the motion for discharge filed by the defendant in proper person (which followed the motion for speedy trial) as a petition for writ of ha- beas corpus. We therefore cannot say, in light of the facts before us, that the trial judge erred in his ultimate disposition of this case — ordering the release and discharge of the appellee.

Accordingly, the order appealed herein is affirmed.

RAWLS, C. J., and JOHNSON, J., concur. SPECTOR, J., dissents.

Dissent
SPECTOR, Judge

SPECTOR, Judge

(dissenting):

I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion herein.

In Turner v. State ex rel. Pellerin, 272 So. 2d 129, the Supreme Court held that a motion for speedy trial must be made after an information or indictment has been filed in order to put into operation the 60-day trial requirement. As authority for that interpretation of the speedy trial rule, the Supreme Court cited its decision in Hanks v. Goodman, 253 So. 2d 129. Hanks was also cited in Pellerin for the requirement that in any event a motion for speedy trial must be bona fide in that the movant must actually be ready to go to trial.

After restating its holding in Hanks, the court concluded by further holding that the filing of a discovery motion after the filing of the speedy trial constituted “the antithesis of ‘a bona fide desire to obtain trial’ . . . ” In brief, Pellerin stands for the proposition that the filing of discovery motions negates the requirement of the speedy trial rule that an accused who has filed a speedy trial motion “is available for trial, has diligently investigated his case, and that he is [or will be] prepared for trial.” Pellerin, supra, at page 130.

Applying the interpretation accorded to the speedy trial rule in the cited cases, I think we are required to hold that appel-lee’s pro se motion for speedy trial was a sham and a nullity, and the representation that appellee was ready to go to trial inherent therein was negated by the discovery motion later filed by his appointed defense attorney.

I would reverse the trial court and reinstate the charges against the appellee.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Gundell, 315 So. 2d 450 (Fla. 1975)
    …PER CURIAM. By petition for a writ of certiorari we are asked to review a decision of the First District Court of Appeal, reported at 298 So. 2d 504, construing the so-called “speedy trial” rule set forth in Rule 3.191(a)(2), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, and exercising the power of habeas corpus. We accepted jurisdiction based on direct conflict with our recent decision in State v. Hill,…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw