DARNELL SMITH, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1974-11-07
No. V-331
RAWLS, C. J., and SPECTOR and JOHNSON, JJ., concur.
303 So. 2d 694 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1974) Positive Treatment
Cited by 5 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

A 17-year-old defendant charged with first-degree murder during a robbery was found competent to stand trial despite his attorney's suggestion of insanity. The defendant entered a guilty plea to murder in the first degree in exchange for a life sentence. On appeal, the defendant challenged both the denial of the insanity inquiry and the trial court's restriction on private consultation with counsel before sentencing; the appellate court affirmed the conviction.


Holding

The trial court properly denied the insanity suggestion based on the evidence that the defendant understood the difference between right and wrong and was conscious of proceedings around him, even though he displayed an indifferent attitude. The trial court did not violate the defendant's right to counsel by limiting consultation to the courtroom rather than in private, given the extensive prior consultations and the trial court's careful protection of the defendant's rights.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court may deny a suggestion of insanity if the record fully supports the court's action in denying further inquiry into the defendant's sanity.

[2] A defendant's right to counsel is not violated when the court allows consultation with counsel in the courtroom, especially after extensive prior consultations and advise…

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Key Quotes

“he is conscious of the goings-on around him; he does basically know the difference between right and wrong; he knows some things are right, and some things are wrong; but he, apparently, has adopted an I-don't-care attitude”

The trial court's finding supporting competency to stand trial, establishing the defendant understood right and wrong despite his indifference

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Facts & Procedural History

Smith, age 17, was charged with first-degree murder in the course of a robbery. His attorney suggested he was incapable of understanding the charges a…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Appellant-defendant Smith, age 17, was charged with committing first degree murder in carrying out a robbery. Appellant’s attorney suggested to the court that his client was “ . . . incapable of understanding the nature of the charges against him and of assisting his counsel in the preparation of a defense to the charges.” The trial court held a hearing during which the testimony of appellant’s parents was adduced. The gist of the parents’ testimony was summed up by the trial court in denying the suggestion, viz:

“ . . .It appears to the Court, from the testimony of the parents, and also from the testimony of this Defendant, that he is conscious of the goings-on around him; he does basically know the difference between right and wrong; he knows some things are right, and some things are wrong; but he, apparently, has adopted an I-don’t-care attitude; and his history is a history of being completely incorrigible, and incapable of managing by his parents, or by the school, or by anyone else. As he put it himself, he’s his own man, in his mind, and nobody’s got any right to tell him to do one thing, or tell him to do the other.”

Following denial of the suggestion, appellant, his parents, and his attorney conferred at length; and as a result of this conference, appellant’s attorney entered into plea bargaining with the prosecution. After extensive questioning by the court, appellant entered his plea of guilty to murder in the first degree with the understanding that the court would sentence him to life imprisonment.

Two points on appeal are posed by appellant, viz: 1) the trial court erred in denying his suggestion of insanity, and 2) his right to counsel was violated by the trial court’s failure to allow him to speak to his counsel in private prior to sentencing. As to the first point, the record fully supports the trial court’s action in denying further inquiry into appellant’s sanity. As to the second point, after extensive questioning by the trial court as to the voluntariness of his plea, and immediately preceding imposition of sentence, the appellant, in response to the court’s question as to anything he had to say that might mitigate his sentence, advised the court he would like to talk to his lawyer in private. The court advised appellant he could talk to his lawyer in the courtroom. The record discloses that appellant had conferred with his parents and lawyer for at least 45 minutes immediately prior to pleading guilty and that he was advised by his lawyer and the court of the sentence to be imposed resulting from the plea bargaining. Under these circumstances and this record which reflects the conscious concern of the trial judge for the protection of the appellant’s rights, we conclude that the second point is without merit.

The judgment appealed is affirmed.

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


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Citator

Cited By

  • Alvord v. State, 322 So. 2d 533 (Fla. 1975)
    …interpretation of the rules of evidence in the penalty hearing, whether in regard to relevance or to any other matter except illegally seized evidence. State v. Dixon, supra. See also Sullivan v. State, 303 So. 2d 632 (Fla.1974), and Smith v. State, 303 So. 2d 694 (Fla.App.1st, 1974). This testimony was properly allowed into evidence. Defendant says that the testimony relative to the Michigan prosecution for rape should have been barred under the doctrine of collateral estoppel as announced in Ashe v. Swenso…
  • Mikenas v. State, 367 So. 2d 606 (Fla. 1978)
    …interpretation of the rules of evidence in the penalty hearing, whether in regard to relevance or to any other matter except illegally seized evidence. State v. Dixon, supra. See also Sullivan v. State, 303 So. 2d 632 (Fla.1974), and Smith v. State, 303 So. 2d 694 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974). This testimony was properly allowed into evidence.” 322 So. 2d at 538-39. In Dobbert v. State, 328 So. 2d 433 (Fla.1976), the defendant was convicted of first degree murder, the victim being his child. Evidence of prior offense…
  • Smith v. State, 307 So. 2d 187 (Fla. 1975)
    …Certiorari dismissed sua sponte. 303 So. 2d 694.…

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