CHARLES B. CLARK, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1975-09-05
No. 74-1382
WALDEN, C. J., and MAGER, J., concur.
318 So. 2d 513 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1975) Caution
Cited by 28 cases

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Synopsis

Clark was charged with larceny, then the state entered a nolle prosequi and refiled charges for embezzlement. Clark moved to dismiss claiming the state violated the speedy trial rule by not bringing him to trial within 180 days. The appellate court held that Clark had waived his speedy trial protection and that the state complied with the rule once Clark reinvoked his rights.


Holding

The court held that Clark's prior waiver of speedy trial rights under Rule 3.191 prevented him from later invoking the rule as to charges arising from the same criminal episode as the original indictment. However, once Clark reinvoked his rights by filing a motion for discharge, the state was required to bring him to trial within 90 days, which it did. The motion to dismiss was properly denied.


Headnotes

[1] A speedy trial rule does not begin to run as to new charges filed by information until the date of filing if those charges are based upon different criminal episodes than…

[2] A defendant's waiver of speedy trial rights renders the speedy trial rule inapplicable to the charges covered by the waiver.

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Key Quotes

“the speedy trial rule did not begin to run as to the counts on the in-formations in cases Nos. 73-1995 CF and 73-1996 CF until September 19, 1973, when they were filed; and the trial date of February 11, 1974 was well within the 180 days provided by the rule.”

Establishes that charges based on different criminal episodes have separate speedy trial timelines running from their filing dates, not from the original arrest.

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Facts & Procedural History

Clark was indicted on May 25, 1973, for three counts of larceny. He obtained a continuance on July 13, 1973, and waived his speedy trial rights on Jul…

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Opinion of the Court
DOWNEY, Judge.

DOWNEY, Judge.

On May 25, 1973, appellant was indicted on two counts of petit larceny and one count of grand larceny (circuit court case No. 73-1043 CF). On July .13, 1973, appellant moved for and was granted a continuance and the case was reset for trial October 1, 1973. On July 26, 1973, appellant filed a waiver of his right to be tried within the time periods set forth in Rule 3.191, RCrP. On September 18, 1973, the state entered a nolle prosequi on the charges contained in the indictment, and on the same day the state filed three informations (circuit court case Nos. 73-1994 CF, 73-1995 CF, and 73-1996 CF) against appellant charging him with fourteen counts of embezzlement. On December 26, 1973, appellant filed a motion to dismiss all three informations on the ground that the state had failed to bring him to trial within the time limit specified in the speedy trial rule; Rule 3.191, RCrP. Said motion was denied; appellant was tried on February 11, 1974 and convicted on all counts.

The appellate question presented is whether the trial court erred in refusing to grant appellant’s motion for discharge because the time had expired for bringing appellant to trial under Rule 3.191 RCrP. The record demonstrates that the original indictment on three counts of larceny, case No. 73-1043 CF, and the information in case No. 73-1994 CF, were based upon the same conduct or criminal episode. However, the other eleven counts of embezzlement contained in the informations in case Nos. 73-1995 CF and 73-1996 CF, were based upon different criminal episodes. Therefore, the speedy trial rule did not begin to run as to the counts on the in-formations in cases Nos. 73-1995 CF and 73-1996 CF until September 19, 1973, when they were filed; and the trial date of February 11, 1974 was well within the 180 days provided by the rule.

Since the charge contained in information No. 73-1994 CF arose out of the same conduct or criminal episode as did the charges in the original indictment, the speedy trial rule began to run as to those charges on May 30, 1973, when appellant was arrested. But on July 11, 1973, appellant sought and obtained a continuance. Then on July 26, 1973, appellant filed a waiver of his rights under Rule 3.191. That made the speedy trial rule no longer applicable to those charges. State ex rel. Butler v. Cullen, Fla.1971, 253 So. 2d 861. When the new information was filed appellant made no motion for speedy trial, which motion would have required that he be tried within 60 days of the filing date of the motion (Rule 3.191(a)(2)); instead, as in State ex rel. Butler v. Cullen, supra, appellant improperly attempted to rely on Rule 3.191, RCrP, after he had waived its protection.

Therefore, as to the information in case No. 73-1994 CF, we hold on authority of the Cullen case, supra, that the motion for discharge filed December 26, 1973, was properly denied, and that the state was obliged to bring appellant to trial within 90 days of the denial of that motion when the appellant reinvoked his right to the protection of Rule 3.191, RCrP, by filing his motion for discharge. Since the state tried appellant within the 90 day period after the denial, the judgment of conviction in case No. 73-1994 CF was lawful.

Affirmed.

WALDEN, C. J., and MAGER, J., concur.


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Citator

Cited By (14 total)

  • State v. Clifton, 905 So. 2d 172 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005)
    …5th DCA 2003); Walker v. State, 390 So. 2d 411 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980); Robinson v. Lasher, 368 So. 2d 83 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); State v. Thaddies, 364 So. 2d 819 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978); Deloach v. State, 338 So. 2d 1141 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976); Clark v. State, 318 So. 2d 513 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975); see also Burk v. Washington, 713 So. 2d 988 (Fla.1998); Gibson. Therefore, if an amended information is filed after the speedy trial time period has expired and the defendant has not previously waived his or her right to speedy…
  • Muller v. State, 387 So. 2d 1037 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980)
    …. The October 1975 continuance was unrelated to the distinct and separate offense committed on December 29, 1975, and as to that offense, Muller did not forfeit any of the benefits of the speedy trial rule by the earlier continuance. Clark v. State, 318 So. 2d 513 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975).4 Since the time within which Muller was to be brought to trial on this case expired on June 25, 1976, Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191(a)(1), Muller was entitled to discharge unless, as the State contends, the speedy tri…
  • Robinson v. The Honorable Humes T. Lasher, 368 So. 2d 83 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979)
    …this court has held that although earlier charges arising from the same incident are dropped, speedy trial time on charges later filed, but based on the same incident, is still measured from the date of arrest on the earlier charges. Clark v. State, 318 So. 2d 513 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975). (Id. at 820) Here, the state had 180 days from January 25 to try the petitioner. That time had expired by August 8 when the manslaughter charge was filed. The alleged victim of the manslaughter died on January 25, 1978. Hence,…

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