JOHN GERECA, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1976-08-13
No. 75-2034
WALDEN and ALDERMAN, JJ., concur.
336 So. 2d 709 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1976) Positive Treatment
Cited by 8 cases

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Holding

The court held that a one-week delay from the scheduled trial date, after exceptional circumstances were found to justify an extension of speedy trial time, was not prejudicial and did not deny the defendant his right to a speedy trial.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court may grant a continuance and extend speedy trial time limits upon a showing of exceptional circumstances.

[2] Once speedy trial time limitations are extended by a finding of exceptional circumstances, the right to a speedy trial becomes relative and is determined by the circumsta…

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Facts & Procedural History

The appellant was arrested and charged with breaking and entering and grand larceny. The prosecution filed multiple motions for continuance due to wit…

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Opinion of the Court
DAKAN, STEPHEN LEE, Associate Judge.

DAKAN, STEPHEN LEE, Associate Judge.

Appellant appeals the judgment and sentence of the trial court pursuant to a jury verdict finding him guilty of breaking and entering a building with intent to commit a felony and grand larceny.

The only issue before this Court is the application of Rule 3.191, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, “Speedy Trial,” to the facts of this case.

The Appellee filed an information charging appellant with the crimes for which he was ultimately convicted. The record shows he was arrested in connection with these charges on April 5, 1975.

On May 16, 1975, the Appellee filed a motion for continuance alleging that the victim would be out of the state and unavailable for trial until sometime in September of 1975. The motion asked that the case be placed on the trial docket for the first available trial week in September. No disposition of this motion is reflected in the record.

On June 10, 1975, Appellant filed a demand for speedy trial demanding that he be brought to trial within 60 days. Appellee, on June 18, 1975, filed another motion for continuance. The motion alleged that the trial was set for July 7, 1975, and that the victim would be out of town as a steward on a ship until September of 1975. Appel- lee contended in the motion that this was an essential witness and that his absence was an exceptional circumstance under Rule 3.191(f), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure.

The trial court, on June 27, 1975, entered an order finding exceptional circumstances as defined in the rule and set the case for “the top of the trial calendar for the first available trial week in September, 1975.” This was apparently the week of September 8, 1975, for on September 5, 1975, Appellee filed a motion for continuance alleging that another material witness was presently out of state and Appellee was only informed of this on September 5. The motion stated that the witness was under subpoena, and that his testimony was vital to the Appel-lee’s case because he witnessed many of Appellant’s activities during the time periods alleged in the Appellee’s information. Appellee requested a one week continuance and said he could locate the witness and present his testimony at trial. This motion was followed, on September 8, 1975, by another motion seeking an “extension of speedy trial time” and apparently alleging that the facts stated in Appellee’s motion of September 5, 1975, constituted exceptional circumstances as defined in Rule 3.191(f)(iii), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure.

The record does not reflect the disposition of these motions but apparently the case was continued until the week of September 1, 1975, when it was tried and a guilty verdict returned. After this trial, the Appellant filed a motion for discharge claiming he had been denied his right to a speedy trial. This motion was denied by the trial court.

Appellant relies almost entirely upon this Court’s opinion in Anderson v. Edwards, 234 So. 2d 720 (4th D.C.A.Fla.1970) and the general language of Rule 3.191, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. In Anderson, supra, we indicated that unavailability of a witness was not sufficient to toll the provisions of Section 915.01(2), Florida Statutes. That Statute has since been repealed, but it provided for a discharge of a defendant upon demand if he had not been tried within three successive terms of court. The only exception was a filing for a continuance by the defendant or prevention of attendance of witnesses by the defendant. See Section 915.01(2), Florida Statutes (1967).

Rule 3.191(f), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, provides for continuances and extension of the speedy trial time limits imposed by the rule on a showing of “exceptional circumstances.” The trial court in this case found such exceptional circumstances in its order of June 27, 1975, which set the case for the first available trial week in September. Appellant has not attacked this order nor the finding upon which it was based. We note, parenthetically that without this order, the 60-day provisions of Rule 3.191(a)(2) Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, would have expired prior to September of 1975. We also note that Appellant was tried within 180 days from his arrest.

By its order of June 27, 1975, the trial court extended the provisions of Rule 3.191(a)(2) beyond the 60-day limit. Once the time limitations set forth in the rule were no longer applicable, the trial court was still required to grant Appellant a speedy trial. At this point, however, the right to speedy trial is relative, and the question of whether a trial date affords a defendant a speedy trial must be determined in light of the circumstances of the particular case. The trial court is vested with discretion in determining whether a delay in a particular case has prejudiced a defendant. See, State ex rel. Butler v. Cullen, 253 So. 2d 861 (Fla.1971); King v. State, 303 So. 2d 389 (3rd D.C.A.Fla.1974). In this case, a delay of one week from the scheduled trial date of September 8 has not been shown to be prejudicial.

The judgment and sentence appealed is therefore affirmed.

Affirmed.

WALDEN and ALDERMAN, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Gleason, 374 So. 2d 1039 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979)
    …der Rule 3.191(f)(i) and (iii). The trial court properly granted the motion and reset trial within a reasonable time, as required by Rule 3.191(f). At that point, the time limitations set forth in the rule were no longer applicable. Gereca v. State, 336 So. 2d 709 (Fla.4th DCA 1976); see also State ex rel. Norman v. Merckle, 369 So. 2d 964 (Fla.2d DCA 1979). The delay accorded by the continuance not having been shown to be prejudicial, appellee had not been denied his right to a speedy trial and should not ha…
  • Rodriguez v. State, 376 So. 2d 1217 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)
    …PER CURIAM. Affirmed. State v. Felton, 348 So. 2d 1214 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977); Gereca v. State, 336 So. 2d 709 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976); State ex rel. Ranalli v. Johnson, 277 So. 2d 24 (Fla. 1973); Thompson v. State ex rel. Mitchell, 353 So. 2d 664, 665 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978); Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.191(c), (d), (f)(i), (iii).…
  • State v. Inzel Gaitor, 379 So. 2d 708 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980)
    …in that to further detain and incarcerate the defendant would have constituted a violation of her constitutional right to a speedy trial. In this connection, see the following authorities: State v. Cullen, 253 So. 2d 861 (Fla.1971); Gereca v. State, 336 So. 2d 709 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976); Suggs v. State, 358 So. 2d 55 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978). Therefore, the- order under review be and the same is hereby affirmed. Affirmed.…

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