THE STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
ROBERT SOBIE, RESPONDENT
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The trial court departed from the essential requirements of law by expunging an arrest record when the defendant had a prior municipal ordinance conviction.
[1] A person previously convicted of a municipal ordinance violation is not entitled to expungement of an arrest record under a statute that requires the person to have never…
[2] A trial court departs from the essential requirements of law when it fails to follow the explicit wording of a statute governing expungement of arrest records.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe State sought review of a trial court order expunging a defendant's arrest record for public drunkenness, marijuana possession, and barbiturate pos…
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PER CURIAM.
This petition for certiorari by the State seeks review of an order of the trial court expunging the record of defendant’s arrest for public drunkenness, unlawful possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of barbiturates, to which he entered a plea of nolo contendere.
It affirmatively appears that the trial court departed from the essential requirements of law in its order dated June 23, 1976, where it found that the defendant was entitled to the statutory right of ex-pungement inasmuch as it affirmatively appears from the record in this case that the defendant, Robert Sobie, had previously been convicted of a violation of a municipal ordinance against public drunkenness. Section 901.33, Florida Statutes,1 provides that “. . .a person who has never previously been convicted of a criminal offense or municipal ordinance violation may file a motion with the court wherein the charge was brought to expunge the record of arrest from the official records of the arresting authority.”
We conclude that the trial court departed from the essential requirements of law in that it failed to follow the explicit wording of the statute in this case. Therefore, the order of June 22, 1976, and the order of June 23, 1976, each of which purports to expunge the record of defendant Robert Sobie’s arrest upon the charges of (1) public intoxication, (2) possession of marijuana, and (3) possession of barbiturates, are each of them hereby quashed.
It is so ordered.
. The Supreme Court of Florida in Johnson v. State, 336 So. 2d 93 (Fla.1976) has considered the constitutionality of this statute. The Supreme Court dealt with that portion of the statute which required that the records be “expunged.” The court upheld the substantive right of a defendant under the statute, but found that the judicial branch of government, and not the legislative branch, had the power and responsibility to deal with the destruction of records. Therefore, the statute, without the offending provision, still governs the rights of the respondent here.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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State v. Herstik, 475 So. 2d 1268 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985)…nfluence precluded him from meeting the requirements set forth in section 943.058(2)(b). The court’s order granting expungement constituted a departure from the essential requirements of law and accordingly, the order is quashed. See State v. Sobie, 343 So. 2d 73 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977). However, it appears from the transcript that the trial court intended to expunge pursuant to section 943.058(3), Florida Statutes (1983), which gives the court discretion to expunge upon a finding of unusual circumstances notwit…
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N. C. v. Dept. of Child. & Families (Fla. 2d DCA 2020)…ing petition and quashing custody release order because "[t]he trial court departed from the essential requirements of the law by failing to follow th[e] statutory requirement" of including a finding as to the child's best interest); State v. Sobie, 343 So. 2d 73, 74 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977) (granting petition because "the trial court departed from the essential requirements of law in that it failed to follow the explicit wording of the [expungement] statute").10 Finally, the Department sought authorization for im…
Authorities Cited
- Johnson v. State, 336 So. 2d 93 (Fla. 1976)