Rule 3.131(B) Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, In re, 44958
| Decision Date | 04 February 1974 |
| Docket Number | No. 44958,44958 |
| Citation | 289 So.2d 3 |
| Parties | In re RULE 3.131(b), FLORIDA RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
A case of original jurisdiction--Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Under the present Rules of Criminal Procedure, every defendant charged with a non-capital offense is entitled to a preliminary hearing within 72 hours if he is in custody. The purpose of this provision was to speed the filing of information and thereby require the state attorney to determine, within 72 hours, whether a defendant will be prosecuted or should be released.
Before filing an information every state attorney should not only seek probable cause in his investigation, but also determine the possibility of proving the case beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt. If the latter cannot be accomplished, no information should be filed and the defendant should be released. The rule requiring this determination within 72 hours will result in the filing of some cases in which the state attorneys do not have a firm belief as to the integrity of the charge, or the state attorneys will be required to invoke a complete preliminary hearing system, with all its attendant costs and burdens upon the judicial system as well as the people of the state.
The state attorneys have requested that this rule be amended so that they will be allowed the period of 96 hours within which to complete their investigation of the case and determine whether to file an information or dismiss the charge. If the time is extended to 96 hours, the number of cases in which no information is filed will be increased and the number of cases in which a nolle prosequi of an information is entered will be reduced. The amendment will prevent charges from being filed against innocent people in cases where the state objectively could not prove the charges brought by the investigating law enforcement agency.
In an effort to expedite the dismissal of unwarranted charges brought against innocent citizens and in an effort to facilitate the operation of the criminal justice system with least inconvenience to the citizen, Rule 3.131(b) 33 F.S.A. is hereby amended so that the same shall read as follows:
RULE 3.131 PRELIMINARY HEARING
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(b) In all cases where the defendant is in custody, except capital offenses or offenses punishable by life imprisonment, the preliminary hearing shall be held within 96 hours from the time of the defendant's first appearance. In all capital offenses and...
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Gerstein v. Pugh 8212 477
...the rule that no hearings are available to persons charged by information or indictment. Rule 3.131; see In re Rule 3.131(b), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, 289 So.2d 3 (Fla.1974). In a supplemental opinion the District Court held that the amended rules had not answered the basic cons......
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State v. Romano
...custody on a personal surety bond. Appellees further cite the Florida Supreme Court's per curiam opinion In re Rule 3.131(b), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, Fla.1974, 289 So.2d 3. Therein, the court stated that the purpose of Rule 3.131(b) was to speed the filing of an information by ......
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Whitten v. State, T--400
...determine the possibility of proving the case beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt. (In Re Rule 3.131(b), Florida Rules of Criminal Pro., Sup.Ct.Fla.1974, 289 So.2d 3). As a corollary, it seems to me, the State Attorney should also determine the crime for which a defendant ......