Escalante v. State

• Decision Date: 05 June 2015
• Docket Number: No. 2D15–419.,2D15–419.
• Citation: 165 So.3d 839
• Parties: Sinar Roblero ESCALANTE, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

165 So.3d 839

Sinar Roblero ESCALANTE, Petitioner
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. 2D15–419.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

June 5, 2015.

165 So.3d 839

Sara Moore of Virlenys H. Palma, Esq., P.A., Homestead, for Petitioner.

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Brandon R. Christian, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Respondent.

ORDER ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF PROHIBITION

PER CURIAM.

Sinar Roblero Escalante seeks a writ of prohibition preventing the trial court from proceeding with his prosecution based on the expiration of the statute of limitations. This court has the authority to grant the writ. See Reino v. State, 352 So.2d 853, 860–61 (Fla.1977) (granting petitions for writ of prohibition when the prosecution of the petitioners was barred by the statute of limitations), receded from on other grounds by Perez v. State, 545 So.2d 1357 (Fla.1989) ; Cunnell v. State, 920 So.2d 810, 811 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006) ; Hernandez v. State, 915 So.2d 667, 668 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). For the reasons explained below, we grant the petition to the extent that we quash the order denying Roblero Escalante's amended motion to dismiss for expiration

165 So.3d 840

of the statute of limitations and remand for further proceedings.

The very limited record before us contains allegations that on September 6, 2005, Roblero Escalante struck a car that was parked, facing south, on the east side of a road in Collier County. The struck car was parked directly in front of a truck that was also parked facing south. At the time of the accident, a man stood in between the two parked vehicles, and he was fatally injured. Roblero Escalante allegedly fled.

On February 10, 2006, the Collier County Sheriff obtained a warrant for Roblero Escalante's arrest on the charge of leaving the scene of a crash involving death or injury. For reasons not explained in the record before us, Roblero Escalante was not arrested until October 21, 2012, and it was not until November 26, 2012, that the State charged Roblero Escalante with leaving the scene of a crash involving death as a first-degree felony under section 316.027(1)(b), Florida Statutes (2005). The State subsequently filed an amended information on January 15, 2013, to...