Obanion v. State, 85-2230
| Decision Date | 04 November 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 85-2230,85-2230 |
| Citation | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 2311,496 So.2d 977 |
| Parties | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 2311 Bertrand OBANION, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., and Charles M. Fahlbusch, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Before HUBBART, BASKIN and DANIEL S. PEARSON, JJ.
This is an appeal by the defendant from a judgment of conviction and sentence for the crime of manslaughter entered after an adverse jury verdict below. The dispositive question presented for review is whether the trial court erred in denying a defense motion to discharge the defendant under the Florida speedy trial rule. For the reasons which follow, we conclude that the trial court so erred and reverse with directions to discharge the defendant.
The facts pertaining to the above issue are undisputed. On August 8, 1983, the defendant Bertrand Obanion was arrested for the murder of Charles Larkins, and, on August 25, 1983, was formally charged by information with second-degree murder in the Circuit Court for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida. After certain procedural skirmishes not relevant here, the defendant Obanion filed a motion for discharge under Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.191 [], which, on September 18, 1984, the trial court denied; no one questions the propriety of this ruling. At that time, however, the trial court correctly noted that the defendant Obanion was required to be brought to trial within ninety days thereafter under the Florida speedy trial rule. See Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.191(d)(3)(iv). The defendant Obanion was, in fact, never brought to trial within this time period which sets the stage for the speedy trial issue presented in this case. During the ninety-day speedy trial period stated above [September 18--December 17, 1984], the following events transpired.
On October 15, 1984, the trial court set a trial date of November 26, 1984--the sixty-ninth day of the new speedy trial period. On November 16, 1984, the defendant Obanion amended his previously filed list of witnesses to include one additional witness. He also, on November 26, 1984, filed a motion to suppress his statements to the police, together with a notice of hearing for 1:00 P.M., November 26, 1984--the scheduled trial date. Plea negotiations were discussed, and the prosecuting attorney indicated that the state would make an offer to the defendant Obanion in a week or two.
On November 26, 1984, when the case was called for trial, the parties announced to the court that they had reached a plea negotiation impasse. The defendant Obanion was willing to plead guilty to the lesser offense of manslaughter if he would receive a five-year sentence; the state was willing to reduce the charge to manslaughter, but wanted a ten-year sentence. The trial court suggested that the parties "split it down the middle and give him [the defendant] seven [years]." When the state declined to lower its "ten year" offer, defense counsel asked the court to accept an open plea to the court with an assured five-year sentence. The trial judge declined an "open plea" and shifted the plea negotiations back to the state, stating:
"THE COURT: I take the position I do not get involved with homicides.
So why don't I set it over for tomorrow morning and why don't you [prosecuting attorney] go upstairs to your people and ask about manslaughter and seven [years] or second [degree murder] and seven [years].
The next day, it was announced that a negotiated plea had not been reached by the parties. The case was noted for trial and, when not reached that trial week, on Friday, November 30, 1984, a new trial date was announced:
"THE COURT: Bertrand Obanion.
We might as well reset it while Mr. Siegel is here.
[PROSECUTING ATTORNEY]: I don't have a really good time.
I guess whatever.
The reset trial date was well past the ninety-day speedy trial period, and, on December 19, 1984, the defendant Obanion filed a second motion for discharge for failure to bring him to trial within the required ninety-day period established by Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.191(d)(3)(iv). The trial court entered a lengthy order finding that the defendant Obanion was not continuously available for trial during the aforesaid ninety-day period, and, accordingly, denied the motion for discharge under Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.191(d)(3)(iii). The defendant Obanion then filed a petition for a writ of prohibition in this court raising the same speedy trial claim as was raised in the trial court. This court ordered a response and stayed the trial. After the state filed a response and the defense filed a reply, this court, on April 18, 1985, entered the following order:
"Following review of the response and the reply to the petition for writ of prohibition, it is ordered that said petition is hereby denied."
The case was thereafter tried below, and the trial court reduced the charge to manslaughter at the close of all the evidence. The jury found the defendant Obanion guilty of manslaughter, and a sentence of eight years imprisonment was ultimately imposed. This appeal follows.
The defendant Obanion contends that the trial court committed reversible error in denying his second motion for discharge filed below. Without dispute, he was not brought to trial within ninety days of the denial of his first motion for discharge as required by Fla.R.App.P. 3.191(d)(3)(iv). On its face, then, it would appear that the defendant has presented a prima facie claim that his motion for discharge should have been granted below based on the controlling authority of Butterworth v. Fluellen, 389 So.2d 968 (Fla.1980); Jay v. State, 443 So.2d 186 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983). To avoid this inevitable result, however, the state urges two positions. First, the state contends that the denial of the defendant's petition for a writ of prohibition establishes, as the law of the case, that the defendant's speedy trial rights were not violated below. Second, the state contends that the defendant was, for various reasons, not continuously available for trial during the subject ninety-day speedy trial period, and, consequently, his motion for discharge was properly denied under Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.191(d)(3)(iii). Both parties agree that if the state is correct in either position, the defendant's speedy trial claim must be rejected; on the other hand, all agree that if the state's positions have no merit, a reversal and discharge is required in this cause. We, accordingly, must carefully examine both of the state's positions in this matter.
At the outset, we are met with the state's law of the case argument based on our prior denial of the defendant's petition for writ of prohibition which raised the same speedy trial claim as is raised in the instant case. It is urged that by denying the defendant's prohibition petition, we passed on the merits of the defendant's speedy trial claim and rejected the said claim. That being so, the state urges that the defendant is precluded by law of the case principles from relitigating the same speedy trial claim.
We turn, first, to the applicable law on this issue. It has been held that a denial of a petition for a writ of prohibition based on a claimed speedy trial violation does not constitute a ruling on the merits of the claim where the denial could have rested on other grounds, and, if this be the case, the denial of the petition does not constitute a law of the case bar to the defendant raising the speedy trial claim on an appeal from the final judgment of conviction. Thomas v. State, 422 So.2d 93, 94 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982); see Cappetta v. State, 471 So.2d 1290, 1291 (Fla. 3d DCA) (following Thomas ), pet. for review denied, 480 So.2d 1296 (Fla.1985). In this court, an order denying a petition for a writ of prohibition, as here, has traditionally covered a variety of grounds, including: (1) a technically defective petition, (2) insufficient supporting record, (3) undue delay by the petitioner in filing the petition on the eve of trial, and (4) an otherwise non-meritorious claim presented by the petition. This being so, it follows that past denials of a petition for a writ of prohibition by this court do not necessarily constitute a ruling on the merits of the petition, as the denial could have rested on procedural or other non-merit grounds. We acknowledge, however, a certain looseness in our past practices and, accordingly, we serve notice to the bench and bar that in the future a denial of a petition for a writ of prohibition will, in fact, be a ruling on the merits, unless otherwise indicated.
Turning now to the case at bar, it is plain that this court's prior denial of the defendant's petition for a writ of prohibition could have rested on grounds other than the merits of the...
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