State v. Naveira

• Decision Date: 22 April 2004
• Docket Number: No. SC02-633.,SC02-633.
• Citation: 873 So.2d 300
• Parties: STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Juan NAVEIRA, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

873 So.2d 300

STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Juan NAVEIRA, Respondent.

No. SC02-633.

Supreme Court of Florida.

April 22, 2004.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, James W. Rogers, Tallahassee Bureau Chief, Criminal Appeals, and Thomas D. Winokur, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, for Petitioner.

Erik Courtney, Miami, FL, for Respondent.

CANTERO, J.

This case involves the speedy trial rule. We must decide whether, when the State files a charging document on the last day of the speedy trial period and the defendant invokes his right to a speedy trial by filing a notice of expiration of the speedy trial period, but later moves for a continuance based on insufficient time to prepare for trial, the continuance should be charged to the State (thus discharging the defendant) or to the defendant. In the decision under review, the First District Court of Appeal held that the trial court properly discharged the defendant because he had been forced to request a continuance as the result of the State's delay in filing the information, and thus was not brought to trial within the speedy trial period. See State v. Naveira, 807 So.2d 766, 767 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) (Naveira II)

. Its holding expressly and directly conflicts with State v. Fraser, 426 So.2d 46 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982), which held that the defendant was not entitled to discharge where he requested a continuance. We accepted jurisdiction to resolve the conflict. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. For the reasons explained below, we quash the First District's decision and hold that the defendant's right to speedy trial under rule 3.191, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, was not violated in this case where trial was scheduled within the rule's deadlines and the defendant sought a continuance because he was not prepared for trial.

I. FACTS

Respondent Juan Naveira was arrested for sexual battery and false imprisonment on February 25, 1999. On August 19, the 175th day after the arrest, the State filed an information charging Naveira with one count of sexual battery. Also on that day, the State responded to Naveira's previously filed demand for discovery. Five days later, Naveira filed a notice of expiration of speedy trial time under rule 3.191(p)(2), alleging that more than 175 days had elapsed since his arrest. Two days after that, the trial court held a hearing on Naveira's notice of expiration. The State explained that it had filed the information on the 175th day after arrest due to difficulty in contacting the victim, and that the delay was in no way attributable to Naveira. The State maintained, however, that the information was timely filed. The State then requested that trial be set for the following week. The defense argued that it could not be ready for trial the following week because the case involved a serious sexual battery charge and the defense had not had the opportunity to fully review the discovery. The trial court indicated that if the defense wished to move for a continuance, the continuance would probably be attributed to the State, but that the court would decide that issue the following week. The trial court then set the case for trial on August 30.

On August 27, Naveira filed a motion for continuance, arguing that it should be charged to the State. On September 9, Naveira filed a motion for discharge. The motion argued that more than fifteen days had elapsed since the filing of the notice of expiration. On October 21, nunc pro tunc to September 14, the trial court granted Naveira's motion for continuance and ordered that it be charged to the State.

On December 8, the trial court held a hearing on Naveira's motion for discharge. The State argued that Naveira was entitled to the continuance but not the discharge. The court granted Naveira's motion for discharge in a written order, ruling only that "Rule 3.191(a) requires the discharge of a defendant if the information is not even filed until the 176th day, as was done in this case." The State appealed. The First District reversed and remanded. The court found that the date of arrest is excluded when calculating the deadline under the speedy trial rule. Therefore, the court held that the information was filed on the 175th day, not the 176th day, after his arrest, and thus the information was filed within the speedy trial period. State v. Naveira, 768 So.2d 1254, 1255 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000) (Naveira I).

The court remanded for further proceedings, expressly not addressing "whether there may be other grounds for discharging Naveira." Id. at 1256.

On remand, Naveira again moved for discharge. The trial court granted the motion, finding that, based on two cases from the First District, "even without a showing of misconduct on the State's part, discharge under the speedy trial rule is appropriate where a late-filed information implicates the ability to prepare a defense." The State again appealed. The First District upheld the discharge based on its precedent. See State ex rel. Wright v. Yawn, 320 So.2d 880 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975)

; Mulryan v. Judge, Division "C" Circuit Court of Okaloosa County, 350 So.2d 784 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977). Naveira II, 807 So.2d at 767-68. The State now seeks review of that decision.

II. DISCUSSION

The State raises two issues. We first address the State's argument that once the appellate court ruled in Naveira I and remanded the case to the trial court, the prior speedy trial deadlines no longer applied and under rule 3.191 the State automatically had another ninety days to bring Naveira to trial. We then address the State's argument that even if the prior speedy trial deadlines remained an issue, no speedy trial violation occurred because the State committed no misconduct and the only reason that Naveira was not tried within the speedy trial period was his own motion for continuance.

A. Ninety-Day Extension After Appeal

We first address what the State presents as its second issue because we believe it to be a threshold matter. The State claims that after its first appeal, it was automatically entitled to an additional ninety days to bring Naveira to trial under rule 3.191(m), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, and State v. Rohm, 645 So.2d 968 (Fla.1994) (holding that the ninety-day speedy trial period in rule 3.191(m) applies whenever a trial has been delayed by appeal). Rule 3.191(m) provides:

Effect of Mistrial; Appeal; Order of New Trial. A person who is to be tried again or whose trial has been delayed by an appeal by the state or the defendant shall be brought to trial within 90 days from the declaration of a mistrial by the trial court, the date of an order by the trial court granting a new trial, the date of an order by the trial court granting a motion in arrest of judgment, or the date of receipt by the trial court of a mandate, order, or notice of whatever form from a reviewing court that makes possible a new trial for the defendant, whichever is last in time. If a defendant is not brought to trial within the prescribed time periods, the defendant shall be entitled to the appropriate remedy as set forth in subdivision (p).

In Naveira II, the First District disagreed with the State's argument that rule 3.191(m) applied on remand from Naveira I. The court noted:

The state argues that appellee waived his right to rely on remand on the alternative ground for discharge because he failed to raise that ground as an alternative basis for affirmance in the first appeal. Alternatively, it argues that the issue became moot following the first appeal because of rule 3.191(m), which extends the time within which a defendant must be brought to trial by 90 days following an appeal. We disagree. We are satisfied that the panel deciding the first appeal intended to permit the alternative ground for discharge to be considered on remand because the trial court had not previously addressed it. Therefore, appellee did not waive his right to raise that issue on remand, and the 90-day extension afforded by rule 3.191(m) would not come into play unless the trial court denied the motion for discharge.

807 So.2d at 767. The First District's conclusion was based on the portion of Naveira I that stated:

We hence reverse and remand for consistent proceedings. In so doing, we do not address whether there may be other grounds for discharging Naveira. Although this collateral issue was briefly addressed below, the trial judge declined to rule after noting that her ruling with respect to calculation of the speedy-trial time was dispositive of the case. Moreover, the collateral issue was not addressed by either Naveira or the State on appeal.

768 So.2d at 1256.

We agree with the First District's resolution of this issue. The State's argument effectively ignores the procedural posture of this case. Naveira had effectively argued two grounds for discharge: (1) that the State did not file the information until the 176th day after arrest (in the notice of expiration and subsequent hearings); and (2) that he was not brought to trial within fifteen days of filing the notice of expiration (in the motion for discharge and subsequent hearings). The trial court granted Naveira's motion for discharge based on the first ground, without addressing the second. Thus, the sole issue in Naveira I was "whether the day of arrest is counted in the calculation of the speedy-trial-rule time." 768 So.2d at 1255. The First District held it is not. Id. at 1255-56. The court did not address other possible grounds for discharge. Id. at 1256.

Therefore, when the First District remanded the case in Naveira I, the trial court had not yet ruled on Naveira's argument that he was not brought to trial within fifteen days under rule 3.191(p). Rule 3.191(m) does not apply in these circumstances. In other words, the automatic ninety-day extension after appeal in the rule does not apply where the appellate court has remanded a case in which the trial court has yet to rule on a defendant's motion for...