State v. Phillips
| Decision Date | 10 November 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 87-364,87-364 |
| Citation | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 1035,520 So.2d 609 |
| Parties | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 1035 The STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Vickie Ann PHILLIPS, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Charles M. Fahlbusch, Asst. Atty. Gen., Miami, for appellant.
Don S. Cohn, Miami, for appellee.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BASKIN and FERGUSON, JJ.
The state appeals from a judgment in prohibition precluding the further prosecution of criminal charges in the county court on the ground that the speedy trial time had run. We reverse.
Through counsel, the defendant Ms. Phillips filed a written plea of not guilty in the Dade County Circuit Court to two felony charges of battery on a police officer and resisting arrest with violence, in addition to a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest without violence. At the time the arraignment was scheduled in the circuit court, the charges were reduced to two misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest without violence and one of simple battery and the case was accordingly transferred to the county court. Although she was subsequently twice notified of scheduled arraignments, the defendant neither appeared nor filed a written plea to the misdemeanors in that court. At the third scheduled arraignment, however, which was by-now more than 90 days after arrest, Phillips moved for discharge under the speedy trial rule. See Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.191. The county court denied the motion, holding that her non-appearance at the first two arraignments rendered her "unavailable for trial" under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191(e) and thus not entitled to discharge. Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.191(d)(3)(iii). On Ms. Phillips's petition for prohibition, however, the circuit court granted the writ on the ground that the initial not guilty plea in the circuit court made any county court appearances unnecessary. We do not agree.
Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191(e) provides that a defendant is not available for trial and therefore may not be discharged under the speedy trial rule "if (1) the person or his counsel fails to attend a proceeding where their presence is required by these Rules...." There is no doubt that defendant's presence is required at an arraignment such as the first two regularly scheduled ones in the county court. See Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.160(a). Nor can we agree that the initial circuit court plea can be properly deemed to stand over, as it were, to the county court charges. See Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.170(a). It is well settled that any material change or amendment to a charging document requires that the defendant again plead to...
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State v. Brown
...judgment. Art. V, § 4, Fla. Const.; Fla.R.App.P. 9.030(b). Our decisions have implicitly recognized this. See, e.g., State v. Phillips, 520 So.2d 609 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); State v. Wassel, 502 So.2d 476 (Fla. 3d DCA Accordingly, the defendant's motion to dismiss is denied. 1 In its response t......