Charlemagne v. Guevara
Charlemagne v. Guevara
Opinion of the Court
Jean-Elie Charlemagne seeks an emergency writ of habeas corpus, asking this Court to vacate an alias capias warrant and reinstate his bond.
Charlemagne was charged with fleeing and eluding an officer and resisting an officer without violence. On July 13, 2015, and again on December 18, 2015, Charlemagne filed a written waiver of his right to be present at any and all pretrial conferences pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.180(a)(3).
Soon thereafter, a hearing was calendared for January 13, 2016, before the same trial court judge. The trial court docket shows that the hearing was entitled “REPORT RE: MANDATE.”' Charlemagne was not present- at the start of the hearing, and the trial court inquired whether Charlemagne had been noticed for the hearing. The clerk informed the trial court that Charlemagne had not received notice of the hearing. After noting that Charlemagne’s bondsman was on notice, the trial court issued an alias capias warrant and estreated Charlemagne’s bond. Defense counsel objected, and the trial court stated that Charlemagne had failed to give the trial court an address, and that notice to the bondsman required Charlemagne’s presence. Approximately thirty minutes later, Charlemagne appeared in the courtroom. The trial court ordered Charlemagne to “have a seat in the box.” Defense counsel argued for Charlemagne’s release, informing the, trial court that Charlemagne had waived his pretrial presence and was not required to be present for the proceedings that day. The trial court “den[ied] the motion to allow him back out” for several reasons— Charlemagne’s failure to provide the trial court with an address, the fact that he had frequently failed to appear in court or was late to court, the need,for a competency evaluation, that Charlemagne needed/ to inform the trial court whether he intended to represent. himself, and that the trial court “did not hear” defense counsel state that Charlemagne hqd waived his presence.
At subsequent hearings, defense counsel repeatedly requested that the trial court vacate the alias capias warrant and release Charlemagne on his original bond. At the most recent hearing, held on January 22, 2016, the trial court denied the request, stating that “I’ve never , waived his presence.” Charlemagne remains in custody.
Judge Miranda’s issuance of the alias capias warrant for Charlemagne’s failure to appear at the January 13 hearing is contrary to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.180(a)(3). Rule 3.180(a)(3) provides that a defendant’s presence at a pretrial conference may be waived in writing. As’this Court stated in Cruz v. State, 822 So.2d 595 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002), if there is a good reason to do so, a trial court may require the presence ‘of the defendant in court even when the defendant has filed a written waiver. In order to accomplish this, however, “defense • counsel and the defendant must be clearly advised that the defendant’s personal presence is required, notwithstanding the waiver of presence.” Id. at 596, Here, there is no indication that Charlemagne and his counsel were clearly advised that his presence was - required at the January 13 hearing, which was set simply to address this Court’s mandate in the contempt proceedings.
No rehearing will be entertained by the Court, and the mandate shall issue immediately.
. We reject the State’s assertion that Cruz is inapplicable here. The State argues that Cruz is distinguishable from the instant case because in Cruz, the defendant received no notice, whereas here, Charlemagne received notice of the hearing through his bondsman,
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