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Department v. Gilliland

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District
Feb 2, 2007
947 So. 2d 1262 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007)

Summary

holding that where uncontradicted medical testimony presented to trial court revealed that defendant suffered from dementia that would become progressively worse and that there was little or no probability that defendant would become competent in reasonably foreseeable future, trial court departed from the essential requirements of law by ordering continued commitment of defendant to DCF

Summary of this case from Dep't of Children & Families v. Wazim Nawaz Kamaluddin & State

Opinion

No. 5D06-2626.

February 2, 2007.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Brevard County, George W. Maxwell, III, J.

Charles D. Peters, Orlando, for Petitioner.

James R. Russo, Public Defender, and Blaise Trettis, Assistant Public Defender, Viera, for Respondent Teresa Ann Gilliland.

No Appearance for Respondent State of Florida.


We grant the Department of Children and Families' petition for writ of certiorari and quash the trial court's order of continued commitment of the respondent, Teresa Ann Gilliland, an individual declared mentally incompetent to proceed to trial on two felony charges. The uncontradicted medical testimony presented to the trial court reveals that Gilliland suffers from dementia that will become progressively worse and that there is little or no probability that she will become competent in the future. Therefore, Gilliland no longer meets the criteria for commitment to the Department under section 916.13(1)(c), Florida Statutes. § 916.13(1)(c), Fla. Stat. (2006) ("Every defendant who is charged with a felony and who is adjudicated incompetent to proceed may be involuntarily committed for treatment upon a finding by the court of clear and convincing evidence that . . . [t]here is a substantial probability that the mental illness causing the defendant's incompetence will respond to treatment and the defendant will regain competency to proceed in the reasonably foreseeable future."); Dep't of Children Families v. Wehrwein, 942 So.2d 947 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006) (granting petition for writ of certiorari and quashing lower court's order of commitment to Department of Children and Families; holding that although respondent was adjudicated incompetent to proceed to trial, respondent's commitment to the Department was improper under section 916.13(1)(c) because he suffered from a mental illness that was permanent and there was not a substantial likelihood that competency would be restored); Andrews v. Johnson, 941 So.2d 494 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006) (same); Oren v. Judd, 940 So.2d 1271 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006) (same).

As the court explained in Oren, the State will have to institute civil commitment proceedings or Gilliland will have to be released. Oren, 940 So.2d at 1274.

PETITION GRANTED.

PALMER and EVANDER, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Department v. Gilliland

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District
Feb 2, 2007
947 So. 2d 1262 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007)

holding that where uncontradicted medical testimony presented to trial court revealed that defendant suffered from dementia that would become progressively worse and that there was little or no probability that defendant would become competent in reasonably foreseeable future, trial court departed from the essential requirements of law by ordering continued commitment of defendant to DCF

Summary of this case from Dep't of Children & Families v. Wazim Nawaz Kamaluddin & State

granting certiorari relief where the defendant suffered from dementia and the medical testimony revealed little to no possibility that competency would be restored and explaining that the State’s options were to either institute a civil commitment proceeding or release the defendant

Summary of this case from Dep't of Children & Families v. Pierre

quashing involuntary commitment order where uncontradicted testimony established little or no probability of future competence

Summary of this case from Dep't of Children & Families v. Despaigne

quashing order of continued commitment under section 916.13(c) where uncontradicted testimony established little or no probability respondent would become competent in future (citing Oren v. Judd, 940 So. 2d 1271, 1274 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006) )

Summary of this case from Dep't of Children & Families v. Campbell

quashing trial court's order of continued commitment where the petitioner suffered from dementia and there was little or no probability that she would become competent in the future: "As the court explained in Oren, the State will have to institute civil commitment proceedings or Gilliland will have to be released"

Summary of this case from Schofield v. Judd
Case details for

Department v. Gilliland

Case Details

Full title:DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, Petitioner, v. Teresa Ann GILLILAND…

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District

Date published: Feb 2, 2007

Citations

947 So. 2d 1262 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2007)

Citing Cases

Schofield v. Judd

See also Bronson v. State, 89 So.3d 1089, 1090 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012) ("According to the medical evidence, there…

Dep't of Children & Families v. Garcia

who is adjudicated incompetent to proceed may be involuntarily committed for treatment upon a finding by the…