Opinion
No. 1D2024-1486
06-20-2024
Michael BRECKENRIDGE, Petitioner, v. Walt MCNEIL, in his official capacity as Sheriff for Leon County, Florida; and State of Florida, Respondents.
Jerry Edwards and Daniel Tilley, ACLU Foundation of Florida, Miami; and Benjamin Stevenson, ACLU Foundation of Florida, Pensacola Beach; and John Knowles, First Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Petitioner. Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Zachary Lawton, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Respondent State of Florida. No appearance for Respondent Walt McNeil.
Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus—Original Jurisdiction.
Jerry Edwards and Daniel Tilley, ACLU Foundation of Florida, Miami; and Benjamin Stevenson, ACLU Foundation of Florida, Pensacola Beach; and John Knowles, First Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Petitioner.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Zachary Lawton, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Respondent State of Florida. No appearance for Respondent Walt McNeil.
On Emergency Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus
Per Curiam.
Having reviewed the petition and Respondent’s return, the Court discharges the writ and remands Petitioner to the custody of Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil. No costs or charges are awarded to either party.
Bilbrey and Kelsey, JJ., concur; Ray, J., concurs with opinion.
Ray, J., concurring.
No Motions for Rehearing will be permitted.
We issued the writ in this case so the sheriff could justify the legality of the petitioner’s detention. Which he now has done.
Dispositive in my view is the petitioner’s failure to do his part to show entitlement to the relief he requested from the circuit court—supervised pretrial release on non-monetary conditions. In relevant part, the pretrial detention and release statute provides that:
(b) No person shall be released on nonmonetary conditions under the supervi- sion of a pretrial release service, unless the service certifies to the court that it has investigated or otherwise verified:
1. The circumstances of the accused’s family, employment, financial resources, character, mental condition, and length of residence in the community;
2. The accused’s record of convictions, of appearances at court proceedings, of flight to avoid prosecution, or of failure to appear at court proceedings; and
3. Other facts necessary to assist the court in its determination of the indigency of the accused and whether she or he should be released under the supervision of the service.
§ 907.041(3)(b)1.–3., Fla. Stat. (2023).
Here, the circuit court found that the pretrial information form was incomplete: "It lacked a certification, it indicated the Defendant did not consent to the interview due to time constraints, and it was wholly missing half of the sections required by the statute …." The court then noted that the petitioner had twenty-three days to complete the form before the hearing and failed to "even address the statute or the requirement to have a certified response from the pretrial release office, and did not subpoena the pretrial release office representative to testify at the hearing." Given the severity of the charges, the court concluded that it "does not see how the Defendant can be released on nonmonetary conditions with no supervision from the pretrial release office."
The petitioner does not dispute any of these findings by the circuit court or its textual interpretation of these statutory requirements. Yet he sought relief that the circuit court simply could not grant.
As this matter is presently postured, the petitioner’s detention cannot be illegal. I thus agree with the decision to discharge the writ and remand the petitioner to the custody of Sheriff McNeil.