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Jones v. State

FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA
Aug 7, 2018
No. 1D17-869 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. Aug. 7, 2018)

Opinion

No. 1D17-869

08-07-2018

JAMIE PEARL JONES, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee.

Andy Thomas, Public Defender, Glenna Joyce Reeves, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Samuel B. Steinberg, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.


On appeal from the Circuit Court for Duval County.
Bruce Anderson, Judge.

AFFIRMED. B.L. THOMAS, C.J., and LEWIS, J., concur; MAKAR, J., dissents with opinion.

Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla . R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331. MAKAR, J., dissenting.

Six months prior to trial, Jamie Pearl Jones—previously deemed incompetent to stand trial—was adjudged competent to do so based on his lawyer's stipulation and a new report that Jones had regained competency. The pre-trial judge orally announced his ruling of competency, despite never seeing or seeking a copy of the new report (essentially relying on defense counsel's stipulation and assertion that the report was "confidential"). A standard form order followed. Under these circumstances, the pre-trial judge abdicated his responsibility to make an independent determination that a once-incompetent defendant has become competent to go to trial. Dougherty v. State, 149 So. 3d 672, 678 (Fla. 2014) ("Accepting a stipulation improperly absolves the trial court from making an independent determination regarding a defendant's competency to stand trial."); Belizaire v. State, 188 So. 3d 933, 935 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016) (finding the trial court's acceptance of defense counsel's "stipulation that because both experts found [defendant] competent, they could proceed with the trial" to be insufficient). A remand and nunc pro tunc competency evaluation is required, absent which a new trial is required. See Brooks v. State, 180 So. 3d 1094, 1095 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015) ("[A] new trial is required only if the trial court is unable to conduct a nunc pro tunc evaluation of the defendant's competency at the time of the original trial."). Andy Thomas, Public Defender, Glenna Joyce Reeves, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Samuel B. Steinberg, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.


Summaries of

Jones v. State

FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA
Aug 7, 2018
No. 1D17-869 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. Aug. 7, 2018)
Case details for

Jones v. State

Case Details

Full title:JAMIE PEARL JONES, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee.

Court:FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA

Date published: Aug 7, 2018

Citations

No. 1D17-869 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. Aug. 7, 2018)