CopyPublished | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2017 WL 2264612, 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 7536
Kuntz, J. The State filed a petition for writ of certiorari seeking to- quash the court’s order finding section 903.0351(l)(b), Florida Statutes (2016), unconstitutional....
...ery, possession of a weapon by' a convicted felon, possession of cannabis, and witness tampering. He fled the scene of the crime; however, he was later taken into custody and released on bond. Subsequently, the State moved to revoke bond pursuant to section 903.0351(l)(b), Florida Statutes (2016), because he had been arrested for the qualifying offenses of robbery and burglary. The Defendant responded to the State’s motion and argued , that section 903.0351(l)(b) was unconstitutional....
...d based on defendant’s “arrest” without (i) requiring that the arrest be supported by probable cause or (ii) providing for an evidentiary hearing on the issue. The court denied the State’s motion to revoke bond. The court found that, because section 903.0351(l)(b) does not implicitly require that the predicate arrest be lawful, a defendant has no opportunity to challenge the revocation of his bond even if the arrest “is of a questionable nature.” Therefore, the court held that section 903.0351(l)(b) is unconstitutional on its face and as applied, because it violates due process. The State filed a petition for writ of certiorari, seeking to quash the order. Analysis 1 Section 903.0351(l)(b), Florida Statutes (2016), is not unconstitutional for failing to provide a mechanism to seek bail pending a violation of probation hearing....
...probable cause does not render the statute unconstitutional as every statutory authorization of arrest implicitly requires the arrest be lawful and with probable cause. The petition for writ of certiorari is granted and the court’s order declaring section 903.0351(l)(b) unconstitutional and unenforceable is quashed....
