Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...After we relinquished the cause to the trial court for the purpose of stating more particularly the grounds for denying defendants' bail pending appeal, [1] the trial court entered its written order reading in part as follows: "1. That the defendants are denied bail pending appeal by reason of Section 903.131, Florida Statutes [F.S.A.], (Chapter 69-307, Laws of Florida), [now codified as § 903.132 in the Official Florida Statutes, 1969] both defendants having previously been convicted of a felony....

...ida Constitution, F.S.A., because the trial court passed upon the constitutionality of a state statute. Defendants committed the offenses on April 26, 1969, and the informations were filed against them in August of 1969, before the effective date of Section 903.131 on September 1, 1969....

...as previously been convicted of a felony, the commission of which occurred prior to the commission of the subsequent felony, and such person's civil rights have not been restored. Section 2. This act shall take effect September 1, 1969." [Fla. Stat. § 903.131, F.S.A.] Article I, Section 14 of the Florida Constitution — 1968 Revision, guarantees each accused person release on reasonable bail unless the accused is charged with a capital offense or an offense punishable by life imprisonment and the proof of guilt is evident or the presumption is great....

...given offense. The Legislature long ago preempted judicial discretion when it set mandatory death or life imprisonment punishments for rape and murder in the first degree. [9] The Legislature has gone no further in passing the statute here attacked. Section 903.131 does not suffer the infirmity of violating the separation of powers doctrine....

...y the Florida [10] and Federal [11] Constitutions *300 was rejected by this Court and the Supreme Court of the United States in considering the similar effect of habitual offender acts, [12] and is without merit. Defendants' final contention is that Section 903.131 is ex post facto in its effect upon these defendants, and therefore invalid as to them under Article I, Section 10 of the Florida Constitution — 1968 Revision, [13] and Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution....

...da Statutes, F.S.A., was ex post facto in effect and should not have been relied upon in denying release on bail pending appeal. The Motion to Review Order Denying Bail Pending Appeal is granted, the order of the trial court denying bail pursuant to Section 903.131 is quashed, and the cause is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion....

...Wainwright, 260 So.2d 196 (Fla. 1972); Younghans v. State, 90 So.2d 308 (Fla. 1956); Hedden v. State, 275 So.2d 52 (Fla. 2d DCA 1973), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1031, 95 S.Ct. 513, 42 L.Ed.2d 306 (1974). [18] 441 F. Supp. at 59. [19] Id. at 59-60. [20] Id. at 59. [21] § 903.131, Fla....

...egree felony violations of Sections 893.13 and 893.135 shall not be entitled to post-trial release under any circumstances. Although Section 903.133, Florida Statutes, was not adopted by the legislature until 1980, a statute having a similar effect, Section 903.131, later 903.132, was passed by the legislature in 1969. In its original form, Section 903.131 prohibited bail on appeal to a convicted felon who had "previously been convicted of a felony, the commission of which occurred prior to the commission of the subsequent felony, and such person's civil rights had not been restored." In Greene v. State, 238 So.2d 296 (Fla. 1970), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Section 903.131 upon an attack similar to the one raised here: Defendants' argument that the statute is unconstitutional under Article II, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution — in 1968 Revision because it represents a legislative encroachment upon the powers of the judiciary is without merit....

...r a given offense. The Legislature long ago preempted judicial discretion when it set mandatory death or life imprisonment punishments for rape and murder in the first degree. The Legislature has gone no further in passing the statute here attacked. Section 903.131 does not suffer the infirmity of violating the separation of powers doctrine....

...Michigan, 421 F.2d 903 (6th Cir.1970); United States ex rel. Fink v. Heyd, 408 F.2d 7 (5th Cir. 1969). In any event, we have previously considered and rejected both of these contentions in Greene v. State, 238 So.2d 296 (Fla. 1970). 362 So.2d at 939. 21. § 903.131, Fla....

passed upon the validity of Florida Statutes, Section 903.131, F.S.A. [Chapter 69-307], although the section’s

The sequence began in 1969 with enactment of section 903.131, later section 903.132, Florida Statutes (1969)