Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...tand trial in the foreseeable future"). Thus, a reasonable time has passed, and the defendant's substantive right to dismissal of the criminal charge arises, when it becomes evident that the defendant cannot be restored to competency. By comparison, section 916.145, applicable to mentally ill defendants, provides a similar right to dismissal of criminal charges after a specific period, i.e., "if the defendant remains incompetent to proceed 5 years after such determination" unless the court can cite a reason to believe the defendant will regain competency....

...cy to proceed in the reasonably foreseeable future. At the motion hearing, Mosher's lawyers ore tenus amended their motion to request that the charges against her be dismissed. The trial court denied the motion, ruling that Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.213 and section 916.145, Florida Statutes (2002), relate to the dismissal of charges that have been pending for more than five years and that neither was applicable to Mosher....

...mmitment proceedings pursuant to the Baker Act. We grant in part the petition for a writ of certiorari *1232 and quash the trial court's order continuing Mosher's involuntary commitment. The trial court correctly ruled that Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.213 and section 916.145, by their plain language, relate to the dismissal of charges at any time after five years have elapsed from the time the person is determined incompetent to proceed. Because the five-year period of time has not yet passed, we find no error in the trial court's ruling that the charges against Mosher should not yet be dismissed pursuant to Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.213 and section 916.145....

...petency "was most probably permanent in nature." Both psychiatrists further concluded there were no known available treatments to reverse or ameliorate Wehrwein's mental defects. The psychiatrists' conclusions were essentially unrefuted. Pursuant to section 916.145, it appeared likely that Wehrmein's criminal case would be dismissed in June, 2006....

...We recognize the able trial court judge was attempting to resolve a difficult situation in a compassionate manner. Unfortunately, the resulting order was contrary to the governing statute. Petition for Writ of Certiorari is GRANTED. PALMER and MONACO, JJ., concur. NOTES [1] Section 916.145, Florida Statutes (2005) provides: The charges against any defendant adjudicated incompetent to proceed due to the defendant's mental illness shall be dismissed without prejudice to the state if the defendant remains incompetent to pr...

...State, 634 So.2d 813 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994). Accordingly, the specific findings contained in the January 2002 order are null and void, leaving the earlier November 6, 2001, order as the only order on appeal. We next observe that the statute addressing this situation, section 916.145, Florida Statutes (2001), appears to conflict with the corresponding rule of criminal procedure, rule 3.213, concerning the presumption that applies to competency determinations. Section 916.145 provides that the court shall dismiss the charges after the expiration of five years unless the court specifies why it believes the defendant will become competent in the foreseeable future....

...der the jurisdiction of the committing court, are committed to the department under the provisions of this chapter. § 916.105(1), Fla. Stat. (2003)(emphasis added). In the instant case, the trial court dismissed Everette's criminal case pursuant to section 916.145, Florida Statutes (1996), committed Everette, pursuant to section 393.11, Florida Statutes, to the Department, and retained jurisdiction over Everette. Section 916.145, which has since been renumbered to section 916.303(a), Florida Statutes (2003), required the dismissal of charges against a defendant who is adjudicated incompetent to stand trial two years after such adjudication. § 916.145, Fla....

...NOTES [1] In its petition, the department repeatedly and disingenuously refers to Everette as a "defendant" when it well knows that he has not been a defendant for almost eight years. It also states that the December 18, 1996 order "involuntarily committed defendant to a secure, forensic residential setting pursuant to § 916.145, Fla....

...As amended, rule 3.213 is reorganized for clarity, to make it easier to determine the dismissal schedule within the rule. In addition, new subdivision (a)(3) (Dismissal without Prejudice during Continuing Incompetency) adds the provision for dismissal after three years if the charge is not listed in section 916.145(1), Florida Statutes (Dismissal of charges), as enacted in chapter 2016-135, section 3, Laws of Florida. -6-  In addition to technical changes to rule 3.704 (The Criminal Punishment C...

...should the defendant be declared competent to proceed in the future. shall be dismissed no later than 2 years after a finding if incompetency is due to intellectual disability or autism; (3) may be dismissed 3 years after a finding, unless a charge is listed in section 916.145, Florida Statutes; or (4) shall be dismissed after a finding that the defendant has remained incompetent for 5 continuous and uninterrupted years; provided that the court finds that the defendant remains incompetent to s...

...t to section 916.13 of the Florida Statutes to the Mentally Retarded Defendants Program at the Florida State Hospital pending the dismissal of the charges against him. See § 916.13, Fla. Stat. (1993). On December 18, 1996, pursuant to then-numbered section 916.145 of the Florida Statutes, which provided a two-year time period for the dismissal of criminal charges against persons adjudicated incompetent due to mental retardation or mental illness, [1] the trial court dismissed the charges against Everette....

...acility is extended pursuant to section 916.303(2)(b) of the Florida Statutes (2004) and ordered by the trial court. Concurring in part and dissenting in part op. at 266-67 (Lewis, C.J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). NOTES [1] In 1998, section 916.145 was amended to address only persons adjudicated incompetent due to mental illness and increased the time after which charges must be dismissed from two years to five years for such persons. See ch. 98-92, § 18, at 718, Laws of Fla.; § 916.145, Fla....

...tatutory text." Id. We also denied Mr. McCray's request to dismiss the information "because fewer than five years have elapsed since the original determination that Mr. McCray was incompetent to proceed due to mental illness." Id. at 1297 (citing § 916.145). -2-  Following our opinion in McCray, the trial court conducted a hearing and entered the order that prompted the instant certiorari proceeding (Petition II)....

...The order before us: (1) struck the prior order placing Mr. McCray on conditional release pursuant to section 916.17; (2) imposed many of those same conditions relying on rule 3.212(d); and (3) denied Mr. McCray's renewed motion to dismiss pursuant to section 916.145. Certiorari Petition In Petition II, Mr....

...In May 2010, the trial court ordered C.Z. to be evaluated to determine his competency to stand trial. On June 29, 2010, the trial court held an evidentiary hearing, and found him 1 The charges against the defendant have recently been dismissed without prejudice pursuant to section 916.145 of the Florida Statutes (2014)....

...tment facility. Since then, annual orders have been entered based on findings that Reyes continues to remain incompetent to proceed to trial. *254 On November 13, 2001, Reyes through counsel filed a motion to dismiss his criminal charges pursuant to section 916.145, Florida Statutes (2001)....

...such defendant shall be released except by order of the committing court. § 916.16, Fla. Stat. (2001). After a defendant has been hospitalized as incompetent, he or she may file a motion for the committing court to dismiss the criminal charges. See § 916.145, Fla....

...valuation was not a departure from the essential requirements of law and in fact is necessary for the upcoming dismissal/commitment hearing. We find no merit in the Petitioner’s remaining arguments. The petition for writ of certiorari is denied. . Section 916.145, Florida Statutes (2001), provides that "[t]he charges against any defendant adjudicated incompetent to proceed due to the defendant’s mental illness shall be dismissed without prejudice to the state if the defendant remains incompe...

proceed due to mental illness. See § 916.145; Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.213(a)(1); State v.

...ssal of the criminal charge arises, when it becomes evident that the defendant cannot be restored to competency.” Gonzalez v. State, 15 So. 3d 37, 40 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009); see also Roddenberry v. State, 898 So. 2d 1070, 1073 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005); cf. § 916.145, Fla....

...commitment, it shall dismiss the charges against the defendant without prejudice to the state to refile the charges should the defendant be declared competent to proceed in the future. Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.213(a)(1) (emphasis added). Similarly, section 916.145, Florida Statutes, provides: The charges against any defendant adjudicated incompetent to proceed due to the defendant’s mental illness shall be dismissed without prejudice to the state if the defendant remains incompetent to proceed 5 years after such determination . . . . The charges against the defendant are dismissed without prejudice to the state to refile the charges should the defendant be declared competent to proceed in the future. § 916.145, Fla. Stat. (2015) (emphasis added). Cases reviewing the dismissal of charges, pursuant to section 916.145, Florida Statutes, and rule 3.213 of the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure have uniformly and consistently enforced the five-year requirement before dismissal....

...2d 1230, 1232 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004) (affirming denial of motion to dismiss prior to expiration of five years). Here, less than four years elapsed before the trial court dismissed the charge against the defendant. Based on a plain reading of rule 3.213, section 916.145, and case law, the trial court erred in dismissing the charge. Jackson v....

...Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellant. Brian F. Greenwald, Fort Lauderdale, appellee. WARNER, J. The State timely appeals the trial court’s dismissal without prejudice of the information filed against appellant. The trial court dismissed the case based on section 916.145, Florida Statutes (2019), due to continuous mental incompetence....

...In the spring of 2019, appellee was again evaluated to determine his competency to proceed. The evaluator found appellee to be incompetent and that the prognosis for successful restoration of his competency was “guarded.” On May 9, 2019, appellee filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to section 916.145, Florida Statutes (2019), which provides: “The charges against a defendant adjudicated incompetent to proceed due to mental illness shall be dismissed without prejudice to the state if the defendant remains incompetent to proceed for 5 continuous, uninterrupted years after such determination ....

...Under the current version of rule 3.213(a), as quoted in part above, there is no requirement for the lower court to hold an evidentiary hearing, nor is there a requirement to make the second and third findings required by Offill. Instead, consistent with section 916.145(1), the rule makes those findings necessary only if the trial court decides not to dismiss the charges. See § 916.145(1), Fla....

...In 2016, defendant absconded from the program, and two-and-a-half-years later, defendant was arrested in Louisiana. The trial court, in 2018, determined defendant to be incompetent to stand trial. In 2019, defendant was again placed on conditional release. Three months later, defendant filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to section 916.145, Florida Statutes (2019), which was granted by the trial court. The prior version of the statute governing the dismissal of charges due to a defendant’s incompetency provided as follows: The charges against any defendant...

...reasons for believing that the defendant will become 5  competent to proceed within the foreseeable future and specifies the time within which the defendant is expected to become competent to proceed. . . . § 916.145, Fla....

...order specifies its reasons for believing that the defendant will become competent to proceed within the foreseeable future and specifies the time within which the defendant is expected to become competent to proceed. . . . § 916.145(1), Fla....

...Williams v. State, 202 So. 3d 917, 920 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016); Kimball v. State, 890 So. 2d 495, 496 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004). Similarly, in the present case, defendant’s absence by absconding should toll the time for purposes of considering dismissal pursuant to section 916.145(1). The majority points out that the burden of proof to show competency to stand trial rests with the state....

...es where “the court in its order specifies its reasons for believing that the defendant will become competent to proceed within the foreseeable future and specifies the time within which the defendant is expected to become competent to proceed.” § 916.145(1), Fla....

...essary in this case because by legal presumption petitioner remained incompetent for a period of one year. Thus, he argues he had a right to dismissal of his charges under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.213(a)(1). Morris, however, was based on section 916.145, Florida Statutes (2019), which provides that charges against a defendant adjudicated incompetent to proceed shall be dismissed after five years of continuous incompetence, unless the court specifies its reasons for believing the defe...

...t to stand trial . . . .” Thus, the court is required to make a finding of incompetency to authorize dismissal under the rule, and dismissal of misdemeanor charges after one year of incompetency is conditional, rather than mandatory as it is under section 916.145. There does appear to have been considerable confusion regarding the ordered examination....

...As amended, rule 3.213 is reorganized for clarity, to make it easier to determine the dismissal schedule within the rule. In addition, new subdivision (a)(3) (Dismissal without Prejudice during Continuing Incompetency) adds the provision for dismissal after three years if the charge is not listed in section 916.145(1), Florida Statutes (Dismissal of charges), as enacted in chapter 2016-135, section 3, Laws of Florida. In addition to technical changes to rule 3.704 (The Criminal Punishment Code), new subdivisions (d)(24)(A)-(d)(24)(B) ar...

...should the defendant be declared competent to proceed in the future. shall be dismissed no later than 2 years after a finding if incompetency is due to intellectual disability or autism; (3) may be dismissed 3 years after a finding, unless a charge is listed in section 916.145, Florida Statutes; or (4) shall be dismissed after a finding that the defendant has remained incompetent for 5 continuous and uninterrupted years; provided that the court finds that the defendant remains incompetent to s...

...that the defendant does not meet the criteria for commitment, it shall dismiss the charges against the defendant without prejudice to the state to refile the charges should the defendant be declared competent to proceed in the future. (Emphasis added). Section 916.145 of the Florida Statutes similarly provides for dismissal of charges where a defendant has remained continuously incompetent for five uninterrupted years with no return to competency foreseeable:...

...specifies the time within which the defendant is expected to become competent to proceed. The court may dismiss such charges at least 3 years after such determination, unless the charge is: ... (n) Aggravated battery[.] § 916.145(1)(n), Fla. Stat. (2015). Both Rule 3.213(a)(1) and section 916.145(1)(n), leave no doubt that the court below, while free to terminate supervised follow up care, was not authorized to dismiss the charges pending against Appellee as fewer than five years had elapsed between the time Appellee was ad...

...(2015) (emphasis added). While this provision does state that when a trial court has determined that a defendant on conditional release no longer requires follow up care, jurisdiction will be terminated and the defendant discharged, to be consistent with section 916.145, this provision must be read to apply only to the court’s continuing jurisdiction to enforce a conditional release plan and its authority to discharge a defendant from the obligation to further comply with the plan....

...1992) (“Where possible, courts must give full effect to all statutory provisions and construe related statutory provisions in harmony with one another.”).1 Section 916.17 should not be read as invalidating the five year before dismissal requirement of section 916.145. In sum, while the court below was authorized to “discharge” Appellee from her responsibility to further comply with the obligation to report to the court under her conditional release plan, and to “terminate its jurisd...

...it was not authorized to dismiss the charges against Appellee, because five years had not elapsed since she was determined incompetent to proceed. See Mosher v. State, 876 So. 2d 1230, 1232 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004) (“The trial court correctly ruled that Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.213 and section 916.145, by their plain language, relate to the dismissal of charges at any time after five years have elapsed from the time the person is determined incompetent to proceed....

...years for felony charges and 1 year for misdemeanor charges, unless the court specifies in its order the reasons for believing that the defendant will become competent within the foreseeable future . . . . 6 section 916.145.”); see also State v. Benninghoff, 188 So. 3d 64, 67 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016) (“Cases reviewing the dismissal of charges, pursuant to section 916.145, Florida Statutes, and rule 3.213 of the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure have uniformly and consistently enforced the five-year requirement before dismissal. See Bryant v....

...2d 1230, 1232 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004) (affirming denial of motion to dismiss prior to expiration of five years). Here, less than four years elapsed before the trial court dismissed the charge against the defendant. Based on a plain reading of rule 3.213, section 916.145, and case law, the trial court erred in dismissing the charge.”); accord McCray v....

...uld theoretically be detained (solely for the purpose of protecting the public from further criminal activity) for up to two years if mentally retarded or five years if mentally ill upon the commission of a new offense while on pretrial release. See § 916.145, Fla....

...y.” Some recent evaluations found that Joseph suffered from a mental illness; however, the statutory definition of “mental illness” “does not apply to defendants who have only an intellectual disability.” § 916.106(14), Fla. Stat. (2013). Section 916.145, Florida Statutes (2013), provides for the dismissal of charges after five years where incompetency is due to mental illness. Joseph has not demonstrated that he is statutorily entitled to dismissals at this time....

...Schofield had been found incompetent.2 However, the court did not initiate a Baker Act proceeding. Instead, on May 31, 2018, the circuit court entered an "Order Granting Release Following Commitment," which released Mr. Schofield from 2This part of the court's order appears to be based upon section 916.145(1), Florida Statutes (2017): "The charges against a defendant adjudicated incompetent to proceed due to mental illness shall be dismissed without prejudice to the [S]tate if the defendant remains incompetent to proceed for 5 continuous, uninterrupted years after such determination ....