3rd DCA ROUNDUP

The decisions from the 3rd DCA start off with a bang, and that's not good news for the SAO. 

In Nodal v. State, the court reversed the "horrible and tragic double homicide" conviction because the trial judge did not grant the defense's request to appoint a neuropsychologist for the defense to examine the defendant and provide testimony where the defense was insanity, and the prosecution had their own neuropsychologist expert.  The decision list Judges David Young and Rosa Rodriguez. 

Rumpole says:

"For the want of a nail the shoe was lost;

 for the want of a shoe the horse was lost;

 for the want of a horse the rider was lost;

for the want of a rider the battle was lost;

for the want of a battle a kingdom was lost;

all for the want of a nail.

Next time judges, in an insanity case, appoint the damn expert and be done with it. 

In Robinson v. State, we see the perils of turning yourself in when you think you are wanted for a crime. Robinson called the police and turned himself in, telling the police he was wanted for murder. He was not. He was wanted for questioning.  The defendant moved to suppress his confession, arguing that his consensual encounter with the police turned into an arrest when he was handcuffed in the back of the police unit. 

Not so says the 3rd DCA.  It was entirely reasonable for the police to handcuff the defendant when he told them he was wanted for murder and "the defendant never asked the police officer to verify the charges." 

Moral of the story: when you turn yourself in for murder in Miami, ask the officer to verify the charges before you are taken away.
Judge Schlessinger denied the motion to suppress at trial, and he gets another notch in his belt courtesy of the 3rd DCA.

And finally in State v. Lacayo the 3rd DCA interprets section 948.30(3) of the Florida Statutes, which requires electronic monitoring for all persons convicted of a crime and designated as a sexual predator to mean any crime, even a non-sexual crime,  so long as the individual has a previous designation as a sexual predator.  Therefore, if you have a previous designation as a sexual predator, and these days who doesn't- then even if you get six months probation for petit theft or driving with a suspended license, the court must impose electronic monitoring. 

So there you have it another edition of our 3rd DCA roundup, and best of all, no judges made the hall of shame. 

See you in court reading those FLWs.