Gene ATKINS, Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.
*1220 Fred Haddad of Haddad & Hester, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for petitioner.
No response required for respondent.
PER CURIAM.
Gene Atkins seeks a writ of prohibition, barring the trial court from proceeding further in a felony prosecution because of his allegation the speedy trial period prescribed in Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191(a) has expired. Atkins was originally charged in case number 98-10089 CF10A with solicitation to commit aggravated battery, following his arrest on May 15, 1998. This information was superseded by a re-filed information, case number 99-19830 CF10A, filed on November 2, 1999, charging the same solicitation, as well as attempted murder, arson, and possession of a firebomb. The new charges arose from the same incident which formed the basis for the 1998 solicitation charge.
In 2000, Atkins' attorney filed a motion to dismiss raising the speedy trial claim, the denial of which led to this petition. We deny the petition. Because Atkins moved for a defense continuance on November 5, 1998, during the pendency of the earlier-filed information, that continuance constituted a waiver of his speedy trial rights. See Stewart v. State,
Once a waiver of speedy trial rights has occurred, a defendant may "start the clock running again" by invoking a demand for speedy trial pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191(b). That was not done here, and Atkins was therefore not entitled to a dismissal, as the speedy trial requirement had been waived.
PETITION DENIED.
POLEN, FARMER and SHAHOOD, JJ., concur.