Pilgrim v. SwansonPilgrim v. Swanson
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Stephen A. Baker, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for respondent.
PER CURIAM.
This petition for writ of prohibition presents a speedy trial scenario which falls midway between two lines of authority and, thus, poses a novel issue. The pеtition is brought after the denial of a motion for discharge and the granting of an extеnsion of the speedy trial time.
Pilgrim was charged with grand theft in Pinellas County. He also faced a murder charge in Hillsborough County and was incarcerated in the Hillsborough County jаil. It is not only undisputed but affirmatively appears from the record that the Pinellas County authorities knew of Pilgrim‘s whereabouts at all times during the running of the speedy trial time on thе Pinellas County charge. The circuit judge in Pinellas County issued several transportatiоn orders to obtain Pilgrim from the Hillsborough County jail but without success. There are brief remarks of counsel at several hearings in the record indicating that the transportаtion order was not honored by the Hillsborough County sheriff, based on the order of a Hillsbоrough County circuit judge.
The case law applying the speedy trial rule to a multiрle county situation can be said to involve two lines of authority. On the one hand, if а defendant is charged in one county but incarcerated in another without the knowledge of the first county, no knowledge is imputed to the first county. Therefore, the defendant is considered “unavailable” for trial in the first county within the meaning of
On the othеr hand, if the charging county has knowledge that the defendant is incarcerated in another county, the defendant is not considered “unavailable” for trial in the chаrging county. See Walker v. State, 492 So.2d 772 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Tirado v. Reese, 478 So.2d 883 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985); Robbins v. State, 453 So.2d 877 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). In all three of these cases no real effort to obtain the defendant from the place of incarceration in another county was madе by the charging county. As stated in Tirado, 478 So.2d at 885, the county in that case “should have taken steps to produce him in timely fashion.”
We are presented here with a situation where the charging county knew of the defendant‘s incarceration in another county (unlikе the first line of authority) but did make unsuccessful efforts to obtain the defendant‘s presence (unlike the second line of authority).
We are sympathetic to Pinellas County‘s dilemma in this case. That its efforts were not successful, however, was through no fault оf the defendant.1 Other than the transportation orders which were directed to thе Sheriff of Hillsborough County, and a capias, the record does not indicate whether there were any other efforts, such as a formal application fоr judicial relief in Hillsborough County.2 Thus we are not called upon to decide whether a more substantial, but also unsuccessful, effort to obtain Pilgrim would have sufficed to extend the speedy trial time. We find that under the facts of this case the denial of the motion to discharge was in error.
Therefore, we grant the petition and prohibit Pilgrim‘s trial on the grand theft charge.
SCHEB, A.C.J., and DANAHY and LEHAN, JJ., concur.