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Office of the Public Defender v. State
Citations: 714 So. 2d 1083; 1998 Fla. App. LEXIS 7167; 1998 WL 315075Docket: No. 97-3222
Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida; June 17, 1998; Florida; State Appellate Court
A writ of mandamus has been granted to the Office of the Public Defender, compelling magistrates at felony first appearance hearings to assess each defendant's ability to hire private counsel. The current practice allows magistrates to automatically appoint the public defender when private counsel is absent, without conducting an indigency determination at the first appearance. This often results in the appointment of the public defender for non-indigent defendants temporarily, contravening Section 27.51(2) and Section 27.52(1)(a) of the Florida Statutes, which state that the public defender cannot be appointed to represent non-indigent individuals, even temporarily. The law requires the magistrates to evaluate financial affidavits to make a preliminary indigency determination before appointing counsel. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.130(c)(1) also stipulates that it is preferable for the magistrate to ascertain the defendant's financial capability before the first appearance and to appoint counsel accordingly. While the rule allows for limited appointment of the public defender without a prior determination in specific cases, such as when a defendant cannot complete the necessary affidavit due to mental incapacity or language barriers, this should be an exception rather than the norm. The current procedural approach undermines the intent of the relevant statutes and rules, leading to the grant of the petition. Judge Cope concurs with the decision.