Case Name: Linda Purvis FULK, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1982-08-11
Citations: 417 So. 2d 1121
Docket Number: No. 81-981
Parties: Linda Purvis FULK, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: SHARP, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 417
Pages: 1121–1127

Head Matter:
Linda Purvis FULK, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 81-981.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
Aug. 11, 1982.
James B. Gibson, Public Defender, Michael S. Becker, and Leonard R. Ross, Assistant Public Defenders,. Daytona Beach, for appellant.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Mark C. Menser, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee.

Opinion:
ORFINGER, Chief Judge.
Appellant preserved for appeal the denial of her motion for discharge on speedy trial grounds when she entered a plea of nolo contendere to two felony charges of possession and delivery of a controlled substance.
Appellant was taken into custody on these charges on December 11, 1980. At arraignment, she appeared and entered a plea of not guilty, and her case was set for trial on June 15, 1981, one hundred and eighty six days following her arrest. No request for a continuance by appellant appears in the record, nor is there any order of court extending speedy trial. Neither did appellant demand a speedy trial. Thus, the "speedy trial" period expired on June 9, 1981, unless one of the exceptions of Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191(d)(3) (1977) makes discharge not appropriate.
On June 5,1981, appellant's appointed public defender filed a motion to withdraw, citing conflict because of the representation by the public defender's office of a co-defendant. This motion was not heard until June 10, at which time it was granted, and other counsel was appointed. No motion for continuance was made in conjunction with this substitution. The State concedes that there was no waiver of speedy trial by the timing of the motion of the public defender to withdraw. This is correct. There was no showing below that the motion was frivolous, filed for delay or that it was without merit. State v. J. H., 295 So.2d 698 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974). Thus, there is no showing that the failure to bring appellant to trial within the speedy trial time was attributable to the accused or her counsel, or to a co-defendant. Fla.R. Crim.P. 3.191(d)(3) (1977).
The State says that defendant was unavailable for trial, thus not entitled to be discharged. But, the State is not arguing that appellant was not prepared on June 15, 1981, the date the trial was scheduled, but on June 9, 1981, the date speedy trial time ran. The record reflects that new counsel was appointed on June 10,1981. Under the cited rule no presumption of non-availability attaches, and the State offered nothing to show that appellant was not ready for trial on the date the case was set for trial. Therefore, any inquiry into appellant's availability for trial on June 9, 1981, the day speedy trial ran, is not pertinent.
Appellee's second argument is that the defendant was noticed to attend a "change of plea" hearing and failed to appear, thus making appellant unavailable for trial because neither she nor her counsel attended a proceeding where there presence was required by the rules.
At arraignment, the trial court had entered a form order entitled: "Notice of Pre-Trial Conference, Motion/Docket Day, and Order Setting Case for Trial." Noth ing in this order requires the presence of either the defendant or her counsel at any proceeding other than the trial. The reference to a pre-trial conference does not require the presence of counsel before the court, and there were no motions or other issues pending which would have required appellant's presence on motion/doeket day on June 1st.
The State argues that a notice sent by the prosecutor to the defendant requiring her to appear in court on June 1st for a "change of plea" hearing was a required proceeding, so she was thus unavailable for trial because neither she nor her attorney appeared that day. This argument sets up a straw man and then knocks it down. Nothing in the record indicates that appellant intended to change her plea. She had pleaded not guilty at arraignment, and even though there may have been plea negotiations (a point not made clear in the record before us), the State could not compel her to change her plea, or to accept a plea offer. Plea negotiations in and of themselves do not render a defendant unavailable for trial in the absence of a showing that the negotiations were entered into in bad faith for purposes of delay. Thus the fact that a defendant is engaged in plea negotiations through the time the motion for discharge is made does not alone indicate waiver, nonavailability or bad faith delay. Stuart v. State, 360 So.2d 406 (Fla. 1978).
The State relies on Harris v. State, 400 So.2d 819 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981) as standing for the proposition that a defendant's failure to appear at a court proceeding during the running of speedy trial waived the speedy trial requirements. In Harris, the defendant failed to appear for arraignment, and was therefore deemed to be unavailable for trial. That case is inapposite because there, defendant failed to appear at a required time. Here we have only a unilateral action by the State calculated to compel appellant to accept or reject a plea offer. While the purpose is worthy, a defendant is not required to appear for that purpose unless ordered by the court, and no such order was entered here. There is no presumption that a defendant is unavailable for trial, Rule 3.191(e), and the State must make a preliminary showing of non-availability if it objects to discharge on that ground. No showing is made here.
The defendant was entitled to be discharged because she was not brought to trial within the period of time prescribed by Rule 3.191(a)(1). The final order accepting appellant's plea, withholding adjudication and placing her on probation is set aside, and the case is remanded to the trial court with directions to discharge appellant.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
SHARP, J., concurs.
COWART, J., concurs specially with opinion.
. The 1977 rule controls this case because appellant was taken into custody prior to January 1, 1981, the date on which the current rule became effective. See Holmes v. Leffler, 411 So.2d 889 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982).
. The current rule (3.191[e]) provides that a person is unavailable for trial if he or his counsel fails to attend a proceeding at which his presence is required. Although this precise language was not found in the prior rule, we will discuss it as descriptive of a circumstance which could have been used as a basis for a determination of unavailability under the old rule.
.Pertinent parts of this order read:
1. TRIAL — This case is set for trial during the monthly trial term commencing the week of June 15, 1981, at 9:00 A.M., at the Marion County Courthouse, Ocala, Florida. In the event the case does not come to trial during the above mentioned trial term, it shall automatically be set over to the next succeeding trial term.
2. MOTION/DOCKET DAY for the above mentioned trial term shall be held on Monday two (2) weeks prior to said trial term at 10:30 A.M., or as soon thereafter as counsel may be heard following weekly arraignments. All pending motions or other issues shall be heard on Motion/Docket Day. No motion filed on or subsequent to Motion Day, the granting of which will result in a postponement, continuance or delay in the trial will be entertained or considered if such motion is predicated on any fact, circumstance, or matter of law known to Movant prior to Motion Day or of which he may have known through the exercise of reasonable diligence, including, but not limited to non-compliance with any demand for discovery unless a timely motion to compel discovery has been filed. Except for good cause, evidentiary motions MUST be heard prior to Motion Day.
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5. PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE — Counsel for the respective parties SHALL confer in person or by telephone at least three (3) working days prior to Motion/Docket Day for the purpose of settling issues, completing discovery, discussing plea offers, etc. It shall be the duty of the Defendant or defense counsel to contact the State's attorney handling the case for said conference.
6. PLEA OFFERS — All negotiations concerning plea offers (plea bargaining) shall be concluded, REDUCED TO WRITING, and presented to the Court on or before Motion/Docket Day. THE COURT WILL NOT ENTERTAIN OR CONSIDER ANY PLEA OFFER MADE SUBSEQUENT TO THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DOCKET ON MOTION/DOCKET DAY. By presenting to the Court a negotiated plea the Defendant stipulates that the running of Fla.R.C.P. 3.191 (Speedy Trial) is tolled until such time as the plea is accepted or rejected by the Court, including any time necessary for a pre-sentence investigation.