Case Name: George DIAZ, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1997-07-14
Citations: 695 So. 2d 952
Docket Number: No. 97-1934
Parties: George DIAZ, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and JORGENSON and LEVY, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 695
Pages: 952–952

Head Matter:
George DIAZ, Appellant, v. The STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 97-1934.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
July 14, 1997.
Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and John E. Morrison, Special Assistant Public Defender, for Appellant.
Robert Butterworth, Attorney General, and Roberta G. Mandel, Assistant Attorney General, for Appellee.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and JORGENSON and LEVY, JJ.

Opinion:
CONFESSION OF ERROR
PER CURIAM.
Based upon the State's properly filed Confession of Error, the Order finding the defendant guilty of criminal contempt is reversed.
As pointed out by the State, the trial court improperly found the defendant to be guilty of contempt in a "mixed order" that was partially based upon the fact that the defendant was behind in his child support payments and, in addition, was partially based upon the trial court's finding that the defendant was not properly answering the trial judge's questions concerning whether or not the defendant was going to retain an attorney. As further pointed out by the State, regarding the second basis for finding the defendant to be guilty of criminal contempt, the record reflects that the defendant appears to have answered the questions as correctly and directly as he could and, accordingly, should not have been found guilty of direct criminal contempt based on the answers that he gave to the trial judge concerning legal representation.
Reversed.