Opinion ID: 1843479
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: mauney

Text: In Mauney, [6] the defendant was the investigating officer in a vehicular manslaughter case who was served with a subpoena to appear for trial and was eventually found guilty of indirect criminal contempt of court for failure to appear. 507 So.2d at 747. On appeal, he argued that his conviction was barred by the speedy trial rule. The Fifth District concluded that the speedy trial rule was inapplicable: Rule 3.840 sets out the procedure which a court must follow in prosecuting indirect criminal contempt matters. There is no cross-reference to the Speedy Trial Rule. Such cases commence with an order to show cause issued by the judge. A defendant is notified of a specified time and place for a hearing with a reasonable time allowed for preparation of the defense after service of the order on the defendant. The judge may issue an order of arrest if it seems the defendant will not appear for the show cause hearing (Rule 3.840(a)(2)). But an arrest is not necessary, and as contemplated by the rule, would only occur in an unusual case. The language of Speedy Trial Rule 3.191(a)(1) simply does not mesh with rule 3.840. Initially it states it applies to every person charged with a crime by indictment or information. These are charging documents filed by the prosecution; not a judge. Secondly, the time periods established by the rule start running when a person is arrested or served with a notice to appear in lieu of physical arrest. As noted above, show cause orders in indirect criminal contempt matters are not generally coupled with an arrest, nor are they in lieu of a physical arrest. We do not think that Florida's Speedy Trial Rule 3.191(a)(1) was intended to apply to proceedings under rule 3.840 or rule 3.830. Id. at 748. As mentioned above, the district court majority opinion here receded from Mauney and concluded that indirect criminal contempt is a criminal proceeding, subject to the speedy trial rule, notwithstanding the type of charging document used or who initiates the proceedings. Washington, 704 So.2d at 543.