Court Opinion

ID: 9930646
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-07 15:03:31.775076+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:23:49.163734
License: Public Domain

DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
                               FOURTH DISTRICT

                           DAVID ADAM SMART,
                                Appellant,

                                       v.

                           STATE OF FLORIDA,
                                Appellee.

                              No. 4D2022-2375

                             [February 7, 2024]

  Appeal from the County Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, St.
Lucie County; Kathryn M. Nelson, Judge; L.T. Case No.
562019MM002442A.

  Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and Benjamin Eisenberg, Assistant
Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

  Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Kimberly T. Acuña,
Senior Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

ARTAU, J.

   We affirm the defendant’s misdemeanor conviction for willfully violating
a condition of pretrial release, as proscribed by section 741.29(6), Florida
Statutes (2021). However, we accept the State’s concession of error with
respect to the trial court’s imposition of a $500 lien as the fee for the public
defender’s services because the amount imposed exceeded the statutorily
authorized maximum without “a showing of sufficient proof of higher fees”
incurred, as required by section 938.29(1)(a), Florida Statutes (2021), and
the trial court failed to inform the defendant of his right to contest the
amount of the lien as required by Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure
3.720(d)(1).

   A trial court is required to impose as part of the judgment in every
misdemeanor case “no less than $50” as a fee for the representation
provided the defendant by court-appointed counsel. § 938.29(1)(a), Fla.
Stat. (2021). A trial court may only “set a higher amount” for the lien
imposed for the fee “upon a showing of sufficient proof of higher fees . . .
incurred.” Id.
   At the defendant’s sentencing, the trial court imposed the $500 lien for
the public defender’s fee without hearing any evidence in support of the
amount assessed. The trial court also imposed the lien without advising
the defendant of his “right to a hearing to contest the amount of the lien.”
Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.720(d)(1).

    As the defendant argues and the State concedes, “if the trial court
imposes a higher public defender fee than the statutory minimum, the
court must inform the defendant that he has a right to contest the fee at
a hearing.” Taylor v. State, 352 So. 3d 346, 348 (Fla. 4th DCA 2022); see
also Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.720(d)(1) (2021) (requiring trial courts to notify
defendants, “represented by a public defender or other court appointed
counsel,” of “the imposition of [the statutory lien required by] section
938.29,” and advise them of the “right to a hearing to contest the amount
of the lien” when sentence is imposed).

    We therefore reverse the $500 lien for the public defender’s fee. On
remand, the trial court is directed to either reduce the amount of the lien
to the statutorily required minimum or provide the defendant with notice
and an opportunity to object to the greater amount at a hearing. See
Godfrey v. State, 180 So. 3d 218, 219 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015) (reversing $300
public defender’s fee and remanding either for a reduction in the fee to the
statutory minimum amount required, or notice to the defendant and an
opportunity to object to the greater amount at a hearing); see also Escobar
v. State, 308 So. 3d 174, 176 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020) (reversing $500 public
defender fee and remanding either for a reduction in the fee to the
statutory minimum amount required, or a hearing justifying the greater
amount).

   Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with instructions.

KLINGENSMITH, C.J., and KUNTZ, J., concur.

                           *         *         *

    Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

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