STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
DONNIE LEE COLE, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1982-04-30
No. 81-1820
HOBSON, A.C.J., and GRIMES, J., concur.
413 So. 2d 171 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1982) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Florida appealed the dismissal of a grand theft charge against Donnie Lee Cole on double jeopardy grounds. The court reversed, holding that Cole's defense counsel's failure to specify that a mistrial motion applied only to his co-defendant Gary Cole, combined with his silence when the trial court discharged the jury for both defendants, constituted acquiescence to a mistrial as to both defendants, thus avoiding double jeopardy protection.


Holding

The court held that the dismissal should be reversed because: (1) the right to sever was waived when counsel failed to make a motion to sever at the appropriate time; (2) counsel's unspecified mistrial motion, combined with his silence when the trial court discharged the jury for both defendants, constituted acquiescence to a mistrial as to both defendants; and (3) the trial judge had discretion to grant a mistrial to both defendants absent a severance motion.


Headnotes

[1] The failure of defense counsel to make a motion to sever the trial of jointly charged defendants waives the right to severance.

[2] A motion for mistrial made by counsel representing multiple defendants, without specifying it is limited to one defendant, is presumed to apply to all defendants represen…

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Key Quotes

“The state was entitled to try the brothers jointly as long as no motion to sever was made. Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.150(b)(1). The failure of counsel to make a motion for severance waived the right to severance.”

Establishes that failure to move for severance waives the right to a separate trial and the prosecution is entitled to joint prosecution.

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Facts & Procedural History

Donnie Lee Cole and his brother Gary Cole were jointly charged with grand theft and jointly represented by the same attorney. During trial, an arresti…

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Opinion of the Court
CAMPBELL, Judge.

CAMPBELL, Judge.

The state appeals from an order dismissing a grand theft charge against appellee on double jeopardy grounds.

Appellee and his brother Gary Cole were charged by joint information with grand theft. They were jointly represented by the same attorney in the proceedings before the trial court. The arresting officer testified that when he stopped the brothers in a van operated by Gary, Gary did not have a valid driver’s license. Defense counsel objected and moved for a mistrial on the ground that the testimony concerning the lack of a valid driver’s license constituted evidence of a collateral crime. The court granted the motion and stated that the case would be reset and tried by another jury the next day.1 The next day counsel made a motion to dismiss appellee’s case on double jeopardy grounds. Counsel stated he had only moved for a mistrial as to Gary Cole. After discussion the court reluctantly granted the motion.

Appellee makes two arguments to support the court’s judgment, the first concerns severance of the parties. It is undisputed that at the unrecorded conference in chambers concerning the motion for mistrial, counsel discussed severing the trial of his clients, but he made no motion to sever. However, appellee now argues the court should have severed the trial of defendants.

The state was entitled to try the brothers jointly as long as no motion to sever was made. Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.150(b)(1). The failure of counsel to make a motion for severance waived the right to severance. Wright v. State, 318 So. 2d 477 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975). We conclude that without a motion to sever, the right of the state to a joint trial continued.

Appellee’s second argument is that his counsel did not move for mistrial for him.

However, there is no dispute that the record is clear that counsel’s motion did not specify that it was made only on behalf of Gary Cole. As far as the record reveals, it was a motion for mistrial as to both defendants inasmuch as defense counsel was representing both on a joint information and he did not specify that the motion was limited to. only one defendant. After granting the “general” motion for mistrial, defense counsel then remained silent in the face of the discharge of the jury and the judge’s statement that the trial would be reset for the next day. In our opinion, this conduct evidenced defense counsel’s acquiescence to the mistrial as it pertained to appellee. We also conclude that if the trial judge had a legally sufficient reason during the joint trial of defendants to grant a mistrial to one defendant, he also had, absent a motion to sever, the discretion to grant a mistrial to both defendants. See Goodman v. State ex rel. Furlong, 247 So. 2d 47 (Fla.1971).

It ill behooves appellee to now state that the motion for mistrial applied only to his brother, since his counsel remained silent when it was clear that the judge thought and acted upon a belief that the motion pertained to both defendants. Although the next day the trial judge reluctantly accepted trial counsel’s explanation that the motion for mistrial was for Gary Cole, it is our opinion that counsel was not relieved of his obligation to explain his motion at the time the judge reset the trial and discharged the jury.

Accordingly, we reverse the dismissal of the cause against appellee and order a new trial.

HOBSON, A.C.J., and GRIMES, J., concur. . We do not reach the question of whether there were adequate grounds for a mistrial because that issue has not been presented to us.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Martin v. Honorable Manuel Menendez, Jr., 467 So. 2d 1035 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)
    …w. Potentially a motion for severance. ” (Emphasis supplied.) Petitioner thus obviously considered and rejected the filing of a motion for severance. The failure of counsel to make a motion for severance waived the right to severance. State v. Cole, 413 So. 2d 171 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982); Wright v. State, 318 So. 2d 477 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975), cert. denied, 334 So. 2d 609 (Fla.1976). Finally, we address one additional point. Following the mistrial in petitioner’s first trial, he filed a motion for speedy trial pursu…
  • Root v. State, 445 So. 2d 377 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)
    …s ever made below, (b) the defendant through counsel specifically waived his right to a severance in this case, and (c) no fundamental error otherwise appears on this record; Barbon-Zurita, v. State, 415 So. 2d 824 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982); State v. Cole, 413 So. 2d 171 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982); (2) the evidence adduced below was sufficient to sustain the conviction for second degree murder, see Tibbs v. State, 397 So. 2d 1120, 1123 (Fla.1981), cert. granted, 454 U.S. 963, 102 S.Ct. 502, 70 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981); Miller v.…
  • Bryan v. State, 1 So. 3d 283 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009)
    …PER CURIAM. AFFIRMED. See State v. Cole, 413 So. 2d 171, 172-73 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982). GRIFFIN, LAWSON and COHEN, JJ., concur.…

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