THEODORE ZYLA, APPELLANT,
v.
THE HONORABLE JERI B. COHEN, COUNTY COURT JUDGE, IN AND FOR DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Theodore Zyla appealed a county court order denying his discharge under Florida's speedy trial rule, claiming the State's failure to timely produce discovery documents necessitated a trial continuance. The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the circuit court's denial of his writ of prohibition petition, finding that Zyla's counsel unreasonably delayed requesting documents until days before trial, making the State responsible for the delay rather than a violation of speedy trial protections.
The county court did not err in charging the continuance to the defendant. The defendant is not entitled to discharge under the speedy trial rule where his own counsel unreasonably delayed requesting discovery documents until days before trial, rather than making a timely and prioritized request despite knowing the established procedure since January.
[1] A defendant's failure to timely request discovery documents, even if necessary for defense, may result in the trial continuance being charged to the defendant rather than…
[2] A defendant cannot wait until the eve of trial to request numerous documents and then claim the State caused inexcusable delays in providing them.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A defendant should not be permitted to wait until the eve of trial, request a large number of documents from the state and then accuse the state of inexcusable delays in providing those documents. Nor, should a defendant be permitted to blame his unreadiness or unavailability for trial on the state, where the defendant is tardy in his discovery request.”
The county judge's holding that a defendant cannot shift responsibility for discovery delays caused by his own untimely request
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceZyla's trial was set for Wednesday, February 24, 1993 at 9:00 A.M. On Friday, February 19, 1993 at 3:20 P.M., Zyla's trial counsel appeared at the sta…
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FLETCHER, Judge.
Defendant Theodore Zyla [“Zyla”] appeals from a circuit court decision which denied his petition for writ of prohibition challenging a county court order denying his discharge under the speedy trial rule. Fla.R.Crim.P. 3.191. We affirm the circuit court’s denial of Zyla’s petition, finding no error on its part.
The circuit court had before it the question of whether the county court erred when it charged a trial continuance to Zyla, rather than to the State, and denied Zyla’s discharge motion. The county court’s denial order clearly sets forth the events which occurred and correctly applies the appropriate procedural rules and case law to those facts. Zyla has presented no reason that the circuit court should have concluded to the contrary.
This is one of a substantial number of eases we have seen where ostensible state discovery violations are alleged to have re-suited in violations of the speedy trial rule which, in turn, require the discharge of the defendant. Basically, Zyla contends that the State faded to provide him, on a timely basis, certain documents claimed necessary for his defense,1 thus making necessary a continuance beyond the speedy trial time. As the county judge found, however, in accordance with the procedure established by the state attorney, Zyla’s trial counsel appeared at the state attorney’s office on Friday, February 19, 1993, at 3:20 P.M. in order to obtain copies of documents for Zyla’s case, as well as copies of similar documents for seven other unrelated cases. The request for Zyla’s documents was not prioritized by his counsel even though the ease was set for trial on Wednesday, February 24, 1993 at 9:00 A.M., a few working days later. As Zyla’s trial counsel had been made aware of the established procedure as early as January 13, 1993, it is difficult to understand why he waited until the last possible moment.2 Whatever the reason, it is insufficient to charge the State with the delay caused by the timing of his request. As stated by the county judge in her order:
“A defendant should not be permitted to wait until the eve of trial, request a large number of documents from the state and then accuse the state of inexcusable delays in providing those documents. Nor, should a defendant be permitted to blame his unreadiness or unavailability for trial on the state, where the defendant is tardy in his discovery request.”
A.98.
The circuit court’s order denying the petition for writ of prohibition is affirmed.
. Intoxilyzer machine maintenance documents.
. Zyla's trial counsel was obviously displeased with the inconvenience of the method of production set up by the State for intoxilyzer documents. The method was later made substantially more convenient; i.e., the intoxilyzer maintenance documents are now readily available in the library in the Richard E. Gerstein Building. Inconvenience, however, does not excuse the delay.