RICHARD GERLAUGH, PETITIONER,
v.
FLORIDA PAROLE COMMISSION, RESPONDENT
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Richard Gerlaugh challenged his conviction and probation on the ground that the information charging him was signed by an Assistant State's Attorney rather than the State's Attorney, allegedly violating the Florida Constitution. The Florida Supreme Court rejected his habeas corpus petition, holding that while such a defect renders an information void if timely objected to, Gerlaugh waived this right by pleading guilty and failing to raise the objection at trial.
An information signed by an Assistant State's Attorney instead of the State's Attorney is null, void, and of no effect, but only if the defendant timely objects to this defect through proper motion at trial. A defendant who pleads guilty and does not object to the manner in which the information is signed waives the right to challenge it later, and habeas corpus relief is not available.
“Having reached the conclusion above stated, it follows that the purported informations upon which the capiases issued under which this petitioner is held are null, void, and of no effect.”
The Court's statement of the legal rule that informations signed by someone other than the State's Attorney are void, but applies only in circumstances where timely objection was made.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceGerlaugh was adjudged guilty of a felony based on an information signed by an Assistant State's Attorney instead of the State's Attorney. He was place…
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Because the information, under which he was adjudged to be guilty1 of a felony and placed on probation for a period of four years, was signed by the Assistant State’s Attorney instead of the State’s Attorney, petitioner alleges he is being illegally deprived of his liberty. In fine, petitioner specifically avers that by virtue of the constitutional requirement2 that every information shall be under oath and filed by the prosecuting attorney, the failure of the State’s Attorney to sign and swear to said information renders the same null, void and of no effect,3 and that, therefore, he is being presently illegally restrained.4
In Sawyer v. State,5 this Court for the first time had occasion to consider the basic question raised here. In that case the information was signed by an Assistant County Solicitor instead of, as here, an Assistant State’s Attorney. While in Sawyer we were concerned with the power of a Prosecuting Attorney under then Ar-*889tide V, Section 28, of the Florida Constitution, the holding in that case is clearly applicable to the situation presented here.6 Sawyer’s attack upon the information upon the ground that it was signed,, sworn to and filed by an Assistant County Solicitor was not made until after the expiration of the term at which he was convicted and, as stated above, on direct appeal to this Court. We rejected Sawyer’s contention because of our view that in interposing a plea of not guilty and going to trial, Sawyer had waived his right to obj ect on those .grounds.
Just a short time after the Sawyer case was decided, we were presented with a similar problem in the Segars7 case. In the latter case the challenge on the above grounds was made to the information by motion to quash as well as by motion in arrest of judgment. This Court in that case declared invalid a statute which purported to authorize the Assistant County Solicitor to file the information as being violative of the Constitution and reversed the conviction on the ground that the motion to quash as well as the motion in arrest of judgment should have been granted by the trial court. The opinion clearly distinguished the Sawyer decision in the following language:
“In the case of Sawyer v. State (Fla.) 113 So. 736, an attempt was made to raise the same question which is now before us. It was contended by plaintiff in error in that case that the attempt in section 597S, Rev.Gen. Stats., to vest an assistant county solicitor with power to sign, swear to, and file an information in a criminal court of record, was contrary to section 28 of article 3 of the Constitution. It was there held by this court that, for the reasons therein stated, the plaintiff in error in that case was not in a position to raise the point, which is, however, in the instant case, squarely presented. * * * ”
In the Young8 case, which followed by a few months Sawyer and Segars, we were considering a direct appeal by Young from an adverse habeas corpus judgment. In rejecting Young’s contention that he was being illegally restrained, we again pointed out that
“ * * * when a defendant does not duly object to the manner in which the information is signed and sworn to, at the proper time and in the proper way, he thereby waives his right to do so, and cannot invoke habeas corpus to obtain a discharge from custody.”
In the later Ricks9 case, Ricks applied directly to this Court for habeas corpus alleging that the informations charging him with the felony were sworn to and signed by the Assistant State’s Attorney and were, therefore, in violation of his rights under Section 10 of the Declaration of Rights of the Florida Constitution. Since it did not appear in the Ricks case that he had waived his right to assail said informations, our decision in that case discharging him from custody was clearly in line with the holdings in the previous cases heretofore discussed. In concluding the opinion, however, the following language was used:
“Having reached the conclusion above stated, it follows that the purported informations upon which the capiases issued under which this petitioner is held are null, void, and of no effect.”
The holding of the quoted language must be related to the factual situation presented *890by the record in the Ricks case. The observation that the law applicable to its ultimate holding was settled by the Court in the Segars case was clearly stated in the opinion. Any attempt to extend the quoted language to give relief to a defendant such as the petitioner in this case, who has waived his right to object as pointed out in the previous cases, is clearly unjustified. The quoted language must be considered as holding only that upon timely objections to an information on the ground that it was not signed by the State’s Attorney such an information is null, void and of no effect.
This conclusion is clearly supported by the Carson10 and Champlin11 cases which followed some years later. In both of these cases we reiterated and reaffirmed the holdings in the Segars and Young cases that advantage must be timely taken of the failure to comply with the constitutional provisions else they will be deemed to have been waived. This was also the view taken by the District Court of Appeal, First District, in the Jordan 12 case where, upon direct appeal, the contention of Jordan that his conviction was defective, because the information was verified by an Assistant State’s Attorney, was rejected.
The only departure we find from the holdings in these cases is in Bernicia Pitts v. State,13 in the District Court of Appeal for the Second District. There, that court, apparently because of a misinterpretation of the concluding language in the Ricks case above quoted, took a contrary view.
For the reasons above stated, the writ of habeas corpus heretofore issued is hereby discharged and the petitioner is remanded to the custody of the respondent.
ROBERTS, C. J., and THORNAL,. O’CONNELL and CALDWELL, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Carbajal v. State, 75 So. 3d 258 (Fla. 2011)…t court of subject matter jurisdiction and renders a conviction based on the information void, when a complete lack of signature may be waived by the defendant. We conclude that Carbajal’s case is analogous to Gerlaugh v. Florida Parole Commission, 139 So. 2d 888 (Fla.1962), and Young v. State, 97 Fla. 214, 121 So. 468 (1929), in which this Court upheld the defendants’ convictions despite the fact that the informations were signed by assistant prosecuting attorneys who at the time were not authorized by the…
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State v. Anderson, 537 So. 2d 1373 (Fla. 1989)…nd is supported by analogous case law holding that entry of a plea without objection waives failure of the state to comply with constitutional provisions on filing of informations by authorized prosecutors. See Gerlaugh v. Florida Parole Commission, 139 So. 2d 888 (Fla.1962), and cases discussed therein. Cf. Suarez v. State, 95 Fla. 42, 115 So. 519 (1928) (failure to object waives unfiled amendment to information); Acton v. State, 457 So. 2d 540 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984) (erroneous statutory citation in information…
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Colson v. State, 717 So. 2d 554 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)…ument that the State’s refusal to sign the information constitutes fundamental error merits discussion. The validity of an information not signed by the state attorney may only be attacked upon a timely objection. Gerlaugh v. Florida Parole Comm’n, 139 So. 2d 888 (Fla.1962). A defendant waives a defect in the information if he fails to object before pleading to the substantive charges. In Montanez v. State, 630 So. 2d 1163 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993), the court considered the issue of “whether failure of an assistant…
Previewing 3 of 9 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Sawyer v. State, 94 Fla. 60 (Fla. 1927)
- Sellers v. Bridges, 153 Fla. 586 (Fla. 1943)
- Segars v. State, 94 Fla. 1128 (Fla. 1927)
- State v. Davidson, 121 Fla. 196 (Fla. 1935)
- Young v. State, 97 Fla. 214 (Fla. 1929)
- Jordan v. State, 136 So. 2d 367 (Fla. 1st DCA 1962)
- Champlin v. Cochran, 125 So. 2d 565 (Fla. 1960)
- Carson v. The Honorable Nathan Mayo, 128 Fla. 247 (Fla. 1937)
- Bernicia Pitts v. State, 139 So. 2d 701 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962)