HAROLD CLIFFORD BIELEC JR.
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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A trial court errs in imposing a public defender fee without evidence supporting the costs of investigation and must conduct a hearing before reimposing such costs.
[1] A trial court must have evidentiary support for the costs of investigation before imposing a public defender fee under section 938.29(1)(a), Florida Statutes, and must co…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“We find the trial court erred in imposing the public defender fee of $250 without evidence to support the costs of investigation pursuant to section 938.29(1)(a), Florida Statutes.”
Court's explanation of the error in imposing costs
Harold Clifford Bielec Jr. was convicted in Walton County Circuit Court and appealed both the denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal and the t…
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FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
_____________________________
No. 1D18-2763 _____________________________
HAROLD CLIFFORD BIELEC JR.,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee. _____________________________
On appeal from the Circuit Court for Walton County. Allen L. Register, Judge.
June 12, 2020
PER CURIAM.
The appellant raises two issues on appeal. We affirm the first issue, finding the trial court’s denial of the defense motion for judgment of acquittal was proper. The appellant also challenges the trial court’s imposition of costs at sentencing. We find the trial court erred in imposing the public defender fee of $250 without evidence to support the costs of investigation pursuant to section 938.29(1)(a), Florida Statutes. We also find a scrivener’s error that incorrectly identified the $100 Local Government Trust Fund fee as a “misdemeanor-imposed” fee. We remand for the trial court to correct the scrivener’s error and to conduct a hearing to address the amount of the public defender fee. On remand, the court may reimpose these costs after following the proper procedure. See Hogle v. State, 250 So. 3d 178 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018). We find no error with respect to the remaining aspects of the sentence.
2
WOLF, KELSEY, and WINOKUR, JJ., concur.
_____________________________
Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331. _____________________________
Andy Thomas, Public Defender, and Kathryn Lane, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Quentin Humphrey, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.