County Criminal Division C Procedures

Amended February 20, 2023

The Court enters this Pretrial Order, which, together with all relevant rules of procedure and administrative orders, governs practice in this division. All dockets in Division C are in person. The Court will accept pleas in absentia at in person dockets.

For situations in which the Court allows a virtual appearance, the Zoom link is: https://zoom.us/j/9814348181 Meeting ID: 981 434 8181

 

The Zoom app may be downloaded for free onto an iPad, smartphone or computer. No fee is needed to use Zoom. Pro Se litigants or others not familiar with Zoom should download the app and familiarize themselves with Zoom well in advance of the hearing. Upon logging in to the Zoom docket you will be placed in the waiting room. MUTE YOUR MICROPHONE UNTIL YOUR CASE IS CALLED.

 

Upon entering the waiting room, attorneys should rename themselves by their name and the case name. Defendants should rename themselves to their correct name, no aliases or nicknames.

 

When your case is called, unmute your microphone. When your case is concluded mute your microphone unless you leave the meeting.

 

Any person desiring to appear by Zoom must contact the Judicial Assistant and provide good cause for the request.

MOTIONS:  All motions must be heard prior to the pretrial conference or will be considered waived.

 

No motion, other than a legitimate emergency motion, will be set for a hearing unless the motion is electronically filed with the clerk prior to contacting the Judicial Assistant for a hearing date and time. The J.A. will check the court file when a request for hearing is made to determine whether the motion is in the file. If the motion is not in the file, the motion will not be set for hearing absent a representation from counsel that the motion has been filed but has not yet appeared for viewing. This process is facilitated if the attorney filing the motion includes the J.A.’s email address on the e-filing.

 

All motions and notices of hearing requiring witness testimony must be filed a sufficient length of time in advance of the hearing date for the opposing party to comply with Section 48.031 (4) (a) Florida Statutes.

 

All motions shall contain the facts and law which form the basis for the relief sought.

 

Courtesy copies of motions are neither required nor desired. The Court will consider only the electronic file.

 

Motions to compel discovery should be filed within 10 days after the date the discovery is due. Lack of diligence in pursuing remedies for discovery violations will be considered in determining whether to impose sanctions or what sanction is appropriate, including whether to grant a continuance and to which party a continuance should be charged.

 

PLEAS:   The Court will accept pleas in absentia, including violations of probation, in any case pending in the division.  PIAs for DUIs, DWLS, Petit Theft, Battery, Prostitution or Solicitation for Prostitution, Exposure of Sexual Organs, Violations of Protection Injunctions and Unlicensed Contracting must include, (1) Acknowledgement and Waiver of Rights in Absentia (2) full fingerprints and (3) a written Waiver of Personal Appearance in Court. RIDR and non enhanceable offenses require documents (1) and (3) but do not require prints.  A private service for fingerprints may be used if TPD or HCSO are not available. The Misdemeanor Probation Client Profile must be emailed directly to probation at probation@teamhcso.com.

 

PIA packets should be filed with the Clerk via the eportal and must be received before the date of the hearing.  For cases requiring fingerprints, a scanned copy of the prints must be e-filed and the original print card must be submitted to the Clerk’s office. No documents are required to be provided to the Court. The Court will rely on the court file. For cases not requiring fingerprints and not involving probation, counsel may announce their authority to enter a plea on behalf of the client at a disposition hearing, pretrial conference, last call or other hearing set for that purpose.

A form for the Acknowledgement of Rights in Absentia, Waiver of Personal Appearance in Court, Thirteenth Circuit Fingerprint Card and the Probation Client Profile are available online by going to the Thirteenth Circuit website, clicking Judicial Directory, clicking my name and selecting Forms.

DISPOSITION HEARINGS:  If the case is being resolved by plea in absentia, the PIA paperwork must be submitted to the J.A. at least 24 hours before the hearing and filed via the eportal. Attorneys having a conflict with the disposition date may either arrange coverage or submit a Request For New Court Date form.  Attorneys who are not on the disposition form email list may contact the Judicial Assistant and request to be put on the list in order to receive a form by email.

 

Absent unusual circumstances, no more than 4 dispositions are allowed. This number includes any disposition hearings due to conflict and to any dispositions which took place prior to counsel’s Notice of Appearance. One disposition may be set 60 days out provided counsel appears at the disposition hearing and requests a 60 day disposition date.

 

Disposition forms must be received at least 15 minutes before the start of the docket.   

ARRAIGNMENTS: Any case set for arraignment in which a Notice of Appearance and a Waiver of Speedy Trial have been filed by private counsel will be removed from the arraignment docket and set for a disposition hearing.  Cases in which no Waiver of Speedy Trial has been filed will be placed on the trial docket. Unrepresented defendants who are not in custody will appear in court personally.

PRETRIAL CONFERENCES:

There are separate pretrial dockets for private counsel, public defender and pro se cases. There is a Last Call docket, however, the parties are encouraged to resolve cases at the Pretrial Conference and not wait until the Last Call docket. Last Call should be reserved for those cases in which a genuine and unavoidable reason exists for the delay.