03-10-B IN RE: CRIMINAL - SCHEDULING OF ARRAIGNMENT/SECOND APPEARANCE IN FELONY CASES - ORDERED 5/15/2003 BY BRUCE W. JACOBUS
EXCERPT: “WHEREAS, Rule 3.160(a), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure requires that arraignment shall occur in open court or by audiovisual device; and WHEREAS, Rule 3.160(a), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure provides that if the defendant is represented by counsel, counsel may file a written plea of not guilty at or before arraignment and thereupon arraignment shall be deemed waived; and WHEREAS, the existing practice in Brevard County for Felony Cases has been to use the scheduled court appearance of Arraignment (also called Second Appearance) as a means to track cases and defendants until an Indictment, Information, or Notice of No Information is filed by the State; and WHEREAS, the existing practice in Brevard County for the arraignment of defendants who are charged with a felony has demonstrated inefficiencies of rescheduled court appearances; created delays in arraignment where a written plea of not guilty has been filed by counsel; and created increasingly large arraignment dockets; and WHEREAS, Rule 2.050, Florida Rules of Judicial Administration authorizes the Chief Judge to oversee and establish procedures that will provide for the efficient scheduling and processing of cases before all courts within the circuit; THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that, The Clerk of the Court shall schedule the Arraignment date in all felony cases to occur on the first available arraignment docket four (4) weeks from the date of the defendant’s initial arrest. (Open AO for more information.)”
Additional Information: