State Florida v. Eddie Shelton

The state appeals from an order by the circuit court which sanctioned it for grossly negligent preparation of a criminal case, and which required the State Attorney's Office to pay $50 to the Public Defender's Office, $50 to defense counsel, and $150 to the general revenue fund for reimbursement for costs associated with an aborted jury selection effort, and the wasted time and effort of court personnel and facilities. The trial judge expressly found there had been no intentional misbehavior on the part of the prosecutor. We reverse. On a Monday morning the process of selecting a jury panel in a criminal trial was commenced. The two key state witnesses (the alleged victims of attempted murder and burglary of a dwelling) had not been subpoenaed for the trial. On the prior Friday, the prosecutor dispatched his investigator to serve Kevin (one of the victims). The investigator reached Kevin by phone on Saturday and told him it was extremely important for Kevin to appear in court on Monday.