Filing Criminal Charging Documents 2 Days After the Expiration of the Default Period

In State v. Leslie, 699 So. 2d 832 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997), the Third District Court of Appeal applied the nullity principle when the State filed the charging documents two days after the expiration of the default period. The Leslie court determined that under Genden v. Fuller, 648 So. 2d 1183 (Fla. 1994), the defendant was entitled to immediate discharge, and accordingly, the post-expiration continuance was a nullity under the Third District's decision in Muller. See Leslie, 699 So. 2d at 833. The Fourth District's reliance on Leslie ignores a dispositive factual distinction between that decision and Nelson. The State in Leslie was not entitled to the recapture period because it had failed to file the charging document before the expiration of the 175-day speedy trial period. See Leslie, 699 So. 2d at 832. Under no circumstances would the State be able to bring the defendant to trial because it failed to timely file the charges; therefore, a defendant's post-expiration continuance would neither contribute to nor impact the reason that trial could not commence. See id. This distinction is reiterated in the special concurrence in Leslie, where Judge Shevin clarified that under the factual circumstances, the State was not entitled to the recapture window and the defendant's discharge was mandated. See Leslie, 699 So. 2d at 833 (Shevin, J., specially concurring).