DAVIS v. STATE (2025)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

Willie DAVIS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

Case No. 5D2024-0997

Decided: August 28, 2025

Matthew J. Metz, Public Defender, and George D.E. Burden, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant. James Uthmeier, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Christina Piotrowski, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.

In this appeal from his conviction and sentence for grand theft auto, Appellant claims that the trial court committed fundamental error in failing to make an independent determination of Appellant's competence after appointing an expert to evaluate Appellant's competence to proceed. Because the record reflects that the trial court had reasonable grounds to believe that Appellant might not be competent to proceed, the court fundamentally erred when it failed to make an independent determination regarding Appellant's competence. See Carnley v. State, 403 So. 3d 1094, 1097 (Fla. 5th DCA 2025). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for a nunc pro tunc determination of Appellant's competence at the time of trial or for a new trial, if such determination cannot be made by the court. Id.

Reversed and Remanded.

Per Curiam.

Jay, C.J., and Lambert and Harris, JJ., concur.

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