Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed March 28, 2018.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D18-373
Lower Tribunal No. 17-21313
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Emerson Perozo,
Petitioner,
vs.
The State of Florida,
Respondent.
A Case of Original Jurisdiction – Mandamus.
Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender, and Jeffrey Paul DeSousa, Assistant
Public Defender, for petitioner.
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Magaly Rodriguez, Assistant
Attorney General, for respondent.
Before ROTHENBERG, C.J., and SALTER and LOGUE, JJ.
ROTHENBERG, C.J.
The petitioner, Emerson Perozo, seeks mandamus relief instructing the trial
court to accept his written waiver of appearance at any pretrial conference. See
Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.180(a)(3) (“In all prosecutions for crime the defendant shall be
present . . . at any pretrial conference, unless waived by the defendant in
writing[.]”); 3.220(o)(1) (“The trial court may hold 1 or more pretrial conferences,
with trial counsel present, to consider such matters as will promote a fair and
expeditious trial. The defendant shall be present unless the defendant waives this in
writing.”). Because no good cause has been shown to override the defendant’s
waiver, we grant the petition for writ of mandamus and instruct the trial court to
accept the petitioner’s written waiver of appearance. See Charlemagne v. Guevara,
(Fla. 3d DCA 2016) (“[I]f there is a good reason to do so, a
trial court may require the presence of the defendant in court even when the
defendant has filed a written waiver [of appearance at pretrial conferences].”)
(citing Cruz v. State,
