Opinion
No. 38491.
November 4, 1970.
Appeal from Circuit Court, Broward County; O. Edgar Williams, Jr., Judge.
A. Joseph Forzano, Hollywood, for appellant.
William G. Miller, Jr., Fort Lauderdale, for appellee.
Affirmed under the authority of Smith v. Davis (Fla. 1970) 231 So.2d 517, and De Jong v. Pallotto, 239 So.2d 252, decided by this court September 16, 1970, without prejudice to whatever rights, if any, the appellant may have under chapter 70-372, Laws of Florida, enacted by the Legislature 1970.
Chapter 70-372 is: "An Act relating to criminal trial procedure; amending chapter 932, Florida Statutes, by adding sections 932.61 through 932.66, to provide that a person charged with a violation of a county or municipal ordinance for which no jury trial is provided, when said violation is also a violation of state law, may cause the transfer of said case to the appropriate court in which a trial by jury is provided; establishing the method and procedure for such transfer; providing for the transfer of surety bonds; providing suggested forms for such transfer; providing an effective date."
It is so ordered.
ROBERTS, DREW, CARLTON and BOYD, JJ., concur.
ERVIN, C.J. (dissenting):
It appears to me that under our state constitution and laws a right to demand a trial by jury is fundamental and must be granted if imprisonment may be imposed upon conviction of the defendant, regardless of whether the prosecution arises under a state statute or a municipal ordinance and regardless of whether the trial is held in a state or county court or in a municipal court. An interesting article on the subject, prepared by Honorable Osee R. Fagan, Attorney at Law, Gainesville, Florida, entitled "Jury Trials in Municipal Court, Circa 1970," appears in the October 1970 issue of The Florida Bar Journal, p. 442, et seq.