Robert Baehren v. State
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DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
FOURTH DISTRICT
July Term 2007
ROBERT BAEHREN,
Petitioner,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Respondent.
No. 4D07-3425
[September 14, 2007]
FARMER, J.
This case returns to us following our August 22, 2007, grant of
habeas corpus with instructions to determine “whether there is any
evidence to sustain a finding that Baehren committed a new offense
while he was on pretrial release.”1 At a hearing, one of the alleged
victims explained that when her credit card company called with some
suspicious charges she then thought Baehren was using her card and so
she had called the police. Both victims testified, however, that although
they were originally under the impression that Baehren had misused
their credit card, when they received their actual statement from the
issuer, their suspicions were cleared up. They testified that their later
affidavit—stating that Baehren had not misused their identity—was true.
Without allowing Baehren to argue further, the trial judge said he had
heard enough and found that there “is or was” probable cause to believe
Baehren had committed a new offense. The judge observed that the
State’s dismissal of the new charges did not legally establish that
probable cause was lacking and that he could revoke bond because of
the commission of a new offense. We disagree.
The State did not challenge the new testimony of the witnesses. We
also note that the judge denied defendant’s request for a transcript of the
most recent hearing in which the testimony was given. In light of the
Baehren has filed an entirely new petition for habeas corpus following the
hearing on remand, rather than a motion to enforce our decision in the earlier
decision.
1
circumstances and the unchallenged testimony of the witnesses whose
complaint caused the new charges to be brought in the first place, we
conclude that the record evidence does not support the trial court’s
finding that there is sufficient evidence of probable cause to believe that
Baehren had committed a new offense while on pretrial release. We
therefore quash the order and direct the trial court to reinstate his bond.
WARNER and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.
*
*
*
Petition for writ of habeas corpus to the Circuit Court for the
Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Martin County; Robert R. Makemson, Judge;
L.T. Case No. 432006CF125.
Robert Baehren, Stuart, pro se.
Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Laura Fisher
Zibura, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for respondent.
Effective upon release; the filing of a motion for rehearing shall
not stay compliance with this decision.
-2-
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