Larry Gordon v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledMarch 24, 2021
Docket2D19-2291
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING
MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
In re Commitment of Larry Gordon. )
)
)
LARRY GORDON, )
)
Appellant, )
)
v. ) Case No. 2D19-2291
)
STATE OF FLORIDA, )
)
Appellee. )
)
Opinion filed March 24, 2021.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for
Pinellas County; Paul A. Levine, Acting
Circuit Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender,
and Carol J. Y. Wilson, Assistant Public
Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General,
Tallahassee, and Cerese Crawford
Taylor, Assistant Attorney General,
Tampa, for Appellee.
PER CURIAM.
Larry Gordon appeals the trial court's order finding no probable cause at
the limited hearing under section 394.918(3), Florida Statutes (2019), during which he
argued that his mental condition had changed such that his status as a sexually violent
predator (SVP) should be rescinded, causing him to be eligible for release from
involuntary civil commitment. Mr. Gordon presented to the trial court two recent
progress reports, the live testimony of Dr. Dean Cauley, and the expert report of Mr.
Chris Robison, all of which supported Mr. Gordon's request for release from involuntary
commitment. Because probable cause is supported by the record below, we reverse
and remand with instructions for the trial court to conduct a trial as set forth in section
394.918(4). See In re Commitment of Higdon, 45 Fla. L. Weekly D1944, D1945-46 (Fla.
2d DCA Aug. 14, 2020) (holding that evidence presented at limited hearing pursuant to
section 394.917(3) was sufficient to cause a person of ordinary prudence and action to
believe that defendant's mental condition had changed); In re Commitment of Drake,
295 So. 3d 1269, 1272 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020) (holding that defendant was entitled to a trial
under section 394.917(4) having established probable cause at the limited hearing
under section 394.917(3)). Because we find this issue dispositive, we decline to
comment on the remaining issues.
Reversed and remanded.
VILLANTI, SLEET, and SMITH, JJ., Concur.
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