J.B. v. State

I respectfully dissent and would affirm the order below in its entirety. Appellant was notified of the restitution hearing, his counsel was present but appellant willfully chose not to attend and, therefore, cannot now be heard to complain that the hearing was conducted in his absence. Capuzzo v. State, 596 So.2d 438, 440 (Fla.1992). In Capuzzo, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the court’s right to sentence a defendant who voluntarily failed to attend a sentencing hearing. The rationale of that opinion applicable here is that “defendants cannot be allowed to thwart or impede the judicial…