Joseph Chester v. State of Florida

This appeal presents two issues: whether the trial court should have granted the appellant’s motion for mistrial, and whether the trial court should have held a hearing to determine the appellant’s competency to stand trial. We affirm as to the first issue and reverse as to the second.

I

Joseph Chester briefly lived with a childhood friend and that friend’s girlfriend. The girlfriend was unappreciative of Chester’s drinking, though, and the couple soon asked him to move out, which he did. Not long after that, the girlfriend awoke to find her back door open, her dogs on the loose, and her purse…