State v. Weber

The State of Florida seeks review of a trial court order holding inadmissible the testimony of the state’s chief witness from Weber’s former trial. We conclude that the trial court correctly prevented the use of the former testimony for the following reasons.

Previously, this court held in Weber v. State, 438 So.2d 982 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983), that the failure of the trial court to conduct a formal competency hearing constituted a denial of due process. Id. at 984. In reaching the decision that reasonable grounds existed to believe Weber was not competent to stand trial, the court noted with…