thank you for clearly identifying the problems with how this judge handled this case.
You're welcome. I do expect, when this complaint gets before the Judicial Review Board (or whatever it's called in Florida) that the Board will pull all this judge's cases to see if he's done it before. This is taking judicial expediency to the nth degree, and in the meantime, the judge trampled over the kid's fundamental constitutional rights. What the judge was supposed to do is to first ascertain whether the kid was unrepresented, inquire as to whether he wanted to represent himself; if no, he's supposed to make a referral to the Public Defender's office and the judge reschedules the hearing. If yes, he has to go through an in-depth questioning of the kid on whether the kid has the ability to represent himself. What does surprise me is that judge didn't contact the attorney of record and make him hustle his butt to the courtroom to continue his representation of the kid whether he liked it or not, whether he was paid or not.
There really is no excuse. Despite the judge's relative inexperience on the bench, this is Law School 101, basic Intro to Criminal Law. Not only that, unless Florida is different from most states, after a judge is appointed or elected to the bench, he or she goes to Judge School. And, like any other judge, he has a Judicial Handbook within reach (either on the bench, in his chambers, or in the courthouse law library) to find out what to do in circumstances like this, all neatly indexed.