Florida Supreme Court Decisions 2015

Oats v. State  
Date: December 17, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-749

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was tried and convicted of the 1979 robbery of a convenience store and the first-degree murder of the store clerk. Defendant later filed a motion seeking to vacate his death sentence on the ground that he is…

Boyd v. State  
Date: December 17, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC13-244, SC13-1959

Justia Opinion Summary: Lucious Boyd was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Boyd filed a motion to vacate his conviction and sentence. The circuit court denied relief. Boyd appealed the circuit court’s order denying…

Inquiry Concerning Judge John C. Murphy  
Date: December 17, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1582

Justia Opinion Summary: The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) found County Court Judge John C. Murphy of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit guilty of violating the Code of Judicial Conduct and the Rules of Professional Conduct.…

In Re: Amendments to The Florida Probate Rules
Date: December 17, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-1513
Bolin v. State  
Date: December 17, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-2149

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was scheduled for execution on January 7, 2016 for first degree murder. In 2014, Appellant filed an amended first successive postconviction motion. The circuit court denied the amended petition. Appellant moved…

Evans v. State
Date: December 10, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-2160
Orme v. State  
Date: December 10, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC13-819, SC14-22

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Roderick Orme was convicted of premeditated or felony murder, robbery, and sexual battery. The trial judge sentenced Orme to death. The Supreme Court found defense counsel ineffective for failing to…

Rodriguez v. State  
Date: December 10, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-160

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arrested after law enforcement officers discovered marijuana plants growing in Defendant’s home. The officers did not make any efforts to obtain a search warrant before entering the home. Defendant filed a…

Jason A. Yegge v. State of Florida
Date: December 10, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-770
League of Women Voters v. Detzner  
Date: December 2, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1905

Justia Opinion Summary: This opinion was intended to bring finality to litigation concerning the state’s congressional redistricting that has spanned nearly four years in state courts. This case was before the Supreme Court for approval of a…

Rivera v. State  
Date: November 25, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-1077

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted and sentenced to death for the first-degree murder of an eleven-year-old girl. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence. This appeal concerned Defendant’s amended successive Fla. R.…

Crews v. State  
Date: November 25, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-319

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, the State charged Petitioner, a public school teacher, with sexual offenses against minors over the age of twelve, including eight counts charging second- or third-degree felonies alleged to have been committed…

In Re: Certification of Need for Additional Judges
Date: November 19, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-1991
Evans v. State  
Date: November 12, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-2160

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder. The trial court sentenced Defendant to death for both murders. The Supreme Court vacated the convictions and sentences of death, holding…

State v. Tuttle  
Date: November 12, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-817

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of manslaughter with a firearm, attempted home invasion robbery with a firearm, and armed burglary. Prior to sentencing, the State informed the trial court that dual…

In Re: Amendments to Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.200
Date: November 12, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-765
Joseph B. Doerr Trust v. Cent. Fla. Expressway Auth.  
Date: November 5, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1007

Justia Opinion Summary: Landowners rejected a condemning authority’s (the Authority) presuit written offer to purchase a parcel of their land. The Authority subsequently filed an action to condemn the property. After a jury determined the fair…

Pham v. State  
Date: November 5, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC14-142, SC14-1248

Justia Opinion Summary: Tai Pham was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, armed kidnapping, and armed burglary. The trial court entered a sentence of death. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentences.…

Rogers v. United States  
Date: November 5, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1465

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from the claims of a group of owners of land abutting a railroad corridor who claimed that conveyances to the railroad by their predecessors in title granted only easements for a railroad right-of-way…

State v. de la Portilla  
Date: November 5, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1625

Justia Opinion Summary: During a dissolution of marriage proceeding, Wife filed a motion for contempt for Husband’s failure to deliver one of the couple’s dogs into her custody. The trial court issued an order directing Husband to appear.…

Jesse Guardado v. State of Florida Corrected Opinion
Date: October 29, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-1040
Aubin v. Union Carbide Corp.  
Date: October 29, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-2075

Justia Opinion Summary: After Plaintiff contracted peritoneal mesothelioma, he sued Union Carbide Corporation (Defendant), claiming that his disease was caused by his exposure to an asbestos product designed and manufactured by Defendant. The…

Joseph Edward Jordan v. State of Florida Corrected Opinion
Date: October 29, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2091
In Re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure
Date: October 29, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1530
McFadden v. State  
Date: October 29, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-93

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder with a firearm and two counts of robbery with a firearm causing great bodily harm and was sentenced to a term of fifty-five years in prison. Three years…

In Re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure
Date: October 29, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-177
Casey v. State  
Date: October 29, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-761

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of arson and second-degree murder and sentenced in 2012 to life in prison on both counts. Petitioner subsequently filed more than thirty-five other extraordinary writ petitions or notices in the…

Middleton v. State  
Date: October 22, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-2469

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree felony murder with a weapon, burglary of an occupied dwelling while armed, and dealing in stolen property. The trial court…

Joerg v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.  
Date: October 15, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-1768

Justia Opinion Summary: Luke Joerg (“Luke”) was a developmentally disabled adult who had lived with his parents his entire life and had never worked. Luke was struck by a car in 2007. John Joerg (“Joerg”), Luke’s father, filed an action against…

Fla. Bankers Ass’n v. Fla. Dev. Fin. Corp.  
Date: October 15, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC14-1603, SC14-1618

Justia Opinion Summary: The Florida Development Finance Corporation (FDFC), a corporate and political entity, filed a complaint in the circuit court of the Second Judicial Circuit in Leon County seeking to determine the validity of a series of…

In Re: Amendments to Rule Regulating The Florida Bar 10-9.1
Date: October 15, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-687
The Florida Bar v. Jeffrey Alan Norkin
Date: October 8, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC11-1356, SC13-2480
Guardado v. State  
Date: October 8, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-1040

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to first-degree murder and robbery with a weapon. The trial court sentenced Defendant to death. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentences on appeal. Defendant subsequently filed an…

Jordan v. State  
Date: October 8, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2091

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm or other deadly weapon. The trial court imposed a sentence of death for the murder conviction and a life sentence for the…

In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases
Date: October 8, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-2507
Jerry William Correll v. State of Florida
Date: October 6, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-147
Carol Ann Jones v. Edward I. Golden, etc.
Date: October 2, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2536
Vicki Thomas v. Clean Energy Coastal Corridor, etc.
Date: October 2, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1282
Robert R. Reynolds v. Leon County Energy Improvement District, etc.
Date: October 2, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-710
Correll v. State  
Date: October 2, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-147

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for each murder. After Governor Scott signed the death warrant Appellant filed a third successive motion for postconviction relief,…

In re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration
Date: October 2, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-1594
Jones v. Golden  
Date: October 1, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2536

Justia Opinion Summary: After Harry Jones died, a notice to creditors was published. Neither Harry’s ex-wife, Katherine Jones, nor her guardian was ever served with a copy of the notice. Less than two years after Harry’s death, the guardian of…

Thomas v. Clean Energy Coastal Corridor  
Date: October 1, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1282

Justia Opinion Summary: Clean Energy Coastal Corridor, whose purpose is to finance through the issuance of bonds certain qualifying improvements to real property as authorized by the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Act, adopted a bond…

Reynolds v. Leon County Energy Improvement Dist.  
Date: October 1, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-710

Justia Opinion Summary: This case was before the Supreme Court on appeal from a circuit court judgment validating a proposed bond issue. The Court affirmed the circuit court’s decision to validate the bonds but remanded with instructions for…

Jerry William Correll v. State of Florida
Date: October 1, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-147
-- In re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration
Date: October 1, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-1594
Cannon v. State  
Date: September 24, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-46

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of first-degree murder on theories of both premeditation and felony murder and related crimes. The trial court sentenced Defendant to death, finding that the aggravating…

In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases
Date: September 24, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-368
Blake v. State  
Date: September 17, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC12-2102, SC13-1065

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2005, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted armed robbery, and grand theft of a motor vehicle. The trial court sentenced Defendant to death for the murder conviction. The Supreme Court affirmed on…

Hernandez v. State  
Date: September 17, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC13-718, SC13-2330

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder. The trial court entered an order sentencing Defendant to death. The Supreme Court affirmed on appeal. Defendant filed a motion for postconviction relief under Fla.…

Bank of New York Mellon v. Condo. Ass’n of La Mer Estates, Inc.  
Date: September 17, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1049

Justia Opinion Summary: The Condominium Association of La Mer Estates filed a complaint to quiet title to the condominium unit. The Association served Bank of New York Mellon, which was assigned the mortgage securing the property. The…

In Re: Amendments to The Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure
Date: September 17, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-98
Hahamovitch v. Hahamovitch  
Date: September 10, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-277

Justia Opinion Summary: Before they married, Dianne and Harry Hahamovitch entered into a prenuptial agreement. The two remained married for twenty-two years. In 2008, the parties filed for dissolution of marriage. The trial court concluded that…

Inquiry Concerning Judge Jacqueline Schwartz  
Date: September 10, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-312

Justia Opinion Summary: On February 19, 2015, the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) filed in the Supreme Court a notice of formal charges charging Eleventh Judicial Circuit Judge Jacqueline Schwartz with violations of the Code of…

In Re: Amendments to The Code For Resolving Professionalism Complaints
Date: September 10, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-944
Hojan v. State  
Date: September 3, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC13-5, SC13-2422

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and related crimes. The trial court sentenced Defendant to death for the murders. Defendant later filed a motion to vacate his conviction…

Jackson v. State  
Date: August 27, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2090

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Debra Pearce. Pearce was stabbed in her kitchen in 2004. The murder remained unsolved until 2008 when DNA from a hair found on Pearce’s body…

In Re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.210
Date: August 27, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-146
In Re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.210
Date: August 27, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-97
Doty v. State  
Date: July 9, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-1257

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pled guilty to first-degree murder. The trial court imposed a death sentence after weighing the aggravating circumstances against the mitigating circumstances. The Supreme Court affirmed Appellant’s conviction…

Smith v. State  
Date: July 9, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-1550

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and death sentence, holding (1) the trial court did not err in denying Defendant’s motion for judgment of…

Bretherick v. State  
Date: July 9, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2312

Justia Opinion Summary: Fla. Stat. 776.032, the “Stand Your Ground” law, provides immunity from prosecution when a defendant has used force as permitted by Fla. Stat. 776.012, 776.013, or 776.031. Defendant in this case was charged with…

In Re: Amendments to Rule Regulating The Florida Bar 1-7.3
Date: July 9, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1165
State v. Alexis  
Date: July 9, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1341

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant in this criminal case was represented by an attorney who also represented Defendant’s codefendant. At issue on appeal was whether Defendant’s “waiver of the right to conflict-free trial counsel was invalid.”…

League of Women Voters of Fla. v. Detzner  
Date: July 9, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1905

Justia Opinion Summary: A trial court found that the Legislature’s 2012 congressional redistricting plan was drawn in violation of the Florida Constitutional’s prohibition on partisan intent because Florida’s twenty-seven congressional…

J.B. v. Fla. Dep’t of Children & Families  
Date: July 9, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1990

Justia Opinion Summary: After an adjudicatory hearing, the trial court entered judgment terminating Mother’s parental rights to her child. Mother appealed, alleging ten claims of ineffective assistance of counsel regarding her counsel’s…

Carter v. State  
Date: July 2, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-1076

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of the 2002 first-degree murders of three individuals. The trial court sentenced Defendant to death for two of the murders and to life imprisonment for the third murder. The Supreme Court affirmed…

State of Florida v. Lawrence Andrew Ingram
Date: July 2, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-564
Marlon Faron Kelly v. State of Florida
Date: July 2, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-916
Hayward v. State  
Date: June 25, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC12-1386, SC13-1787

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery, armed burglary of a conveyance, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Appellant was sentenced to death. The conviction and…

Eaglin v. State  
Date: June 25, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC12-1760, SC13-1785

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of a correctional officer and an inmate. Defendant committed the murders while attempting to escape from prison where he was serving a life sentence for a…

Fletcher v. State  
Date: June 25, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-2468

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, two counts of grand theft of a motor vehicle, home-invasion robbery, two counts of burglary, and escape. The trial court imposed a sentence of death for…

State v. Shelley  
Date: June 25, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-755

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with a single violation of Fla. Stat. 847.0135(3)(b), which prohibits the use of a computer to solicit the consent of a parent or legal guardian of a child to engage in unlawful sexual conduct with…

Gutierrez v. State  
Date: June 25, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-799

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of sexual battery. On appeal, Defendant argued, among other things, that the trial court erred when it granted the State’s request for a special jury instruction informing…

Hodgkins v. State  
Date: June 18, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-1004

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was convicted of first-degree murder. The evidence presented at trial connecting Appellant to the murder consisted only of proof that his DNA was detected within scrapings collected from the victim’s left…

In re Laura Marie Watson  
Date: June 18, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-1333

Justia Opinion Summary: The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) determined that Laura Marie Watson, a judge of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, violated the Rules Regulating Professional Conduct and recommended that she be removed…

Hartley v. State  
Date: June 18, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-1470

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery, and kidnapping. The trial court sentenced Defendant to death. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction and sentence on appeal. The…

Inquiry Concerning a Judge No. 14-482 Re: Victoria L. Griffin
Date: June 18, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-865
In Re: Amendments to the Code of Judicial Conduct - Canon 7
Date: June 11, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-1951
Alachua County v. Expedia, Inc.  
Date: June 11, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-838

Justia Opinion Summary: Certain counties filed a declaratory action against online travel companies (OTCs) arguing, inter alia, that the Tourist Development Tax (TDT) applies to the difference between the total monetary amounts the OTCs’…

Tyrone K. Powell v. State of Florida
Date: June 11, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-593
In Re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure
Date: June 11, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-290
In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases
Date: June 4, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-1121
Inquiry Concerning a Judge No. 14-454 Re: Debra L. Krause
Date: June 4, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1812
In Re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Traffic Court
Date: June 4, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-96
Plancher v. UCF Athletics Ass’n, Inc.  
Date: May 28, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC13-1872, SC13-1874

Justia Opinion Summary: After Ereck Plancher, a University of Central Florida (UCF) football player, collapsed and died during football practice conditioning drills, Ereck’s parents (the Planchers) filed a negligence action against UCF and UCF…

The Florida Bar v. Erwin Rosenberg
Date: May 28, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2067
Twilegar v. State  
Date: May 28, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2169

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder. The trial court sentenced Appellant to death. The Supreme court affirmed Appellant’s conviction and sentence of death. Appellant later…

Browning v. Poirier  
Date: May 28, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2416

Justia Opinion Summary: In 1993, Petitioner and Respondent, who were in a romantic relationship, entered into an oral agreement in which they agreed to purchase lottery tickets and to share equally in the proceeds of any winning lottery…

Miles v. Weingrad  
Date: May 21, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-54

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, joined by her husband, filed a lawsuit alleging that she suffered permanent injuries due to Defendant’s surgical malpractice. The jury returned a verdict for Plaintiff and awarded, along with economic damages,…

Coba v. Tricam Indus., Inc.  
Date: May 14, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-2624

Justia Opinion Summary: The decedent in this case fell from a ladder, resulting in his death. Plaintiff sued the companies that manufactured and sold the ladder, alleging that Defendants were liable on the basis of strict liability and under…

J.R. v. Palmer  
Date: May 14, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-1549

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant, an intellectually disabled man, was charged with sexual battery and, in 2004, was involuntarily admitted to nonsecure residential services under Fla. Stat. 393.11. In 2011, Appellant filed suit under 42 U.S.C.…

Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp. v. Perdido Sun Condo. Ass’n, Inc.  
Date: May 14, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-185

Justia Opinion Summary: After a condominium association (Association) prevailed in a breach of contract action against its insurance company (Insurer), it sued Insurer a second time, alleging a statutory first-party bad faith claim under Fla.…

In Re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.200
Date: May 14, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-765
Brooks v. State  
Date: May 7, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC12-629, SC13-706

Justia Opinion Summary: After a retrial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder. The trial court sentenced Defendant to death for both murders. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentences on direct appeal.…

Morris v. City of Cape Coral  
Date: May 7, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-350

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, the City of Cape Coral issued a special assessment to provide fire protection services. The City passed an ordinance levying a special assessment against all real property in the City, both developed and…

Hunter v. State  
Date: April 30, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC12-246, SC14-88

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was sentenced to death for the murders of four individuals. The Supreme Court affirmed Appellant’s convictions and sentences. Appellant subsequently filed a motion for postconviction relief.…

Hobart v. State  
Date: April 30, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder. Appellant was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for one murder and to death for the second murder. The Supreme…

In Re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.852
Date: April 30, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2295
In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases
Date: April 30, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-2035
Delgado v. State  
Date: April 23, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-579

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of, among other crimes, first-degree felony murder for the murder of a police officer. Defendant was sentenced to death for the murder. Defendant raised three issues on appeal,…

In Re: Amendments to the Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms
Date: April 23, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-339
Guardado v. State  
Date: April 16, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-1040

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted on charges of first-degree murder and robbery with a weapon and pled guilty to both counts. At the conclusion of the penalty phase, the jury returned a unanimous recommendation of death. The trial…

Bearden v. State  
Date: April 16, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-1314

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of second-degree murder, among other offenses. Defendant was received a sentence of life imprisonment for the murder conviction. On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial…

Pratt v. Weiss  
Date: April 16, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-1783

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against medical malpractice action against multiple defendants, including FMC Hospital, Ltd., d/b/a Florida Medical Center, and FMC Medical, Inc., d/b/a Florida Medical Center. A proposed settlement…

Audiffred v. Arnold  
Date: April 16, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-2377

Justia Opinion Summary: Valerie Audiffred and her husband, Robert Kimmons, filed an action against Thomas Arnold that arose from an automobile collision. A settlement proposal was filed on behalf of Audiffred, which Arnold constructively…

Lawton v. State  
Date: April 9, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-685

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Third District Court of Appeal read Graham v. Florida as creating a homicide-case exception to the categorical rule against sentencing a juvenile offender to life without parole for a nonhomicide crime.…

State of Florida v. Victor Reed
Date: April 9, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1801
Inquiry Concerning Judge Recksiedler  
Date: April 9, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-311

Justia Opinion Summary: The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) recommended that Jessica J. Recksiedler, Eighteenth Judicial Circuit Court Judge, receive the sanction of a public reprimand for violating Canons 1, 2A, 4A(2), and…

Philip Morris USA, Inc. v. Russo  
Date: April 2, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-1401

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a complaint against Philip Morris USA, Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (together, Defendants) alleging that her smoking of Defendants’ cigarettes proximately caused her to develop chronic…

Hess v. Philip Morris USA, Inc.  
Date: April 2, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-2153

Justia Opinion Summary: As surviving spouse of Stuart Hess and personal representative of his estate, Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against Philip Morris USA (Defendant), asserting claims of fraudulent concealment and alleging that Mr. Hess…

Limones v. Sch. Dist. of Lee County  
Date: April 2, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-932

Justia Opinion Summary: Fifteen-year-old Abel Limones suddenly collapsed during a high school soccer game from a previously undetected underlying heart condition. Twenty-six minutes after Abel’s initial collapse, emergency responders revived…

Virgil Lee Harris v. State of Florida
Date: April 2, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-258
In Re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.520
Date: April 2, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-721
Fla. Dep’t of Children & Families v. Davis Family Daycare Home  
Date: March 26, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-1668

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was the evidentiary standard of proof that applies in an initial license application proceeding under Florida’s Administrative Procedure Act. In 2011, a family day care licensed under Fla. Stat.…

Marianne Edwards v. the Sunrise Ophthalmology Asc, etc., et al.
Date: March 26, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2168
In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases
Date: March 26, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-683
Fla. Dep’t of Transp. v. Clipper Bay Invs., LLC  
Date: March 26, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-775

Justia Opinion Summary: Clipper Bay Investments, LLC filed an action to quiet title and ejectment against the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) seeking to quiet title to a portion of land adjacent to an interstate in Santa Rosa County…

Plaintiff v. Defendant
Date: March 26, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-921
Gridine v. State  
Date: March 19, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-1223

Justia Opinion Summary: When Defendant was fourteen years old he pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder, attempted armed robbery, and aggravated battery. The trial court adjudicated Defendant guilty as charged and imposed prison terms…

Henry v. State  
Date: March 19, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-578

Justia Opinion Summary: When he was seventeen years old, Defendant was tried as an adult and convicted of, among other nonhomicide offenses, three counts of sexual battery while possessing a weapon, two counts of robbery, and one count of…

Horsley v. State  
Date: March 19, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC13-1938, SC13-2000

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was seventeen years old when he participated in the robbery of a convenience store, during which an owner was killed. The jury convicted Defendant of first-degree murder, among other charges. Defendant was…

State of Florida v. Anthony Duwayne Horsley, Jr.
Date: March 19, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2000
Falcon v. State  
Date: March 19, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-865

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was fifteen years old when she took part in an attempted robbery that resulted in a death. Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, among other crimes. The trial court imposed a mandatory sentence of…

Griffin v. State  
Date: March 12, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2450

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to forty-five years in prison. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial judge erred in instructing the jury on the lesser included…

In Re: Amendments to Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.210
Date: March 12, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-146
Campbell v. State  
Date: March 5, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-716

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of the first-degree murder of his father and sentenced to death. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence, holding (1) the evidence supported the finding that the murder was…

In Re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure
Date: March 5, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-30
The Florida Bar v. Jose Carlos Marrero
Date: February 26, 2015
Docket Number: SC11-1780
T.S., a Juvenile v. State of Florida
Date: February 26, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-1223
Lionel Michael Miller v. Julie L. Jones, etc.
Date: February 26, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-1786
State v. Dorsett  
Date: February 26, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-310

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with leaving the scene of a crash resulting in an injury under Florida’s hit-and-run statute. During trial, Defendant proposed a jury instruction that required the jury to find as an essential…

Miller v. State  
Date: February 26, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-516

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, burglary of a dwelling with a battery therein, and attempted robbery with a deadly weapon. Defendant was sentenced to death for the murder.…

Chase v. Horace Mann Ins. Co.  
Date: February 19, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2013

Justia Opinion Summary: Horace Mann issued an insurance policy to Richard Chase. Richard signed a form in which he selected reduced uninsured motorist limits. Horace Mann later removed Richard as the sole named insurance from the policy and…

Oyola v. State  
Date: February 19, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2048

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, false imprisonment, armed robbery with a deadly weapon, and grand theft of a motor vehicle. Defendant was sentenced to death for the murder conviction. The Supreme Court…

In Re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure
Date: February 19, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-150
Sanislo v. Give Kids The World, Inc.  
Date: February 12, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-2409

Justia Opinion Summary: Give Kids the World, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides free vacations to seriously ill children and their families at its resort village. Stacy and Eric Sanislo were vacationing at the village with their…

Sanders v. Erp Operating Ltd. P’ship  
Date: February 12, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-2416

Justia Opinion Summary: Two young adults were shot to death by unknown assailants inside their apartment. The apartment was located in an apartment complex marketed as a “gated community.” Plaintiff, as personal representative of the decedents’…

The Florida Bar v. Daniel Mark Cohen
Date: February 12, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-2724
Carr v. State  
Date: February 5, 2015
Docket Number: SC11-476

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Emilia Carr was found guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping. The trial court sentenced Carr to death, concluding that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances. The…

Koster v. Sullivan  
Date: February 5, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-159

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a complaint against Defendant. Defendant did not file an answer or other responsive pleadings and failed to appear at the hearing on Plaintiff’s motion for final default. Defendant later moved to set…

In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases
Date: February 5, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1308
Larry Charles Williams v. State of Florida
Date: January 29, 2015
Docket Number: SC13-2315
In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases
Date: January 29, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1348
In Re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851
Date: January 29, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1977
In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases
Date: January 29, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-465
In Re: Amendment to The Code for Resolving Professionalism Complaints
Date: January 29, 2015
Docket Number: SC15-75
Marquardt v. State  
Date: January 22, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-555

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and burglary of a dwelling with a firearm. The trial court sentenced Defendant to death for the two murders. The Supreme Court affirmed…

Sparre v. State  
Date: January 22, 2015
Docket Number: SC12-891

Justia Opinion Summary: In this “Craigslist killer case,” Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court did not violate the Supreme Court’s holding in Muhammad v.…

In Re: Amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure
Date: January 22, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-1507
In Re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.420
Date: January 22, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-2434
The Florida Bar v. Jose Carlos Marrero
Date: January 15, 2015
Docket Number: SC11-1780
Zommer v. State  
Date: January 15, 2015
Docket Numbers: SC13-717, SC13-1675

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of the murder of a seventy-year-old woman. Appellant was sentenced to death. The Supreme Court affirmed on appeal. Appellant subsequently filed a motion to vacate his…

Kormondy v. State  
Date: January 5, 2015
Docket Number: SC14-2428

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant was found guilty of first-degree murder and three counts of sexual battery with the use of a deadly weapon or physical force, among other crimes. Appellant was sentenced to death. Appellant later filed a motion…

The opinions published on Justia State Caselaw are sourced from individual state court sites. These court opinions may not be the official published versions, and you should check your local court rules before citing to them. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site, or the information linked to on the state site.

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.