Florida Supreme Court Decisions 2019
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC17-2151
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court summarily denying Appellant's successive motion for postconviction relief, holding that summary denial of the successive postconviction motion was appropriate in…
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1106
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered a question certified to it by the First District Court of Appeal by holding that an inquiry under Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975), is not invalid if the court does not explicitly…
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC18-1192, SC19-389
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Sparre's postconviction motion to vacate his conviction of first-degree murder and sentence of death filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851 and denied his petition for writ of habeas…
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1554
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1627
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal affirming the trial court's denial of Defendant's motion for discharge for expiration of speedy trial, holding that the Fifth District…
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-309
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the result of the decision of the First District Court of Appeal affirming Defendant's conviction for attempted second-degree murder with a weapon where the jury was given an erroneous jury…
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-320
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal in this insurance dispute, holding that an insurer that issues a reduced premium collector vehicle policy may not limit uninsured motorist…
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-657
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered a question certified to it by the First District Court of Appeal by holding that the private cause of action contained in Fla. Stat. 376.373(3) permits recovery for personal injury, thus…
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-747
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal concluding that Fla. Stat. 776.032(4) was a substantive change in the law and therefore did not apply retroactively, holding that section…
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-793
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed Petitioner's petition for review of the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal concluding that Petitioner's "negligent security" claim against Miami-Dade County was barred by sovereign…
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-1063
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-1091
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-1219
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-164
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-1983
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-2064
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-419
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-424
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC19-548, SC19-736
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved a proposed amendment titled "Raising Florida's Minimum Wage" for placement on the ballot but refused to review a financial impact statement prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating…
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-549
Date: December 12, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1133
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's sentence of death for the first-degree murder of Terrese Pernell Stevens, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his allegations of error. Specifically, the Court…
Date: December 12, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-9
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the postconviction court denying Defendant's guilt phase claims in his initial postconviction motion filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that the postconviction court…
Date: December 12, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-155
Date: December 12, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-1932
Date: December 5, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1908
Date: December 5, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-372
Justia Opinion Summary: In answering a question certified by the First District Court of Appeal the Supreme Court considered whether defense counsel's objection to a peremptory strike was properly renewed before the jury was sworn. The…
Date: December 5, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC18-899, SC18-2012
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the trial court denying Defendant relief from his conviction and denied Defendant's habeas conviction, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief. Defendant was found…
Date: December 5, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-108
Date: December 5, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-1897
Date: December 5, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-693
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court sanctioned Defendant by directing the clerk of court to reject any future pleadings or other requests for relief submitted by Defendant related to three criminal cases, unless such filings were signed…
Date: December 5, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-936
Date: November 27, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-792
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court declined to answer a question certified by the Fourth District Court of Appeal regarding whether, under the Fourth Amendment, a warrantless blood draw of an unconscious person incapable of giving…
Date: November 27, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-1818
Date: November 27, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-884
Date: November 21, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC18-340, SC18-1174
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court denying John Mack Sketo Calhoun's motion to vacate his conviction of first-degree murder filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851 and denied Calhoun's petition for a…
Date: November 21, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-241
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court summarily denying as untimely Appellant's successive postconviction motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that Appellant's motion was time…
Date: November 14, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-1302
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the recommended sanctions of the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) concerning misconduct by Judge Robin C. Lemonidis of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, accepted a stipulation…
Date: November 14, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-1354
Date: November 14, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-164
Date: November 14, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-1665
Date: November 12, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC19-1780, SC19-1797
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court dismissing in part and denying in part James Dailey's third successive motion for postconviction relief and also denied Dailey's motion for stay of execution and…
Date: November 7, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1061
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court summarily denying Appellant's successive motion for postconviction relief, holding that the circuit court properly denied relief. Appellant pleaded guilty to…
Date: November 7, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1713
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court's summary denial of Appellant's second successive motion for postconviction relief, holding that the petition was both untimely and procedurally barred. Appellant was…
Date: November 7, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-847
Date: November 7, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-1049
Date: November 7, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-884
Date: October 10, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-1038
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied Petitioner's petition to invoke this Court's discretionary jurisdiction, holding that the Florida Constitution does not authorize the Supreme Court to review cases that "may present federal…
Date: October 3, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-557
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court denying in part and dismissing in part Defendant's second successive motion for postconviction relief filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that Defendant…
Date: October 3, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-1531
Date: September 19, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-520
Date: September 5, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1171
Date: September 5, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-150
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction and death sentence for first-degree murder, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on any of his allegations of error. Specifically, the Court held (1) the…
Date: August 29, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1984
Justia Opinion Summary: Based on Gregory Harris's persistent history of filing pro se petitions that were meritless or otherwise inappropriate for the Supreme Court's review, the Supreme Court held that Harris had abused the judicial process…
Date: August 29, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-2001
Date: August 29, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-185
Date: August 29, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-287
Justia Opinion Summary: Based on Donald Williams' persistent history of filing pro se petitions that were meritless or otherwise inappropriate for the Supreme Court's review, the Supreme Court held that Williams had abused the judicial process…
Date: August 13, 2019
Docket Numbers: SC19-1184, SC19-1264
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the postconviction court summarily denying Gary Ray Bowles' successive motion for postconviction relief filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851 and denied Bowles' petition for a writ of…
Date: July 11, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-533
Date: June 27, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-2019
Date: June 27, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-1049
Date: June 13, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1531
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that through persistent filing of nonmeritorious requests for relief, Mark Jackson had abused the judicial process and, accordingly, directed the Clerk of Court to reject any future pleadings,…
Date: June 13, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-226
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the Florida Public Service Commission approving a request made by Florida Power and Light (FPL) for the recovery of costs through base rates for eight solar energy centers (the…
Date: June 13, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-688
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Third District on the issue of whether a defendant is entitled to a de novo sentencing proceeding after an appellate court determines that the trial court's initial downward…
Date: June 6, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-2029
Date: June 6, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-7
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court ordered that the Clerk of Court reject any future pleadings, petitions, motions, documents, or other filings submitted by Larry R. Wetzel that were related to his criminal case, holding that that Wetzel…
Date: May 30, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1860
Date: May 17, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-726
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the postconviction court's order denying Appellant's third successive motion for postconviction relief filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that the postconviction court did not err in…
Date: May 16, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1176
Date: May 2, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-105
Date: April 25, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1739
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court sanctioned Larry Barber by directing the Clerk of Court to reject any future pleadings or other requests for relief submitted by Barber that were related to a certain criminal case unless such filings…
Date: April 25, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-213
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) allowing the Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) to recover certain environmental compliance costs from ratepayers pursuant to Fla.…
Date: April 23, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-552
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court dismissing Scott Israel's petition for writ of quo warranto challenging Governor Ron DeSantis's authority to suspend him from office in an executive order,…
Date: April 18, 2019
Docket Number: SC17-1387
Date: April 18, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-683
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed a circuit court judgment denying validation of revenue bonds, holding that Halifax Hospital Medical Center, a special tax district, was not authorized to carry out the project for which it…
Date: April 18, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-79
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted Respondents' joint motion to recall mandate, withdrew its opinion dated January 4, 2019, and substituted this opinion in its place, holding that the Fifth District Court of Appeal properly…
Date: April 18, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-253
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the findings and recommendation of the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) concerning misconduct by Judge Ernest Kollra of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit and a stipulation…
Date: April 16, 2019
Docket Number: SC19-329
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied Petitioner's petition for a writ of quo warranto, which Petitioner filed after the Governor suspended her as Superintendent of Schools for Okaloosa County, holding that the Governor did not…
Date: April 11, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-2030
Date: April 11, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-2060
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the stipulation entered into between Judge Dennis Daniel Bailey and the Judicial Qualifications Commission that stipulated that Judge Bailey violated the Code of Judicial Conduct and should be…
Date: April 4, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-2109
Justia Opinion Summary: After denying Plaintiff's petition for a writ of mandamus the Supreme Court sanctioned Plaintiff, holding that Plaintiff abused the judicial process and burdened the Court's limited judicial resources. Plaintiff was…
Date: January 7, 2019
Docket Number: SC17-1623
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court denying Appellant’s motion for postconviction relief filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding, among other things, that Appellant’s attorney was not…
Date: January 7, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1435
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the postconviction court denying Appellant’s motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that Hurst v. State, 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016), did not apply retroactively to…
Date: January 4, 2019
Docket Number: SC16-2170
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved in part and quashed in part the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal in this case and remanded the case for further proceedings, holding that the trial court erred in denying…
Date: January 4, 2019
Docket Number: SC17-1387
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal on the question of whether a voluntary dismissal provides a basis for being considered the prevailing party for the purpose of appellate…
Date: January 4, 2019
Docket Number: SC17-716
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal regarding whether proposals for settlement made pursuant to Fla. Stat. 768.79 and Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.442 must comply with the email service…
Date: January 4, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1683
Date: January 4, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-1692
Date: January 4, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-67
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the result reached by the First District Court of Appeal affirming the trial court’s rejection of Petitioners’ challenge to the State’s K-12 public education system based on the State’s alleged…
Date: January 4, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-79
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal expressly construing a provision of the Florida Constitution and upheld the validity of an ordinance proposing an amendment to the Orange…
Date: January 4, 2019
Docket Number: SC18-815
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s order denying in part and dismissing in part Appellant’s successive motion for postconviction relief filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that Appellant was not…
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