Florida Supreme Court Decisions 2021
Date: December 22, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-1543
Date: December 16, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-1598
Date: December 16, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-284
Date: December 16, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-591
Date: December 16, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-626
Date: December 16, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-637
Date: December 9, 2021
Docket Number: SC18-1390
Justia Opinion Summary: In this considering the provisions of a personal injury protection (PIP) insurance policy permit permitting the insurer to limit reimbursement payments in accordance with a statutory schedule of maximum charges the…
Date: December 9, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-722
Date: December 2, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-716
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that when a defendant voluntarily chooses to allocate at a sentencing hearing, the sentencing court is permitted to consider the defendant's freely offered statements, including those indicating…
Date: December 2, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-942
Date: December 2, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-606
Date: December 2, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-860
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court sanctioned Petitioner after dismissing his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that Petitioner failed to show cause why he should not be barred from filing any further pro se requests for…
Date: November 24, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-1542
Date: November 24, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-1543
Date: November 24, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-546
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the stipulation entered into by Palm Beach County Judge Marni Bryson and the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) that Judge Bryson be publicly reprimanded, suspended without pay…
Date: November 18, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-601
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the wrongful death action at issue in this case was covered by the Legislature's 1999 amendment of Fla. Stat. 768.73. In 1999, the Legislature amended section 768.73 to presumptively preclude…
Date: November 18, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1128
Date: November 18, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-408
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the holding of the Second District Court of Appeal in this case, which involved an appeal of a conviction for driving as a habitual traffic offender (HTO) while one's driver's license is…
Date: November 10, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1404
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the decision of the First District Court of Appeal in this case, holding that Fla. Stat. 942.051(3), which prohibits raising an unpreserved claim of error on direct appeal absent a showing of…
Date: November 10, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-466
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree murder and sentence of death, holding that Defendant's arguments on appeal were unavailing. Specifically, the Supreme Court held that the trial court did…
Date: November 4, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-1411
Date: November 4, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-585
Date: October 28, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1863
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court summarily denying Appellant's third successive motion for postconviction relief, filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that there was no error. Appellant…
Date: October 28, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-1049
Date: October 28, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-1091
Date: October 21, 2021
Docket Numbers: SC18-1763, SC19-680
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the postconviction court denying Defendant's petition for postconviction relief as to the guilt phase of his trial and denied his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding…
Date: October 21, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-653
Date: October 14, 2021
Docket Number: SC18-149
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted the petition of The Florida Bar to enjoin Respondents, TIKD Services, LLC and Christopher Riley (collectively TIKD) from engaging in the unauthorized practice of law, holding that TIKD was…
Date: October 14, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1118
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered in the negative a question certified to it by the Fourth District Court of Appeal, holding that it is not a departure from the essential requirements of law to permit discovery regarding the…
Date: October 14, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-385
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered in the negative a question certified to it by the Fourth District Court of Appeal, holding that it is not a departure from the essential requirements of law to permit discovery regarding the…
Date: October 14, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-627
Date: October 7, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1164
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the holding of the First District Court of Appeal concluding that a defendant convicted by a jury verdict after raising a self-defense claim is not entitled to a new immunity hearing if the…
Date: October 7, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1195
Justia Opinion Summary: In this action filed by Samuel Levy seeking to compel his former wife, Einath Levy, to comply with the parties' property settlement and support agreement (PSA), the Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Third…
Date: October 7, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-120
Date: September 30, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1284
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed in part the decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirming the trial court's dismissal of Appellant's mandamus and certiorari claims and reversing as to Plaintiffs' claims for…
Date: September 23, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-912
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal concluding that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to impose a sexual predator designation on an offender who qualified under the Florida…
Date: September 9, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-428
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's judgments of conviction of first-degree murder and sentences of death, holding that there was no prejudicial error in the proceedings below. Defendant was convicted and sentenced…
Date: September 9, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-861
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that, for purposes of calculating whether a plaintiff has met the threshold amount of difference between an offer of judgment and the judgment entered for purposes of Fla. Stat. 768.79, post-offer…
Date: September 9, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-440
Date: September 9, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-775
Date: September 2, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-701
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal invalidating the decision of a property appraiser assessing back taxes after discovering his purported clerical error in undervaluing and…
Date: September 2, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1053
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the decision of the First District Court of Appeal affirming Defendant's conviction of of three counts of sexual battery and one count of lewd or lascivious exhibition, holding that the…
Date: September 2, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-1223
Date: September 2, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-253
Date: August 26, 2021
Docket Numbers: SC19-373, SC19-1766
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the postconviction court denying Gary Hilton's motion to vacate his conviction of first-degree murder and sentence of death and denied Hilton's petition for a writ of habeas…
Date: August 26, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1083
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeal that invited error precluded review of Defendant's claim on appeal that a jury charge was coercive, holding that the court of appeal did not err. Defendant…
Date: August 26, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-48
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the trial court denying Defendant's claims that he was intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for the death penalty and that he was entitled to relief under Hurst v.…
Date: August 26, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-29
Date: August 26, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-7
Date: August 26, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-929
Date: July 8, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1851
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's judgment of conviction of first-degree murder and sentence of death, holding that Defendant failed to demonstrate error on the part of the trial court. Specifically, the Supreme…
Date: July 8, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1036
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the trial court summarily dismissing Defendant's successive motion for postconviction relief, holding that the trial court did not err. Defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of…
Date: July 8, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-966
Date: July 1, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-60
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for first-degree murder but reversed his sentence of death and remanded for the limited purpose of resentencing and a new sentencing order, holding that the trial court…
Date: June 24, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1511
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in this juvenile sentencing case remanding for the trial judge to remedy a harmful Alleyne error through a "ministerial correction" of…
Date: June 24, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1744
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the sentence of death that was imposed at Defendant's resentencing for the first-degree murder of Seath Jackson, holding that Defendant's claims of error were unavailing. The Supreme Court…
Date: June 24, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1920
Justia Opinion Summary: In this foreclosure case, the Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal failing to follow precedent and concluding that the term "Borrower" means something different than both the mortgage…
Date: June 18, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1543
Date: June 17, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1536
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that an initiative petition circulated pursuant to Fla. Const. art. XI, 3 was affirmatively misleading and that the proposed initiative should not be placed on the ballot. At issue was an…
Date: June 17, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1858
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the trial court denying Appellant's motion for a determination of intellectual disability as a bar to execution and his amended successive motion for postconviction relief, holding…
Date: June 17, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-608
Date: June 10, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1305
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court accepted certification of a question about theUnderground Facility Damage Prevention and Safety Act, Fla. Stat. Chapter 556, and answered that the Act creates a standalone cause of action and that the…
Date: June 10, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1500
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied Petitioner's petition for review of the decision of the First District Court of appeal concluding that it was not error for a successor judge to deny Petitioner's Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.800(b)…
Date: June 10, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1564
Date: June 10, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-607
Date: June 3, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1313
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for first-degree murder and his sentence of death, holding that Defendant's claims on appeal failed. Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1) the trial court's failure…
Date: June 3, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-673
Justia Opinion Summary: In this legal malpractice action by an insurer against a law firm retained to represent its insured in a separate prior litigation, the Supreme Court held that, where the insurer had a duty to defend, the insurer had…
Date: June 3, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1604
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the Second District Court of Appeal's decision holding, in pertinent part, that the trial court erred in failing to notify J.A.R. of his asserted right to a hearing to challenge the $100 public…
Date: May 27, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1464
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the First District Court of Appeals partially upholding a temporary injunction that prohibited enforcement of certain statutory provisions relating to the regulation of medical…
Date: May 27, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1054
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court summarily denying Appellant's third successive motion for postconviction relief, filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that the postconviction court…
Date: May 21, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-737
Date: May 20, 2021
Docket Number: SC18-681
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that a defendant who does not comply with the Florida rule of appellate procedure requiring a criminal defendant to file a motion to withdraw the plea in the trial court before appealing an…
Date: May 20, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1727
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court granting Defendant's motion to dismiss postconviction counsel and proceedings, filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that the circuit court properly…
Date: May 20, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1220
Date: May 20, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1251
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the stipulation entered into by Judge Richard Howard of the Fifth Judicial Circuit and the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) that Judge Howard should be publicly reprimanded…
Date: May 13, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-108
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the postconviction court summarily denying Appellant's second successive motion to vacate his judgment of conviction of first-degree murder and sentence of death, holding that the…
Date: May 13, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-391
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved a stipulation of the Judicial Qualifications Commission and Twentieth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Scott Cupp agreeing to the discipline of a public reprimand, holding that a public reprimand…
Date: May 13, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-6
Date: May 6, 2021
Docket Number: SC17-2231
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the sentence of death imposed on Defendant after a new penalty phase ordered by the Supreme Court, holding that there was no error in the proceedings below. Defendant was convicted of…
Date: May 6, 2021
Docket Number: SC18-896
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court denying Defendant's second and third amended motions to vacate judgment and sentence, holding that the circuit court did not err. Defendant was convicted of one…
Date: April 29, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1490
Date: April 29, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-505
Justia Opinion Summary: In this certified conflict case, the Supreme Court held that a final judgment that modifies a preexisting parenting plan does not need to give a parent "concrete steps" to restore lost time-sharing and return to the…
Date: April 22, 2021
Docket Number: SC18-822
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions of first-degree murder, sexual battery of a person under twelve years old, and kidnapping, and the imposition of the death penalty, holding that there was no prejudicial…
Date: April 22, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-2116
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court struck a proposed amendment that would add a new section to Fla. Const. art. X, 33, holding that the language in the ballot summary indicating that the proposed qualifiedly "[p]ermits" the use and…
Date: April 15, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-8
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree murder and his sentence of death, holding that Defendant failed to demonstrate any reversible error. Defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and…
Date: April 15, 2021
Docket Number: SC21-284
Date: April 8, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1506
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the decision of the First District Court of Appeal dismissing Defendant's appeal of the denial of his motion filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.800(a), holding that Defendant could not show that…
Date: April 8, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-2155
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered in the affirmative a question certified to it by the Fifth District Court of Appeals and quashed the Fifth District's decision in this case, holding that the lowest permissible sentence as…
Date: April 8, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-2162
Date: April 8, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1239
Date: April 8, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1240
Date: April 8, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-155
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the postconviction court denying Appellant's initial postconviction motion filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that Appellant was not entitled to relief on his…
Date: April 1, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1261
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the postconviction court denying Appellant's successive motion for postconviction relief filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that the postconviction court did not…
Date: April 1, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1563
Date: March 11, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1153
Date: March 4, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-873
Date: February 25, 2021
Docket Numbers: SC19-1250, SC19-1343
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court struck in its entirety an amendment to the Hillsborough County Charter adopted in an initiative election that approved a transportation surtax and directives for allocating the tax proceeds, holding…
Date: February 18, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-952
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the Federal Trade Commission's "single document rule," promulgated under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. 2301-2312, does not require the disclosure of a binding arbitration…
Date: February 4, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1275
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court denying Appellant's second successive postconviction motion filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that Appellant did not demonstrate that he was entitled to…
Date: February 4, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-287
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court denying Appellant's second successive postconviction motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that the trial court properly denied postconviction…
Date: January 28, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1622
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that a defendant's potential designation as a prison releasee reoffender (PRR) under Fla. Stat. 775.082(9)(a)1. is not a sufficient collateral legal consequence to preclude dismissal of an appeal…
Date: January 28, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-2104
Date: January 28, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-145
Date: January 21, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-1394
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered in the negative a question certified by the Fifth District Court of Appeal, holding that in a first-party breach of insurance contract action brought by an insured against its insurer not…
Date: January 21, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-165
Date: January 21, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1765
Date: January 14, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1653
Date: January 7, 2021
Docket Number: SC19-2123
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the trial court denying Appellant's successive post conviction motion file pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that Appellant's claims failed. In 1983, Appellant was…
Date: January 7, 2021
Docket Number: SC20-1102
