Florida Supreme Court Decisions 2023

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of Florida heard a case involving an appeal by James Seadler against Marina Bay Resort Condominium Association, Inc. following an injury Seadler sustained when a pool chair at the resort collapsed. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court of Florida denied a petition brought forward by Leonard P. Gonzalez, Jr., who requested a review of a nonfinal order by the circuit court. Gonzalez was convicted of home-invasion robbery…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case arising from two unrelated episodes in which a Tallahassee police officer used lethal force in detaining a suspect after asserting self-defense the Supreme Court held that Marsy's Law, Fla. Const. art. I,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed in part the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal and remanded this case for resentencing proceedings, holding that the trial court committed harmful Alleyne error. See Alleyne v.…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the holding of the court of appeal that the dangerous instrumentality doctrine did not support the trial court's judgment in the underlying case, holding that the court of appeal did not…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, carjacking with a firearm, and possession of a firearm by a convicted…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Public Service Commission allocating partial replacement power costs to Duke Energy Florida, LLC (DEF), holding that the Office of Public Counsel (OPC) waived the arguments…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the trial court summarily denying Appellant's successive motion for DNA testing filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.853, holding that that the trial court did not err in summarily…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court declined to answer the first portion of a certified question and answered the second portion of the certified question that a settlement payment made by an uninsured motorist insurer to settle a…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's two sentences of death imposed by the trial court for the second time following the Court's grant of postconviction relief and remand for a new penalty phase, holding that Defendant…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court pro se barred Petitioner, an inmate in state custody, holding that Petitioner failed to show cause why he should not be barred and sanctioned. Petitioner was convicted of lewd and lascivious sexual…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied Petitioner's pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging his conviction and pro se barred Petitioner, an inmate in state custody, holding that Petitioner failed to show cause why he…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this review of a decision of the Public Service Commission relating to rates charged by Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) for the provision of electric service, the Supreme Court held that the Commission had not…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the postconviction court summarily denying the claims in Michael Duane Zack, III's fourth successive postconviction motion and denied Zack's motion for stay of execution and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court summarily denying Appellant's second successive motion for postconviction relief, which was filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that the postconviction…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied Respondent's petition for a writ of mandamus and sanctioned Respondent, an inmate in state custody, by directing the clerk of court to reject any future pleadings or requests for relief submitted…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal concluding that Florida's extortion law, Fla. Stat. 836.05, requires the State to prove that the defendant made a threat "intentionally and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's sentence of death imposed by the trial court following the Supreme Court's reversal of his original death sentence and remand for resentencing, holding that relative culpability…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeal concluding that the appellate court, exercising its authority to issue an interlocutory writ of certiorari, could not immediately review a trial court's…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decisions of the circuit court denying Appellant's successive motion for postconviction relief filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851 and Appellant's request for additional public records filed…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions of two counts of first-degree murder but set aside and his sentences of death for each murder, holding that Defendant was deprived of his right to "have the Assistance…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the decision of the First District Court of Appeal affirming the trial court's judgment concluding that this negligence action was untimely filed, holding that Fla. Stat. 733.710(1)…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied Petitioner's petition for a writ of habeas corpus and then sanctioned him, holding that Petitioner failed to show cause why he should not be pro se barred. In 2006, Petitioner was sentenced to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied Petitioner's pro se petition for a writ of prohibition challenging the trial court's rulings in criminal cases and a separate civil case, holding that Petitioner failed to show cause why he…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied a petition filed by Petitioner Andrew H. Warren, the elected State Attorney for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, arguing that Governor Ron DeSantis lacked authority to issue Executive Order…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Florida's offer-of-judgment statute does not impose the requirement that a party must prevail in a proceeding to be entitled to fees under the statute, and therefore, the statute is not a…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court finding Defendant sane to be executed, holding that the record contained competent, substantial evidence to support the circuit court's determination that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court denying Appellant's motions in this criminal case in which Appellant was under a death warrant, holding that Appellant was not entitled to relief. Defendant…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the decision of the court of appeal affirming the trial court's denial of Defendant's motion to suppress eyewitness identifications resulting from an out-of-court police procedure, holding that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied Appellant's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that Appellant failed to establish that he was entitled to the writ. Appellant was convicted in 1991, following a jury trial, of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the sentence of death imposed at Defendant's second resentencing for first-degree murder, holding that the two issues raised by Defendant on appeal were foreclosed by this Court's…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed Petitioner's pro se petition for writ of mandamus and sanctioned him for his repeated misuse of the judicial system's resources, holding that Petitioner's petition was frivolous. Petitioner…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court summarily denying Appellant's sixth successive motion for post-conviction relief under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that the circuit court did not err in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the orders of the circuit court summarily denying Appellant's second successive motion for postconviction relief filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, denying his motion for a stay of execution,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree murder and sentence of death, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on any of his claims of error. Defendant pleaded guilty to first degree…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied a pro se petition for writ of mandamus brought by Petitioner, a pretrial detainee in the custody of the Volusia County Jail, and sanctioned Petitioner as pro se barred. Petitioner engaged in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the order of the trial court denying Petitioner's motion to disqualify the judge assigned to preside over his postconviction proceedings, holding that the trial court erred in denying the motion…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal affirming the judgment of the circuit court in favor of Landlord in this action he brought seeking a refund of the amount he paid after a…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court denying Louis Gaskin's third successive motion for postconviction relief and denied Gaskin's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, motion for a stay of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court found that Petitioner, who filed a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus, failed to show cause why he should not be barred and sanctioned him as set forth in this opinion. Petitioner was…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court summarily denying Appellant's successive postconviction motion filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that Appellant was not entitled to relief on his…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Petitioner, who was ordered to show cause why she should not be further sanctioned and barred from filing any pro se pleadings in the Supreme Court, had abused the Court's limited judicial…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court denying Appellant's latest successive postconviction motion seeking relief under Hall v. Florida, 572 U.S. 701 (2014), holding that Appellant did not get the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the circuit court summarily denying Donald David Dillbeck's fourth successive postconviction motion filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, denied Dillbeck's habeas petition, and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal in the proceedings below, holding that an appraiser cannot be "disinterested" if he or she, or a firm in which he or she has an interest, is…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied Petitioner's writ of mandamus, which the Supreme Court created as a motion for written opinion, as well as any other pending motions or requests for relief, holding that holding that Petitioner…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that neither the common law doctrine of legislative immunity nor of governmental function immunity prohibited the statutory civil actions and penalties imposed against local governments and…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this wrongful death action, the Supreme Court approved the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal reversing as excessive a punitive damages award that exceeded the net compensatory damages award by a ratio of…