Justia Florida Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Hackley was convicted of burglary of a conveyance with a person assaulted, arising out of a 2006 incident in which Hackley assaulted two individuals, one of whom was inside a car. Because the offense occurred less than three years after he had been released from serving another sentence in state prison, the trial court sentenced Hackley to life in prison as a prison releasee reoffender under section 775.082(9)(a)1, Florida Statutes. The trial court granted a motion to correct, finding that the crime for which he was convicted did not qualify him for PRR sentencing. The appeals court affirmed. Noting a conflict between districts, the Florida Supreme Court held that burglary of a conveyance with an assault is a qualifying offense under the PRR statute.View "State of Florida v. Hackley" on Justia Law

Draughon was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1987. In 1993, he formed NLMC to purchase property for $315,000, and lease it to a client. The seller, Onusic, received a $7,500 down payment and accepted a promissory note which required NLMC to make monthly payments. Onusic signed the deed with the understanding that Draughon would hold the deed in escrow and not record it until she received full payment. In 1997, Draughon recorded the deed. In 2001, Draughon transferred the property from NLMC to himself, took out a mortgage of $274,975, and used the money to pay personal tax liabilities; none of the funds were used to pay the $110,000 owed Onusic. In 2003 Onusic filed suit, but Draughon filed for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court found actual intent to defraud. A referee recommended that Draughon be found guilty of violating Bar Rule 3-4.3: commission by a lawyer of any act that is unlawful or contrary to honesty and justice, whether committed in the course of the attorney’s relations as an attorney or otherwise. The referee recommended that Draughon be found not guilty of violating Rule 4-4.3(a) concerning dealings with persons not represented by counsel, and recommended public reprimand. The supreme court imposed a one-year suspension. View "FL Bar v. Draughon" on Justia Law

McMillian was sentenced to death for premeditated first degree murder of his girlfriend. He has given at least five different accounts of events relating to the murder; no two are wholly consistent with each other, and none can be fully reconciled with the evidence. The evidence collected at the scene of a shootout between McMillian and police and the scene of the murder, showed that McMillian’s gun was used in the murder. Evidence also included a security video from a convenience store near the victim’s townhome and phone records and McMillian’s confession. McMillian was approximately one year into a five-year term of felony probation stemming from an incident in Georgia in which McMillian fled police, who were attempting to pull him over, at speeds up to 120 m.p.h. through a residential neighborhood. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence. View "Mcmillian v. State of Florida" on Justia Law

This case arose when Mercury, an insurer, offered a settlement proposal to the hospital and the hospital refused the settlement offer. At issue was the constitutionality of the Alachua County Lien Law, chapter 88-539, Laws of Florida (Lien Law), and the Alachua County Hospital Lien Ordinance, Alachua County Code sections 262.20-262.25 (Ordinance), both of which established certain lien rights for charitable hospitals in Alachua County. The court held that the Lien Law was unconstitutional under article III, section 11(a)(9) of the Florida Constitution. The court held, however, that the Ordinance was not unconstitutional and that the First District should have upheld the trial court's judgment on the basis of the Ordinance. In addressing a cross-appeal presented by Mercury, the court held that the trial court properly limited the hospital's damages and properly awarded it attorney fees. View "Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics, Inc., v. Mercury Ins. Co. of Florida" on Justia Law

This action arose from an appeal to the Eleventh Circuit wherein plaintiff appealed the dismissal of insurance coverage claims under section 627.701(4)(a), Florida Statutes, and the denial of a motion to enforce execution of the judgment, and defendant cross-appealed the denial of motions for a new trial and for judgment as a matter of law. In answering five certified questions, the court concluded that, under Florida law: (1) first-party claims were actually statutory bad-faith claims that must be brought under section 624.155; (2) an insured could not bring a claim against an insurer for failure to comply with the language and type-size requirements established by section 627.701(4)(a); (3) an insurer's failure to comply with the language and type-size requirements established in section 627.701(4)(a) did not render a noncompliant hurricane deductible provision in an insurance policy void and unenforceable as the Legislature had not provided for this penalty; and (4) a contractual provision mandating payment of benefits upon "entry of a final judgment" did not waive the insurer's procedural right to post a bond and stay the execution of a money judgment pending resolution of appeal. View "QBE Ins. Corp. v. Chalfonte Condominium Apt. Assoc., Inc." on Justia Law

Petitioner was found guilty of armed robbery of a convenience store when he was 19-years-old and was sentenced to life in prison as a habitually violent offender. At issue was the summary denial of an evidentiary hearing in postconviction proceedings under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. The court concluded that the district court misapplied the court's precedent and in so doing erred in affirming the summary denial of petitioner's successive motion for postconviction relief based on newly discovered evidence. Accordingly, the court quashed the decision below and remanded for an evidentiary hearing on the newly discovered evidence claim involving only the affidavit of the codefendant. View "Nordelo v. State" on Justia Law

Petitioner sought review of the Third District's summary dismissals of his unfair labor practice (ULP) claim. The court concluded that because it found that the actions alleged in petitioner's claim were sufficient to establish a prima facie violation of Florida Statute 447.501, the court concluded that the Third District incorrectly affirmed the Public Employees Relations Commission's dismissal of petitioner's charges; the totality of the circumstances alleged in petitioner's charge were sufficient to demonstrate prima facie evidence that he suffered from an adverse employment action; petitioner's allegations regarding his transfer provided sufficient evidence of adverse employment action to survive summary dismissal; and petitioner sufficiently alleged a causal link between the protected activity and the adverse employment action. View "Koren v. Schl. Bd. of Miami-Dade County, et al." on Justia Law

Petitioner, an inmate in state custody, filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging his conviction and sentence. The court dismissed the petition in this case by way of an unpublished order, determining that the petition was unauthorized pursuant to Baker v. State. In disposing of the petition, the court expressly retained jurisdiction to pursue possible sanctions against petitioner. After considering petitioner's show cause response, the court concluded that it failed to show cause why he should not be sanctioned. Petitioner's unauthorized petition was a frivolous proceeding and petitioner had compiled a history of pro se filings that were devoid of merit or inappropriate for review. View "Gaffney v. Tucker, etc." on Justia Law

This action arose when the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) served a Notice of Formal Charges on Judge Singbush for violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct. Specifically, the charges stated, among other things, multiple allegations of tardiness or actions that caused scheduling inconveniences or inefficiencies, as well as actions in presiding over Jumbolair, Inc. v. Garemore. The court approved the stipulation and the JQC's Findings and Recommendation recommending that Judge Singbush receive a public reprimand, submit written weekly logs to special counsel of the JQC for one year after the publication of the opinion, and submit a signed letter of public apology to the JQC. View "Inquiry Concerning a Judge, No. 10-420 Re: William Singbush" on Justia Law

Petitioner was convicted of aggravated battery with a weapon. At issue was whether the trial court erred in failing to inform the jury of its right to request a read-back in response to the jury's request for trial transcripts during deliberations. Because the trial judge did not instruct the jury to clarify which portion of the transcript the jury wanted to review, the court could not determine whether the jury was confused regarding specific testimony in this case. As in Johnson v. State, the court would have to engage in pure speculation as to the effect of the trial court's failure to inform the jury of the possibility of a read-back or the trial court's failure to ask which portion of the testimony it wanted to review. Therefore, the trial court committed reversible error and petitioner was entitled to a new trial. View "Hazuri v. State" on Justia Law