Justia Florida Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

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

Respondent was convicted of first-degree murder of a victim whose body was never discovered. At issue was whether the trial court abused its discretion when it denied the jury's request for specific trial transcripts during deliberations without advising the jury of the possibility of a read-back. In light of the court's decision in Hazuri v. State, the trial court improperly (1) used language that may have mislead the jury into believing read-backs were prohibited; and (2) informed the jury that there were not transcripts available without informing the jury of the availability of a read-back request. Because the court was unable to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the guilty verdict, respondent was entitled to a new trial. View "State v. Barrow" on Justia Law

This action stemmed from an appeal to the Eleventh Circuit wherein plaintiff appealed the dismissal of claims under section 627.701(4)(a), Florida Statutes, and the denial of a motion to enforce execution of the judgment, and defendant appealed the denial of motions for a new trial and for judgment as a matter of law. Plaintiff had filed a claim with defendant, its property insurer, pursuant to an insurance policy but was dissatisfied with defendant's investigation and processing of its claim. Based on the facts and analysis, the court answered the first, third, fourth, and fifth questions certified by the Eleventh Circuit in the negative. In doing so, the court did not reach the second certified question. 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 Apartment Assoc., Inc." on Justia Law

Defendant appealed the denial of his successive motion for postconviction relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. In his motion, defendant challenged his convictions and sentences, including a judgment of conviction of first-degree murder and a sentence of death, based on the recantation testimony of an accomplice, which defendant submitted to the trial court as newly discovered evidence. Because the court found competent and substantial evidence in the record to support the trial court's conclusion that the recantation was untruthful, the court's denial of relief was affirmed. View "Spann v. State" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his conviction and sentence of death for the first degree murder of his 64-year-old stepfather. On appeal, defendant raised eight claims: (1) the trial court erred in admitting a statement that could imply that he committed a prior murder; (2) the court erred in permitting the State to present certain victim impact evidence: (3) the court erred in denying the motion to suppress the statements that defendant made to an informant; (4) the court erred in finding that the murder was cold, calculated, and premeditated; (5) the court erred in finding the murder was committed for pecuniary gain; (6) the court erred in giving little weight to the evidence pertaining to defendant's cocaine addiction; (7) the death sentence was disproportionate; and (8) the court should consider whether Florida's death penalty scheme was unconstitutional. The court addressed each claim and denied relief, affirming defendant's conviction and sentence. View "Peterson v. State" on Justia Law