Justia Florida Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Defendant, a juvenile nonhomicide offender, was entitled to resentencing under Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010), because the sentencing court did not make the required findings at Defendant’s sentencing hearing to comport with chapter 2014-220, Laws of Florida, and because Defendant’s sentence lacked any review mechanism.Defendant was convicted of one count of attempted felony murder and one count of attempted armed robbery for a crime he convicted when he was fifteen years old. Defendant was sentenced as an adult to thirty years’ imprisonment for the attempted felony murder and fifteen years’ imprisonment for the attempted armed robbery, to be served concurrently. Defendant’s sentence did not provide for judicial review. The Supreme Court ordered that Defendant be resentenced under the juvenile sentencing provisions in chapter 2014-220. View "Morris v. State" on Justia Law

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, in which Appellant claimed newly discovered evidence, ineffective assistance of counsel, Brady and Giglio violations, and violation of Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616, and Hurst v. State, 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). The postconviction court summarily denied Appellant’s claims. The Supreme Court affirmed the summary denial of Appellant’s successive motion for postconviction relief, holding (1) the evidence proffered by Appellant in support of his newly discovered evidence claim was not newly discovered evidence; and (2) Appellant’s remaining claims were without merit. View "Taylor v. State" on Justia Law

A local government has the authority under Fla. Stat. 316.0083(1)(a) to contract with a private third-party vendor to review and sort information from red light cameras, in accordance with the local government’s written guidelines, before sending that information to a trained traffic enforcement officer, who determines whether probable cause exists and a citation should be issued.Petitioner received a traffic citation based on images from a red light camera. Petitioner argued that the City of Aventura’s red light camera enforcement program was illegal because it included the use of a third-party agent to review images from the City’s red light cameras before sending them to City police to determine whether a traffic citation should be issued. The court of appeal held that the City did not violate the Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Program, see Fla. Stat. 316.0083(1)(a), which grants local governments’ traffic enforcement officers the power to issue citations for traffic infractions captured by red light cameras. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the City did not exceed its statutory authority in contracting with a vendor to review the red light camera images and that the City’s use of its own standards for determining whether a traffic infraction has occurred did not violate the uniformity principle set forth in chapter 316. View "Jimenez v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s order denying Appellant’s motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, in which Appellant sought relief pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and this Court’s decision on remand in Hurst v. State (Hurst), 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). The jury in Appellant’s case recommended a sentence of death by a vote of ten to two. The trial court sentenced Appellant to death, and Appellant’s sentence became final in 1994. The Supreme Court held that Hurst did not apply retroactively to Appellant’s death sentence, and therefore, Appellant was not entitled to relief. View "Reaves v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s order denying Appellant’s motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, in which Appellant sought relief pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and this Court’s decision on remand in Hurst v. State (Hurst), 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). Appellant was convicted by a jury of two counts of first-degree murder. The jury recommended a sentence of death for each count, one by a vote of ten to two and the other by a vote of twelve to zero. The trial court subsequently sentenced Appellant to death on both counts. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Hurst did not apply retroactively to Appellant’s sentences of death, which became final in 1995. View "Jones v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court directed the clerk of court to reject any future pleadings or other requests for relief submitted by Petitioner that pertained to two particular cases unless such filings were signed by a member in good standing of The Florida Bar. In addition, the Court found that the petition filed by Petitioner in this case was a frivolous proceeding brought before the Court by a state prisoner.Here, Petitioner, an inmate in state custody, filed a pro se petition to invoke the Supreme Court’s all writs jurisdiction. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition and expressly retained jurisdiction to pursue possible sanctions against him. The Supreme Court sanctioned Petitioner, who abused the judicial process and burdened the Court’s limited resources with repeated requests that were either frivolous or devoid of merit. View "Woodson v. State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court withdrew its opinion issued on January 24, 2018 in this case and substituted this opinion in its place, holding that the circuit court properly denied Appellant’s motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851.Appellant’s motion sought relief pursuant to Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and this court’s decision on remand in Hurst v. State, 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016). The Supreme Court held that Appellant’s valid waiver of postconviction proceedings and counsel in 2008 precluded him from claiming a right to relief under Hurst. Moreover, even if Appellant’s postconviction waiver did not preclude him from raising a Hurst claim, Hurst would not apply retroactively to Appellant’s sentence of death. View "Trease v. State" on Justia Law

For a claim to sound in medical malpractice, the act from which the claim arises must be directly related to medical care or services, which require the use of professional judgment or skill.This case arose out of an action brought by Denise Townes on behalf of Cinnette Perry, and Perry, individually, against the National Deaf Academy, by and through its employees, for injuries Perry sustained while she was a resident at the Academy. Perry was injured when the Academy’s employees attempted to physically restrain her with a Therapeutic Aggression Control Techniques (TACT) hold. The trial court granted summary judgment for the Academy, concluding Townes alleged medical malpractice claims, rather than negligence claims, and failed to comply with the medical malpractice presuit requirements. The court of appeals reversed, holding that Townes’s claims sounded in ordinary negligence because the employees’ actions were “not for treatment or diagnosis of any condition” and did not require medical skill or judgment. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Townes’s claims did not arise from medical malpractice because the administration of a TACT hold was not directly related to medical care or services. View "National Deaf Academy, LLC v. Townes" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the court of appeal in this medical malpractice action, holding that the treating physician’s deposition testimony regarding how the physician would have treated Alexis Cantore had she arrived at Miami Children’s Hospital (MCH) earlier was admissible.Alexis and her parents (collectively, Plaintiffs) sued MCH and West Boca Medical Center, Inc. (WBMC), alleging that they had not provided proper medical care for Alexis, who suffered permanent brain damage after a brain herniation. Over Plaintiffs’ objection, counsel for WBMC was permitted to publish to the jury the deposition of the pediatric neurosurgeon at MCH who operated on Alexis, in which the physician answered hypothetical questions as to how he would have treated Alexis had she arrived at MCH an hour or two earlier. The jury returned a verdict in favor of WBMC and MCH. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the trial court erred in admitting the challenged deposition testimony pursuant to the Court’s decision in Saunders v. Dickens, 151 So. 3d 434 (Fla. 2014), and that the error was not harmless. View "Cantore v. West Boca Medical Center, Inc." on Justia Law

In this appeal from a criminal conviction the Supreme Court affirmed in part and quashed in part the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal affirming Appellant’s convictions and sentences, holding that, based on the State’s concession, Appellant was entitled to resentencing pursuant to chapter 2014-220, Laws of Florida, and to resentencing pursuant to this Court’s decision in Williams v. State, 186 So. 3d 989 (Fla. 2016).A jury found Appellant guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and theft. The Second District affirmed. The Supreme Court held (1) the trial court properly denied Defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal; and (2) where the State conceded that Appellant was entitled to resentencing, the case is remanded with instructions to remand to the trial court for resentencing. View "Williams v. State" on Justia Law