Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-935 _ IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA RULE FOR CERTIFIED AND COURT-APPOINTED MEDIATORS 10.910. [June 22, 2017] PER CURIAM. This matter is before the Court on a petition of the Supreme Court Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution Rules and Policy (Committee), proposing amendments to rule 10.910 (Mediator Ethics Advisory Committee) of the Florida Rules for Certified and Court-Appointed Mediators (Mediator Rules). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, §2(a), Fla....
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-91 _ IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO THE FLORIDA FAMILY LAW RULES OF PROCEDURE—2017 REGULAR-CYCLE REPORT. [October 5, 2017] PER CURIAM. This matter is before the Court for consideration of proposed amendments to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const. BACKGROUND The Family Law Rules Committee (Committee) has filed its regular-cycle report of proposed rule and form amendments. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.140(b). The...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-846 _ ANDREW RICHARD ALLRED, Appellant, vs. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. [November 16, 2017] PER CURIAM. Andrew Richard Allred, a prisoner under sentences of death, appeals the circuit court’s order summarily denying his first successive motion for postconviction relief, which was filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. In 2008, Allred pleaded guilty to and was convicted of the first-degree...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-839 _ MARK A. TWILEGAR, Appellant, vs. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. [November 2, 2017] PER CURIAM. Mark A. Twilegar, a prisoner under sentence of death, appeals the circuit court’s order denying his successive motion for postconviction relief filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851 seeking relief from his death sentence pursuant to Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and Hurst v. State, 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct. 2161...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-680 _ IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO THE CODE OF JUDICIAL CONDUCT. [May 18, 2017] PER CURIAM. The Court, on its own motion, amends the Code of Judicial Conduct (Code) to clarify the public financial and gift disclosure requirements for judges, and to reiterate that the filing of the public financial disclosure reports required by the Code is the only public disclosure of financial interests, compensation, gifts, or other benefits a judge or justice is required to make....
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-68 _ SONNY BOY OATS, JR., Petitioner, vs. JULIE L. JONES, etc., Respondent. [May 25, 2017] PER CURIAM. Sonny Boy Oats, Jr., was tried and convicted for the December 1979 robbery of a convenience store and first-degree murder of the store clerk. Oats v. State, 181 So. 3d 457 , 460 (Fla. 2015). This Court affirmed Oats’ conviction on direct appeal but held that the trial court erroneously found three aggravating factors and remanded to the trial court for entry...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-653 _ ARAMIS DONELL AYALA, etc., Petitioner, vs. RICK SCOTT, GOVERNOR, Respondent. [August 31, 2017] LAWSON, J. Aramis Donell Ayala, State Attorney for Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, petitions this Court for a writ of quo warranto, challenging Governor Rick Scott’s authority under section 27.14(1), Florida Statutes (2016), to reassign the prosecution of death-penalty eligible cases in the Ninth Circuit to Brad King, State Attorney for Florida’s Fifth...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-583 _ IN RE: STANDARD CRIMINAL JURY INSTRUCTIONS IN CAPITAL CASES. [April 13, 2017] PER CURIAM. This matter is before the Court on our own motion to consider the criminal jury instructions pertaining to the imposition of the death penalty. On an interim basis, we authorize for publication and use amended Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases 7.11 (Preliminary Instructions in Penalty Proceedings—Capital Cases) and 7.12 (Dialogue for Polling the Jury (...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-514 _ IN RE: STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS IN CIVIL CASES—REPORT NO. 17-02. [November 2, 2017] PER CURIAM. The Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases (Committee) has submitted proposed changes to the standard jury instructions and asks that the Court authorize the amended standard instructions for publication and use. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const. The Committee filed its report proposing to amend civil jury...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-458 _ IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES REGULATING THE FLORIDA BAR – RULES 4-1.2 AND 4-6.6. [October 19, 2017] PER CURIAM. This matter is before the Court on the petition of The Florida Bar (Bar) proposing amendments to the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar (Bar Rules). See R. Regulating Fla. Bar 1-12.1. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 15, Fla. Const. The Bar proposes amendments to Bar Rule 4-1.2 (Objectives and Scope of Representation) and proposes the...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-456 _ GUERRY WAYNE HERTZ, Petitioner, vs. JULIE L. JONES, etc., Respondent. [May 18, 2017] PER CURIAM. This case is before the Court on the petition of Guerry Wayne Hertz for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(9), Fla. Const. FACTS We previously detailed the facts surrounding Hertz’s case on his direct appeal: In the early morning hours of July 27, 1997, the charred bodies of Melanie King and Robin Keith Spears were found in the...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-453 _ JAMES ARMANDO CARD, Petitioner, vs. JULIE L. JONES, etc., Respondent. [May 4, 2017] CORRECTED OPINION PER CURIAM. James Armando Card petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus seeking relief under Hurst v. Florida (Hurst v. Florida), 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and Hurst v. State (Hurst), 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016) petition for cert. filed, No. 16-998 (U.S. Feb. 13, 2017). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(9), Fla. Const. Card’s sentence of death,...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-453 _ JAMES ARMANDO CARD, Petitioner, vs. JULIE L. JONES, etc., Respondent. [May 4, 2017] PER CURIAM. James Armando Card petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus seeking relief under Hurst v. Florida (Hurst v. Florida), 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and Hurst v. State (Hurst), 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016) petition for cert. filed, No. 16-998 (U.S. Feb. 13, 2017). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(9), Fla. Const. Card’s sentence of death, which his...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-451 _ IN RE: STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS IN CIVIL CASES—REPORT 17-01. [November 16, 2017] PER CURIAM. The Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases (Committee) has submitted proposed changes to the standard jury instructions and asks that the Court authorize the amended standard instructions for publication and use. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const. The Committee proposes amending instruction 201.2 (Introduction...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-445 _ JAMES ERNEST HITCHCOCK, Appellant, vs. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. [August 10, 2017] PER CURIAM. James Ernest Hitchcock is a prisoner under sentence of death whose sentence became final in 2000. See Hitchcock v. State, 755 So. 2d 638 (Fla.), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1040 (2000). Following 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, 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016),...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-440 _ MICHAEL A. HERNANDEZ, JR., Petitioner, vs. JULIE L. JONES, etc., Respondent. [May 11, 2017] PER CURIAM. Petitioner, Michael A. Hernandez, Jr., has filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, challenging the constitutionality of his death sentence, which was based upon a nonunanimous jury recommendation. See Hernandez v. State, 4 So. 3d 642 , 654 (Fla. 2009). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(9), Fla. Const. Because Hernandez’s sentence became...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-433 _ ROBERT J. BAILEY, Petitioner, vs. JULIE L. JONES, etc., Respondent. [July 6, 2017] PER CURIAM. Robert J. Bailey petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus seeking relief under Hurst v. Florida, 136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), and Hurst v. State, 202 So. 3d 40 (Fla. 2016), cert. denied, No. 16-998, 2017 WL 635999 (U.S. May 22, 2017). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(9), Fla. Const. Bailey’s death sentence, which his penalty phase jury recommended by...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-389 _ JESSE GUARDADO, Petitioner, vs. JULIE L. JONES, etc., Respondent. [May 11, 2017] PER CURIAM. This case is before the Court on the petition of Jesse Guardado for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(9), Fla. Const. The underlying facts of this case were described in this Court’s opinion on direct appeal. Guardado v. State, 965 So. 2d 108 , 110-12 (Fla. 2007). Guardado pleaded guilty to murder in the first degree and robbery...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-349 _ NOEL DOORBAL, Petitioner, vs. JULIE L. JONES, etc., Respondent. [September 20, 2017] PER CURIAM. This case is before the Court on the petition of Noel Doorbal for a writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(9), Fla. Const. FACTS We previously detailed the gruesome and intricate facts surrounding Doorbal’s crimes on his direct appeal. Doorbal v. State, 837 So. 2d 940 , 944-52 (Fla. 2003). Relevant here, Doorbal was convicted and...
Supreme Court of Florida _ No. SC17-327 _ ANTHONY J. FAILS, Petitioner, vs. JULIE L. JONES, etc., Respondent. [June 15, 2017] PER CURIAM. Anthony J. Fails, an inmate in state custody, filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus with this Court.1 His petition in this case is the twenty-seventh extraordinary writ petition or notice he has filed with this Court since 2008. It is the thirteenth extraordinary writ petition or notice he has filed pertaining to Escambia County Circuit Court case...
