Florida Supreme Court Decisions 2022
Date: December 15, 2022
Docket Numbers: SC22-1557, SC22-1558
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied petitions in these consolidated cases alleging that the nomination of nonresident candidates for a judicial vacancy was unconstitutional, holding that the constitutional residency requirement for…
Date: December 1, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-654
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Petitioner had abused the Court's limited resources and will continue to burden the Court's resources if no action is taken and that the habeas petition filed in this case was a frivolous…
Date: December 1, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-818
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Petitioner had abused the Court's limited resources and will continue to burden the Court's resources if no action is taken and that the habeas petition filed in this case was a frivolous…
Date: November 23, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-366
Date: November 23, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1596
Date: November 23, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-330
Date: November 17, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-225
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree murder and his corresponding death sentence, as well as Defendant's conviction for conspiracy to commit murder, holding that Defendant was not entitled to…
Date: November 17, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1407
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the first element of Florida's assault statute, Fla. Stat. 784.011(1), requires not just the general intent to volitionally take the action of threatening to do violence but also that the…
Date: November 17, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-1387
Date: November 10, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1581
Date: November 3, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-641
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal finding that an order granting Defendant's Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.800(a) motion and determining that Defendant's sentence was illegal was not a…
Date: October 27, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1419
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeal to grant a writ of certiorari in this case, holding that the district court did not have certiorari jurisdiction. Defendant was charged with…
Date: October 20, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-369
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the conclusion of the Second District Court of Appeal affirming the trial court's order denying Defendant Suarez Trucking's motion to enforce a settlement agreement with Plaintiff Adam Souders,…
Date: October 13, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-119
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved of the decision of the First District Court of Appeal affirming Defendant's conviction for sexual battery in violation of Fla. Stat. 794.011(5)(b), holding that subsection 5(b) is not facially…
Date: September 29, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1589
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court denying Quentin Marcus Truehill's postconviction motion filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851 and denied Truehill's petition for a writ of habeas corpus,…
Date: September 22, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-1033
Date: September 15, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-195
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that John F. Mosley, who was resentenced to death for the murder of his ten-month-old son after a second penalty phase trial, was entitled to a new Spencer hearing and sentencing hearing but was…
Date: September 15, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-574
Date: September 8, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1282
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the court of appeal determining that Appellant's motion for disqualification was legally sufficient but that the trial judge's failure to grant the motion did not require…
Date: September 1, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-284
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions and sentences of death for the first-degree murders of Patricia Moran and Deborah Royal, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his allegations of…
Date: September 1, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1601
Date: August 31, 2022
Docket Number: SC19-1587
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the postconviction court partially granting Defendant's motion to vacate his first-degree murder convictions and sentences of death pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding…
Date: August 25, 2022
Docket Number: SC19-1870
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirming Defendant's conviction for arson but finding that his due process rights were violated during sentencing and remanding for…
Date: August 25, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1225
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the court of appeal issuing a writ of prohibition to prevent the circuit court from exercising jurisdiction over certain claims, holding that the court of appeal erred in issuing…
Date: August 25, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1441
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that a completed purchase of illegal drugs necessarily entails the defendant purchaser's possession of those drugs, as federal law defines possession, and a purchase is not necessarily complete as…
Date: August 25, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1717
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving the interpretation of Fla. Stat. 679.5061(3) the Supreme Court held that a financing statement that fails correctly to name the debtors, as required by Florida law, is seriously misleading and…
Date: August 25, 2022
Docket Numbers: SC21-295, SC21-295
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the postconviction court denying Defendant's motion to vacate his convictions and sentences, including three convictions for first-degree murder and three sentences of death,…
Date: August 25, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-115
Date: August 25, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-312
Date: August 25, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-756
Date: July 14, 2022
Docket Numbers: SC21-1680, SC22-214
Date: July 14, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-990
Date: July 14, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-1
Date: July 14, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-113
Date: July 7, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1601
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the order of the Florida Public Service Commission denying Duke Energy Florida, LLC's (DEF) request to recover approximately $16 from its customers for costs DEF incurred to meet its customers'…
Date: July 7, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1862
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree murder and his sentence of death, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his allegations of error. Defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree…
Date: June 30, 2022
Docket Numbers: SC19-1624, SC21-502
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court denying the guilt-phase claims Kim Jackson raised in his motion for postconviction relief filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851 and denied Jackson's petition for a…
Date: June 30, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1656
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that mistrial amendments to a charging document that alter the elements of a criminal offense should be assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine, based on the totality of the circumstances, if…
Date: June 30, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-506
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal affirming Defendant's convictions of driving under the influence (DUI) causing damage to property or person and DUI causing serious bodily…
Date: June 16, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-676
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that, subject to the procedural constraints of Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.800(b), a trial court has the inherent authority to sua sponte correct sentencing documents that overreport the amount of jail time…
Date: June 16, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-18
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court summarily denying Defendant's second successive motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that there was no error. After…
Date: June 16, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-114
Date: June 9, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1422
Justia Opinion Summary: Ritchie sexually battered and strangled to death nine-year-old F.W., who had been left in Ritchie’s care by a friend, then dumped the child’s body in the water off of the Courtney Campbell Causeway and fabricated a story…
Date: June 2, 2022
Docket Number: SC18-1208
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that a sentencing court may rely on a defendant's lack of remorse after the defendant has given a post-Miranda, sworn confession to the crime and has obviously lied under oath at trial about his…
Date: June 2, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-144
Date: June 2, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-607
Date: June 2, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-685
Date: May 26, 2022
Docket Numbers: SC19-1923, SC19-1936
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal in this workers' compensation dispute, holding that Fla. Stat. 440.13(11)(c), a section of the Workers' Compensation (WCL), does not preclude…
Date: May 26, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-249
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the ruling of the Fifth District Court of Appeal that a trial court may order a defendant over whom it has in personam jurisdiction to act on foreign property pursuant to Fla. Stat. 56.29(6),…
Date: May 26, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-277
Date: May 19, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-605
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved findings of misconduct made by the Hearing Panel of the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission (Hearing Panel) concerning Circuit Judge Barbara Kaye Hobbs, found Judge Hobbs guilty to as to…
Date: May 19, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1189
Date: May 19, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-673
Date: May 12, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-521
Date: May 5, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-537
Date: April 28, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1185
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court summarily denying Appellant's third amended successive motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851 and denying his motion to…
Date: April 28, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-43
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the Second District Court of Appeal's decision in this negligence case, holding that the ruling in Joerg v. State Farm Mutual Insurance Co., 176 So,. 3d 1247 (Fla. 2015) prohibiting the…
Date: April 21, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1399
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the statutory presuit notice requirement that Fla. Stat. 766.106 imposes on a claimant who seeks to file a medical negligence suit demands only that a claimant to timely mail the presuit…
Date: April 14, 2022
Docket Number: SC19-1070
Date: April 7, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1805
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court summarily denying Appellant's second successive motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that there was no error. The…
Date: April 7, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1625
Date: March 31, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1167
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal reversing the circuit court's grant of Airbnb, Inc.'s motion to compel arbitration, holding that the circuit court did not err in compelling…
Date: March 31, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1847
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court summarily denying Defendant's seventh motion for postconviction relief filed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that the trial court did not err in summarily…
Date: March 24, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1171
Date: March 24, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1172
Date: March 24, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1173
Date: March 24, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1190
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court sanctioned Petitioner, an inmate in state custody, holding that Petitioner failed to show cause why he should not be barred. Petitioner was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery with a gun or…
Date: March 24, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-24
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal concluding that the circuit court had personal jurisdiction over Tribeca Asset Management, Inc., holding that the parties' agreement did not…
Date: March 24, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-891
Date: March 17, 2022
Docket Number: SC19-1182
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court approved the holding of the court of appeal that Fla. Const. art. I, 14 does not prohibit the trial court the discretion at first appearance, upon a finding of probable cause that the defendant…
Date: March 17, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-291
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that an "Engle progeny" plaintiff must prove reliance on a statement that was made by an Engle defendant for a concealment claim or co-conspirator for a conspiracy claim and that concealed or…
Date: March 17, 2022
Docket Numbers: SC21-1635; SC21-1636; SC21-1736; SC21-1737, SC21-1738
Date: March 17, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-20
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that conviction on multiple counts under Fla. Stat. 316.062(2) stemming from a single crash involving multiple victims does not expose a defendant to multiple punishments for one offense in…
Date: March 10, 2022
Docket Numbers: SC19-1512, SC20-422
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court denying Billy Sheppard Jr.'s motion to vacate his conviction of first-degree murder and denied Sheppard's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that the…
Date: March 3, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1467
Date: March 3, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-131
Date: February 24, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1814
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Fla. Stat. 120.68(3), which entitles a party to a presumptive stay upon the appeal of an agency decision that "has the effect of suspending or revoking a license," does not apply to an agency…
Date: February 24, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1094
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted Petitioner's petition for a writ of mandamus compelling the court of appeals to reinstate his appeal of a circuit court order denying him postconviction relief, holding that Petitioner did all…
Date: February 17, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1379
Date: February 10, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1741
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's two first-degree murder convictions and two corresponding sentences of death, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his allegations of error. After a trial, a jury…
Date: February 10, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-243
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's sentences of death imposed in connection with his conviction for two counts of first-degree murder, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his claims of error. After…
Date: February 10, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-187
Date: February 10, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-966
Date: February 10, 2022
Docket Number: SC22-139
Date: February 3, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-472
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree murder and his sentence of death, holding that there was no error in the proceedings below. Defendant entered a no contest plea to first-degree murder,…
Date: February 3, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-159
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Plaintiff's unjust enrichment claim failed because he received adequate consideration in exchange for the challenged fee when he took advantage of the privilege of using his credit card to pay…
Date: February 3, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1681
Date: February 3, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-763
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court summarily denying Appellant's sixth successive motion for postconviction relief pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that the trial court did not err in…
Date: January 27, 2022
Docket Number: SC19-1371
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that a deed covenant requiring the arbitration of any dispute arising from a construction defect runs with the land such that it is binding upon a subsequent purchaser of the real estate who was…
Date: January 27, 2022
Docket Number: SC19-2016
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute over the power to make changes to a county sheriff's budget the Supreme Court held that the Sheriff of Alachua County is not permitted under Florida Statutes chapters 30 and 129 to make object-level…
Date: January 27, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1616
Date: January 20, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-754
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court summarily denying Appellant's successive motion for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.851, holding that Appellant was not entitled to…
Date: January 13, 2022
Docket Numbers: SC18-1238, SC19-700
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated Defendant's convictions for first-degree murder and remanded this case to the trial court for a new trial, holding that Defendant was entitled to postconviction relief as to the guilt phase of…
Date: January 13, 2022
Docket Number: SC18-1629
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's convictions for first-degree murder and sentences of death, holding that the introduction of the testimony of Defendant's mother constituted harmful error. During Defendant's…
Date: January 13, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-1174
Date: January 6, 2022
Docket Number: SC20-1129
Date: January 6, 2022
Docket Number: SC21-129
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