STATE EX REL. ALFONSO CORTEZ, PETITIONER,
v.
THE HONORABLE E. RANDOLPH BENTLEY, AS CIRCUIT JUDGE OF THE TENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT

Fla. 2d DCA | 1984-07-20
No. 84-937
SCHEB and OTT, JJ., concur.
457 So. 2d 1072 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1984) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Holding

The court denied the petition for writs of certiorari and mandamus, finding no clear legal right to the requested relief.


Facts & Procedural History

Petitioner sought writs of certiorari and mandamus to compel the trial court to appoint counsel for his appeal of a denial of a motion to vacate judgm…

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Opinion of the Court
RYDER, Chief Judge.

RYDER, Chief Judge.

Petitioner seeks a writ of certiorari, or in the alternative, a writ of mandamus commanding the trial court to show cause and to appoint counsel at public expense to represent the petitioner during his appeal of the trial court’s denial of his motion to vacate judgment and sentence. Fla.R. Crim.P. 3.850.

Mandamus denied. A writ of mandamus “is by nature a discretionary writ which issues only upon the showing of a clear legal right in the relator to the performance of an indisputable legal duty by the respondent.” State ex rel. Eichenbaum v. Cochran, 114 So. 2d 797, 800 (Fla.1959). See also Heath v. Becktell, 327 So. 2d 3, 4 (Fla.1976). The writ is used to enforce “a clear legal right to the performance of clear legal duty rather than to establish such a right.” State v. Gamble, 339 So. 2d 694, 695 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976).

Certiorari denied. See Graham v. State, 372 So. 2d 1363, 1365-66 (Fla.1979) and Hooks v. State, 253 So. 2d 424, 426 (Fla.1971), cert. denied, 405 U.S. 1044, 92 S.Ct. 1330, 31 L.Ed.2d 587 (1972).

SCHEB and OTT, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Dep't OF Child. & Fam. Servs. v. Burton, 802 So. 2d 467 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)
    …e 7, 2000); Lee County v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 634 So. 2d 250, 251 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). Additionally, the writ of mandamus is used to enforce an existing legal right rather than to establish that right. See State ex rel. Cortez v. Bentley, 457 So. 2d 1072, 1073 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). In Widel v. Venz, 792 So. 2d 1246 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001), the Fifth District Court of [*470] Appeal considered a similar issue. A person committed under the Act sought “access to a sufficient law library to enable him to defe…
  • [Petitioner] v. City of Tampa (13th Cir. Ct. App. Div. 2021)
  • Dante v. Ryan (13th Cir. Ct. App. Div. 2022)

Authorities Cited

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