MARVIN JACOBS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 1996-12-20
No. 96-1780
PETERSON, C.J., and SHARP, W., J., concur.
687 So. 2d 24 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1996) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Marvin Jacobs appealed the summary dismissal of his habeas corpus petition. The trial court dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, claiming Jacobs was not convicted or incarcerated in the Ninth Judicial Circuit. The appellate court reversed, holding that the trial court had jurisdiction because Jacobs was incarcerated in Orlando at the time the petition was filed and ruled upon.


Holding

The trial court in the Ninth Judicial Circuit had jurisdiction to hear the petition because Jacobs was incarcerated in Orlando at the time the petition was filed and ruled upon. Jurisdiction over habeas corpus petitions is determined by the location of the defendant's incarceration, not the location of conviction.


Headnotes

[1] A circuit court has jurisdiction to rule on a petition for writ of habeas corpus when the petitioner is incarcerated within the territorial jurisdiction of that circuit a…

[2] A court of appeals has jurisdiction to review the propriety of a lower court's decision, even if the lower court lacked jurisdiction over the underlying matter.

Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“petitions for habeas corpus must be filed with the clerk of the court in the county where the [defendant] is detained”

Establishes the jurisdictional rule that determines proper venue for habeas corpus petitions

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Marvin Jacobs filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Ninth Judicial Circuit. He was incarcerated in Orlando at the time he filed the petiti…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
GOSHORN, Judge.

GOSHORN, Judge.

Marvin Jacobs appeals the summary dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus, asserting inter alia that the trial court should have considered the merits of his ease.1 The State contends that the trial court’s summary dismissal of the petition for lack of jurisdiction was correct because Jacobs was neither convicted nor incarcerated within the territorial jurisdiction of the Ninth Judicial Circuit.

We disagree.

The record demonstrates that Jacobs was incarcerated in Orlando on the date he filed the petition and on the date the trial court ruled, and therefore, the trial judge in the Ninth Judicial Circuit possessed jurisdiction to rule on the petition’s merits. See Raley v. State, 675 So. 2d 170, 172 (Fla. 5th DCA) (noting that petitions for habeas corpus must be filed with the clerk of the court in the county where the defendant is detained), dismissed, 678 So. 2d 1287 (Fla.1996); Leichtman v. Singletary, 674 So. 2d 889, 891 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996) (stating that “[t]he circuit court of the county in which a defendant is incarcerated may ... issue a writ to inquire into the cause of detention of a petitioner, and may discharge the person held in custody if it is shown that his retention is without jurisdiction ... ”).

We accordingly reverse and remand for the trial court to evaluate the merits of Jacobs’ petition or, if Jacobs is no longer detained in Orlando, to transfer the cause to the circuit court in which Jacobs is now incarcerated for review.

REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.

PETERSON, C.J., and SHARP, W., J., concur. . The State has raised a question of this court's jurisdiction, asserting that “[i]f the Ninth Circuit did not acquire personal or subject matter jurisdiction in this case, then this Honorable Court is also without jurisdiction.” However, even if the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court lacked jurisdiction, this court has jurisdiction to review the propriety of its decision. See Fla. R.App. P. 9.030(b)(1)(A) ("District courts of appeal shall review by appeal ... final orders of trial courts, not directly reviewable by the supreme court or a circuit court ... ") (footnotes omitted); see also § 26.021(9) Fla. Stat. (1995) (stating that Orange County is located the Ninth Judicial Circuit); § 35.043, Fla. Stat. (1995) ("The Fifth Appellate District is composed of the ... Ninth ... Judicial Cir-cuid]”).


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Bloom v. State, 698 So. 2d 403 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)
    …es since filing the petition. The trial court, therefore, had jurisdiction to consider the petition on the merits and erred in striking the petition based on the court’s mistaken conclusion that defendant was in federal custody. See Jacobs v. State, 687 So. 2d 24 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996). We reverse the order and remand the cause for consideration on the merits. Reversed and remanded.…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw