JOHN HARRY, SR., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court reversed the circuit court's denial of habeas corpus petition because section 57.085 does not apply to habeas corpus petitions and the Florida Constitution guarantees habeas corpus freely and without cost.
A petition for writ of habeas corpus must be granted freely and without cost under Article I, section 13 of the Florida Constitution, and section 57.085 fee-waiver provisions do not apply to habeas corpus petitions.
[1] Article I, section 13 of the Florida Constitution guarantees that writs of habeas corpus shall be grantable freely and without cost, and therefore statutory fee-waiver pr…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The writ of habeas corpus shall be grantable of right, freely and without cost.”
Constitutional guarantee from Article I, section 13 of the Florida Constitution establishing the right to habeas corpus without cost.
John Harry, Sr., an indigent prisoner, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus and sought a fee waiver under section 57.085, Florida Statutes. The …
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PER CURIAM.
John Harry, Sr., appeals the summary denial of his petitions for writs of habeas corpus and mandamus. Harry’s petition for writ of mandamus was filed in this court, seeking an order directing the circuit court to waive the fee for filing his petition for writ of habeas corpus. The circuit court denied Harry’s petition for writ of habeas corpus, finding that he failed to comply with section 57.085, Florida Statutes (1997) which prescribes the conditions under which filing fees are waived for indigent prisoners. The circuit court also addressed the mandamus, notwithstanding, notwithstanding the fact that it was filed in this court. Because section 57.085 does not apply to a petition for writ of habeas corpus, and because the circuit court did not have jurisdiction to deny Harry’s petition for writ of mandamus, we reverse.
Article I, section 13 of the Florida Constitution provides, “[t]he writ of habeas corpus shall be grantable of right, freely and without cost.” Accordingly, the circuit court’s order denying Harry’s petition for writ of habeas corpus is reversed. We remand this case for consideration of the petition for writ of habeas corpus on its merits. Because the circuit court was without jurisdiction to rule on the petition for writ of mandamus, the order denying that petition is a nullity.
Reversed and remanded.
BLUE, A.0.J., and FULMER and NORTHCUTT, JJ., Concur.