ROBERT ORTIZ, PETITIONER,
v.
MICHAEL W. MOORE, SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, RESPONDENT

Fla. 1st DCA | 2001-01-17
No. 1D00-1624
ERVIN, BOOTH and KAHN, JJ., concur.
776 So. 2d 333 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2001) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 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

Robert Ortiz challenges a Department of Corrections disciplinary proceeding through a mandamus petition. The court holds that a pro se inmate's petition is timely filed when he places it in the hands of prison officials for mailing, even if received by the court later, and remands for consideration of the merits.


Holding

The petition for writ of mandamus is timely filed. Under the mailbox rule established in Haag v. State and applied in Thompson v. State, a legal document submitted by an inmate is presumed timely filed if it contains a certificate of service showing the pleading was placed in the hands of prison officials for mailing on a timely date. Timeliness is measured from when the inmate loses control of the document to state agents, not when the court receives it.


Headnotes

[1] A petition challenging an order of the Department of Corrections entered in a prisoner disciplinary proceeding must be filed within 30 days of the order's rendition.

[2] A court action challenging a prisoner disciplinary proceeding must be commenced within 30 days after final disposition of the proceeding through the administrative grieva…

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Key Quotes

“a petition or notice of appeal filed by a pro se inmate is deemed filed at the moment in time when the inmate loses control over the document by entrusting its further delivery or processing to agents of the state”

Establishes the mailbox rule governing when pro se inmates' filings are considered timely

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Facts & Procedural History

Ortiz was found guilty in a DOC disciplinary proceeding of possessing marijuana and penalized by disciplinary confinement and forfeiture of gain-time.…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Robert Ortiz (Ortiz) seeks review by petition for writ of certiorari of an order of the circuit court denying his petition for writ of mandamus. That petition challenged a Department of Corrections (“DOC”) disciplinary proceeding in which Ortiz was found guilty of possessing marijuana and was penalized by disciplinary confinement and forfeiture of gain-time. The circuit court denied the petition as untimely.

Ortiz sought certiorari review in this court. We reversed and remanded to the circuit court with directions to conduct such further proceedings as were necessary to ascertain the date the grievance order at issue was filed with the clerk and thereby “rendered” for appellate purposes. See Ortiz v. Moore, 741 So. 2d 1158 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). The circuit court determined that the grievance order was rendered on April 11, 1997, and that the petition was filed in circuit court on May 27, 1997, more than 30 days after rendition of the DOC order. The circuit court denied the petition for mandamus relief as time barred.

Ortiz again seeks certiorari review in this court. Pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.100(c)(4), a petition challenging an order of DOC entered in a prisoner disciplinary proceeding must be filed within 30 days of rendition of that order. Similarly, section 95.11(8), Florida Statutes, requires that a court action challenging a prisoner disciplinary proceeding must be commenced within 30 days after final disposition of the proceeding through the administrative grievance process under chapter 33, Florida Administrative Code.

In this case, Ortiz alleges that his petition for writ of mandamus contains a certificate of service showing that he served a copy of the petition on DOC on May 5, 1997. DOC argues that the petition was not served on the clerk of the circuit court until May 20, 1997, and not filed until May 27, 1997, and that neither date is timely to review DOC’s April 11, 1997, order. We determine that the petition for writ of mandamus should be deemed to be timely filed in the circuit court. In Haag v. State, 591 So. 2d 614 (Fla.1992), the supreme court adopted the “mailbox rule,” holding that a petition or notice of appeal filed by a pro se inmate is deemed filed at the moment in time when the inmate loses control over the document by entrusting its further delivery or processing to agents of the state. In Alfonso v. Department of Environmental Regulation, 616 So. 2d 44 (Fla.1993), the supreme court stated that an appellate court’s jurisdiction is invoked by timely filing of a notice of appeal or petition in either the lower court that issued the order to be reviewed or the appellate court which would have jurisdiction to review the order.

Finally, the supreme court has recently held in Thompson v. State, 761 So. 2d 324 (Fla.2000), that the court will presume that a legal document submitted by an inmate is timely filed if it contains a certificate of service showing that the pleading was placed in the hands of prison officials for mailing on a timely date. Here, the petition for writ of mandamus contains a timely certificate of service showing service on DOC, the lower tribunal, on May 5, 1997.

Thus the petition for writ of mandamus was timely filed to seek review of DOC’s April 11, 1997, order. The order on review is hereby quashed and the cause remanded to the circuit court with directions to reconsider the merits of petitioner’s substantive claims in light of Osterback v. Singletary, 679 So. 2d 43 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996), and other applicable precedents. Writ GRANTED, order QUASHED and REMANDED for farther proceedings with instructions.

ERVIN, BOOTH and KAHN, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Walker v. Ellis, 989 So. 2d 1250 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)
    …months before his April 17, 2007, designation as a vexatious litigant and prohibition against commencing future actions with the court. Appellant’s action, however, is considered commenced upon the filing of his petition. See, e.g., Ortiz v. Moore, 776 So. 2d 333 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001) (finding that the appellant’s petition for writ of mandamus was timely filed and the action commenced within the required time period under the mailbox rule). Because Appellant’s petition was filed and the action commenced prior…
  • Walker v. McNEIL, 990 So. 2d 1175 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)
    …at the inmate placed the document in the hands of an institution official for mailing on a particular date, and if the document would have been timely filed had it been received and file-stamped by the court on that date.”); see also Ortiz v. Moore, 776 So. 2d 333 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001). REVERSED and REMANDED. WEBSTER, VAN NORTWICK, and THOMAS, JJ., Concur.…

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