MILTON R. FARMER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 2006-05-12
No. 2D05-4998
NORTHCUTT and DAVIS, JJ., Concur.
927 So. 2d 1075 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2006) Positive Treatment
Cited by 14 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

Milton Farmer appealed the denial of his motion to compel production of public records from the State Attorney's Office that he claimed would support a postconviction innocence claim. The court reversed the denial of the motion to compel, holding that the motion should have been treated as a petition for writ of mandamus, and remanded for the postconviction court to issue an alternative writ.


Holding

The court reversed the denial of the motion to compel and remanded for further proceedings. The motion and attachments met the requirements for a petition for writ of mandamus and should have been treated as such, directed to the State Attorney. On remand, the postconviction court must treat the motion as a petition for writ of mandamus and issue an alternative writ requiring the State Attorney to show cause.


Headnotes

[1] A motion to compel the production of public records, which includes a request for records and an acknowledgment of the obligation to pay duplication costs, may be treated…

[2] A postconviction court should treat a motion to compel public records as a petition for writ of mandamus when the motion and its attachments meet the requirements for suc…

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Key Quotes

“It appears that Farmer's motion to compel and attachments meet the requirements for a petition for writ of mandamus.”

Establishes the legal standard for converting a motion to compel into a mandamus petition

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Facts & Procedural History

Farmer filed a rule 3.800(c) motion for sentence mitigation, which was dismissed by the postconviction court. The court granted him 60 additional days…

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Opinion of the Court
SILBERMAN, Judge.

SILBERMAN, Judge.

Milton R. Farmer filed a motion for mitigation or reduction of his sentence pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(c) and a motion to enlarge the time for the court to rule on his motion for mitigation or reduction. The postconviction court dismissed the motion for mitigation or reduction but granted Farmer an additional sixty days to file a new rule 3.800(c) motion. The court stated that no further extensions would be granted.

Several weeks later, Farmer filed a second motion for enlargement of time, asking the postconviction court to “hear, investigate, and rule” on his previously dismissed rule 3.800(c) motion. He also filed a motion to compel the State Attorney’s Office to produce records that he claimed would enable him to seek postcon-viction relief. In his filings, Farmer asserted that the requested records would establish his actual innocence on one of the charges.1 In an order entered August 29, 2005, the postconviction court denied the second motion for enlargement of time and the motion to compel. Farmer appeals that order. We treat Farmer’s appeal of the denial of his second motion for enlargement of time as a petition for writ of certiorari and deny it without comment. However, we reverse the denial of his motion to compel and remand for further proceedings.

In his motion to compel, Farmer alleged that he was seeking certain public records from the State Attorney’s Office under chapter 119, Florida Statutes (2004). He referred to and filed a copy of a letter that he had previously sent to the State Attorney, requesting the records and acknowledging his obligation to pay the cost to duplicate the records. He alleged that he received no response to his request.

The postconviction court denied the motion to compel, citing to Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.051, chapter 119, and Farmer’s obligation to pay for copies of the requested information.2 Apart from the copying cost, the order does not indicate how Farmer’s motion fails to comply with rule 2.051 or chapter 119. As to the copying cost, Farmer had acknowledged his obligation to make payment.

It appears that Farmer’s motion to compel and attachments meet the requirements for a petition for writ of mandamus. See Radford v. Brock, 914 So. 2d 1066 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005); Smith v. State, 696 So. 2d 814 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997). Thus, the post-conviction court should have treated the motion as a petition for writ of mandamus directed to the State Attorney. See King v. State, 916 So. 2d 1001 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). Accordingly, we reverse the order denying the motion to compel. On remand, the postconviction court shall treat the motion as a petition for writ of mandamus and shall issue an alternative writ requiring the State Attorney’s Office to show cause why the writ should not be issued. See Radford, 914 So. 2d at 1069; Smith, 696 So. 2d at 816.

Therefore, as to the denial of Farmer’s second motion for enlargement of time, we deny certiorari; as to the denial of Farmer’s motion to compel, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

NORTHCUTT and DAVIS, JJ., Concur. . In Farmer’s previously dismissed motion for mitigation or reduction of sentence he stated that he was pursuing relief under rule 3.800 because it "is more economical, judicially, than awaiting a rule 3.850 motion for post-conviction relief.” He acknowledged that he wanted an evidentiary hearing "to determine the facts of the matter.” However, rule 3.800(c) addresses the reduction or modifica tion of a legal sentence, not relief from a judgment and sentence based on a claim of innocence.

. The order appears to contain a scrivener's error as it cites to rule 2.501, which is nonexistent.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Ingram v. State, 164 So. 3d 676 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014)
    …it of certiorari. Martinez v. State, 969 So. 2d 1174, 1174-75 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007). Here, the State does not address Petitioner’s contention that the trial court should have treated his motion as a petition for writ of mandamus. See Farmer v. State, 927 So. 2d 1075 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006) (trial court should treat motion to compel public records as petition for writ of mandamus). Nor does the State address the argument that the failure to provide a hearing is itself a departure from the essential requirements of th…
  • Williams v. State, 189 So. 3d 909 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016)
    …Davis v. State, 861 So. 2d 1214, 1215 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003) (citations omitted). The court correctly dismissed Mr. Williams’ petition as facially insufficient because he did not acknowledge his obligation to pay for copying costs. Cf. Farmer v. State, 927 So. 2d 1075, 1076 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006) (holding that a motion to compel production of documents from the State Attorney’s Office satisfied the requirements for a petition for writ of mandamus where - the movant set forth the statute, under which he was seeking pr…
  • Anthony v. State, 277 So. 3d 223 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019)
    …smissed Mr. Anthony's petition as facially insufficient because it did not include an affirmative acknowledgment by Mr. Anthony of his obligation to pay for copying costs. In support of the dismissal, the circuit court relied on Farmer v. State, 927 So. 2d 1075, 1076 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006). However, Farmer is factually distinguishable from this case where the defendant in Farmer made a public records request to the State Attorney's Office under chapter 119, Florida Statutes (2004). Id. Here, Mr. Anthony…

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