SCOTTY SANTOS DIAZ, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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Florida appellate court granted mandamus petition compelling trial court to rule on defendant's motion to withdraw plea within sixty days, finding unreasonable delay impaired access to courts and due process.
Mandamus lies to compel a trial court to rule on a pending motion within a reasonable time when delay impairs the defendant's right of access to courts and due process.
[1] Mandamus is appropriate to compel a trial court to rule on a pending motion within a reasonable time when unreasonable delay impairs the defendant's constitutional rights…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Mandamus lies to compel a trial court to rule on a motion or petition within a reasonable time.”
Court stating the legal standard for mandamus relief in this context.
Scotty Santos Diaz filed a motion to withdraw his plea on March 6, 2008. An evidentiary hearing scheduled for October 16, 2008 was continued indefinit…
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Scotty Santos Diaz filed a petition for writ of mandamus, seeking to compel the circuit court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit to rule on his motion to withdraw plea filed on March 6, 2008. In response to this Court’s order, the State advised that an evidentiary hearing on Diaz’s motion was scheduled for October 16, 2008. For reasons not apparent from the record, that hearing was continued, and, according to the trial court minutes, is now scheduled to be heard on some unspecified date in 2009.
Mandamus lies to compel a trial court to rule on a motion or petition within a reasonable time. Matthews v. Circuit Court, 515 So.2d 1065 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). While we are loath to interfere with a trial judge’s management of his or her docket, we are concerned that the failure to rule on Diaz’s motion impairs his right of access to the courts and due process. See Johnson v. State, 938 So.2d 639, 640 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006). We recognize that the circuit court has an enormous caseload. However, we believe that an unreasonable delay has ensued in the consideration of Diaz’s motion.
Accordingly, we direct the judge to whom this matter is assigned to rule on Diaz’s motion within sixty days following issuance of this opinion.
PETITION GRANTED; WRIT ISSUED.
GRIFFIN, ORFINGER and EYANDER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Horner v. State, 236 So. 3d 1177 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018)
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Horner v. State (Fla. 5th DCA 2018)
Authorities Cited
- Phillips v. State, 938 So. 2d 639 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006)
- Matthews v. Cir. Court, 515 So. 2d 1065 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987)
- Hampton Alonzo Corry v. State, 515 So. 2d 1065 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987)