BRIAN CASEY, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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The Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District, issued an order restricting pro se litigant Brian Casey from filing future original proceedings in the court related to his four underlying criminal cases, finding that his sixty-five-plus filings over three years constituted an abuse of the court's resources through repetitious and meritless petitions.
The court issued an order directing the clerk to place in an inactive file any original proceedings and notices of appeal filed by Casey related to his four criminal cases unless signed by a licensed Florida attorney, and cautioned that frivolous pro se appeals may result in additional sanctions including a ban on future pro se notices of appeal and referral for prison disciplinary procedures.
[1] A court may restrict a pro se litigant's future filings when the litigant has repeatedly filed frivolous or meritless petitions that burden judicial resources.
[2] A court may direct its clerk to reject pro se filings related to specific case numbers unless signed by a licensed attorney, absent a pending direct appeal.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Mr. Casey's frequent and repetitious petitions raising successive claims in various combinations have burdened the limited resources of this court, which are better reserved for the resolution of genuine disputes.”
Establishes the court's concern that Casey's filings were an abuse of appellate resources
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBrian Casey, an untrained layperson, filed over sixty-five proceedings in the appellate court between 2011 and 2014 stemming from four criminal cases …
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ORDER RESTRICTING PETITIONER FROM FUTURE PRO SE FILINGS
By order of June 16, 2014, we denied Brian Casey’s petition for writ of mandamus. In the same order, we noted that Mr. Casey’s frequent and repetitious petitions raising successive claims in various combinations have burdened the limited resources of this court, which are better reserved for the resolution of genuine disputes. We explained that Mr. Casey has initiated more than sixty-five proceedings in this court stemming from his criminal charges in Lee County Circuit Court case numbers 10-CF-17674, 10-CF-19724, 10-CF-19726, and 10-CF-19945.
From 2011 until the present, Mr. Casey filed fourteen petitions for writ of mandamus, four petitions for writ of habeas corpus, twenty-two petitions for writ of prohibition, one petition for writ of certiorari, three petitions for belated appeal, and three petitions alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel, all of which were either dismissed or denied. He also filed two appeals from the summary denials of motions for postconviction relief filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, which were affirmed; seven appeals from the summary denials of rule 3.800(a) motions to correct an illegal sentence, all of which were dismissed; an appeal from the denial of a petition for writ of habeas corpus, which was dismissed; an appeal from the summary dismissal of a “notice of action,” which was dismissed; a “pleading to review evidence of altered transcripts to court hearings,” which was denied; four appeals from nonappealable orders, which were dismissed for lack of jurisdiction; and three direct appeals from his judgments and sentences, two of which were dismissed and one of which was affirmed.
Consequently, we directed Mr. Casey to show cause why this court should not direct the clerk to reject pleadings in this court related to his four circuit court case numbers unless the filing is related to a pending direct appeal of a judgment or sentence or submitted by a licensed Florida attorney. See State v. Spencer, 751 So.2d 47, 48-49 (Fla.1999).
In his response, Mr. Casey explains that he is untrained in the law and was attempting to correct what he believed were wrongs that occurred during his trial. He acknowledges that some of the pleadings were improperly filed and apologizes to the court. However, he argues that it will be a gross manifest injustice to bar him from appealing any adverse rulings should the postconviction court deny his pending rule 3.850 motion in circuit court case number 10-CF-19724. A review of this court’s records establishes that the post-conviction court denied Mr. Casey’s motion and he has filed an appeal of that order in case number 2D14-4136.
We find that Mr. Casey has failed to show cause why he should not be prohibited from filing any future pro se original proceedings in this court. Each proceeding initiated by Mr. Casey was either devoid of merit or inappropriate for review in this court.
Accordingly, we direct the clerk of this court to place in an inactive file any original proceedings filed by Mr. Casey related to circuit court case numbers 10-CF-17674, 10-CF-19724, 10-CF-19726, and 10-CF-19945, and notices of appeal related to circuit court case number 10-CF-19724, unless the filing is signed by a member in good standing of The Florida Bar. See Spencer, 751 So.2d at 48-49; see also Wilson v. State, 57 So.3d 1000, 1000 *669(Fla. 4th DCA 2011). We caution Mr. Casey that the filing of any frivolous pro se appeals in circuit court case numbers 10-CF-17674, 10-CF-19726, and 10-CF-19945 may result in additional sanctions, such as a ban on future pro se notices of appeal in this court and/or referral to prison officials for disciplinary procedures. See Spencer, 751 So.2d at 49; see also § 944.279(1), Fla. Stat. (2014); Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.850(n); Johnson v. State, 44 So.3d 198, 201 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010). We note that case numbers 2D14-2219 and 2D14-4136 remain pending and are not affected by this order.
ALTENBERND, KELLY, and WALLACE, JJ., Concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Halyard v. State, 176 So. 3d 993 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015)…(Fla.1999), Mr. Halyard is cautioned that in any future pro se.proceeding commenced in this court related to this criminal conviction, we will first review the matter to determine whether an order to show cause should be issued. See Casey v. State, 158 So. 3d 667 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014). Affirmed. ALTENBERND, NORTHCUTT, and LaROSE, JJ., Concur.…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Spencer, 751 So. 2d 47 (Fla. 1999)
- Johnson v. State, 44 So. 3d 198 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)
- Wilson v. State, 57 So. 3d 1000 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)