CHARLES E. CARTER, PETITIONER,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
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The Florida Third District Court of Appeal issued an order prohibiting Charles E. Carter from filing further pro se appeals and petitions related to his criminal sentence, finding he had not shown good cause to justify continued filings after an order to show cause. The court balanced Carter's right of access to courts against the court's need to devote finite resources to legitimate appeals.
The court concluded that Carter has not shown good cause to justify further pro se filings and issued an order prohibiting the Clerk from accepting further pro se filings related to case number 86-35031, unless reviewed and signed by a licensed Florida attorney. The court rejected Carter's victim vulnerability argument as moot because he was re-sentenced de novo in 2000.
[1] A court may prevent further pro se filings after issuing an order to show cause and providing the litigant an opportunity to answer.
[2] A litigant's pro se right to access the courts must be balanced against the court's need to devote finite resources to legitimate appeals.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“We must balance Carter's pro se right of access to courts with this Court's need to devote finite resources to legitimate appeals, recognizing the seriousness of the sanction when the litigant is a criminal defendant.”
Establishes the legal standard for determining whether to restrict pro se filings by a criminal defendant.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCharles E. Carter was sentenced in 1986 in circuit court case number 86-35031. He was re-sentenced de novo in 2000. Carter filed a petition for writ o…
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On May 27, 2015, this Court issued an opinion denying Charles E. Carter’s petition for writ of certiorari and motion to correct an illegal sentence. Our opinion contained an order to show cause why Carter should not be prohibited from filing with this Court any further pro se appeals, petitions, motions, or other proceedings related to his criminal sentence in circuit court case number 86-35031.
Carter, in his response to the order to show cause, argues that his 1987 upward departure sentence was unlawful because the sentence was based, in part, on “victim vulnerability.” Mathis v. State, 515 So.2d 214, 215 (Fla.1987) (“The third reason [for departure from the guidelines], that the victims were female and working alone at night, is invalid because the victims’ defenselessness is common to nearly any armed robbery. Nor is the gender of the victim, in and of itself, an appropriate reason for departure.”).
First, Carter was re-sentenced de novo in 2000, mooting this argument. Second, and this bears noting given the heinous nature of Carter’s crime, there is a jarring difference between the victim vulnerability holding in Mathis and that of this Court’s opinion in Carter’s appeal of his sentence. Carter v. State, 550 So.2d 1130, 1131 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989) (“We explicitly hold that a trial court may depart from the sentencing guidelines with a finding that an injury inflicted by the defendant rendered the victim particularly vulnerable to subsequent injuries suffered at the hands of the defendant during the criminal episode.”).
Accordingly, we conclude that Carter has not shown good cause to justify further pro se filings of appeals, petitions, motions, and other proceedings with this Court.
We must balance Carter’s pro se right of access to courts with this Court’s need to *1054devote finite resources to legitimate appeals, recognizing the seriousness of the sanction when the litigant is a criminal defendant. State v. Spencer, 751 So.2d 47, 48 (Fla.1999). After an order to show cause and an opportunity to respond, a court may prevent such further filings. Id.
It is hereby ordered that the Clerk of the Court of the Third District Court of Appeal shall refuse further pro se filings related to case number 86-35031; provided, however, that filings related to case number 86-35031 may be accepted by the Clerk if such filings have been reviewed and signed by an attorney who is a licensed member of the Florida Bar in good standing.
Any further and unauthorized pro se filings by Carter will subject him to sanctions, including the issuance of written findings forwarded to the Florida Department of Corrections for consideration by it for disciplinary action, pursuant to section 944.279(1) of the Florida Statutes.
Order issued.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- State v. Spencer, 751 So. 2d 47 (Fla. 1999)
- Mathis v. State, 515 So. 2d 214 (Fla. 1987)
- Bondurant v. Nickolas P. Geeker, 515 So. 2d 214 (Fla. 1987)
- Carter v. State, 550 So. 2d 1130 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)