JEFFREY SMITH, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court reversed a sanction order prohibiting pro se filings where the defendant's fourth amendment to a Rule 3.850 motion was untimely but not sufficiently frivolous or repetitious to warrant a Spencer prohibition.
A trial court may not impose a Spencer sanction prohibiting future pro se filings based solely on an untimely successive motion amendment without a clear pattern of frivolous and repetitious pleadings.
[1] A Spencer sanction prohibiting pro se filings requires notice, opportunity to be heard, and a demonstrated pattern of repetitious and frivolous pleadings, not merely a si…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJeffrey Smith filed a fourth amendment to his first Rule 3.850 motion, which arrived after the trial court had already ruled on the pending motion and…
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Jeffrey Smith seeks review of orders denying his motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule,of Criminal Procedure 3.850 and the related motion for rehearing, as well as an order prohibiting him from filing future pro se pleadings pursuant to State v. Spencer, 751 So.2d 47 (Fla.1999). We reverse in part.
Spencer permits a court to prohibit a litigant, who has filed repetitious and frivolous pleadings and papers, from filing further attacks on his or her conviction and sentence, after notice and opportunity to be heard. Id. at 48. Smith’s filing was his fourth amendment to his first' rule 3.850 motion. However, it reached the trial court after the court had ruled on the. pending motion. It was treated and denied as an untimely successive motion. At the State’s urging, the trial court issued a Spencer order to show cause and then issued the sanction order. We affirm the order that denied the amended motion, but reverse the sanction order. Jimenez-Jimenez v. State, 142 So.3d 901 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014); Wilson v. State, 57 So.3d 1000 (Fla. 4th- DCA 2011). While' we- reverse, we caution Smith that, should he abuse the process by continually filing additional pleadings, he may face the same prohibition again.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part.
WARNER, DAMOORGIAN and LEVINE, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Klugh v. City of Miami (Fla. 3d DCA 2025)
Authorities Cited
- State v. Spencer, 751 So. 2d 47 (Fla. 1999)
- Wilson v. State, 57 So. 3d 1000 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)
- Jimenez-Jimenez v. State, 142 So. 3d 901 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014)
- Rodrigues v. State, 142 So. 3d 901 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014)