ROY W. MINTON, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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.
The Florida District Court of Appeal imposed sanctions on a long-incarcerated appellate in limine on a fifth successive postconviction relief motion, prohibiting him from filing pro se appeals related to his decades-old sexual battery conviction without bar-certified representation.
The court imposed sanctions prohibiting Minton from filing any pro se appeals, petitions, or other cases in the court relating to his underlying conviction case without representation by a member in good standing of the Florida Bar.
[1] A court may impose sanctions, including a prohibition on future filings, against a party who repeatedly files frivolous appeals.
[2] A party's repeated filing of postconviction relief motions that are successive and lack merit can warrant sanctions.
Previewing 2 of 6 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“The order affirmed in this case clearly explained why the claims raised in Appellant's motion were successive and why the newly discovered evidence exception to the two-year time limit on postconviction claims did not apply to these claims. The initial brief filed by Appellant in this appeal did not present an arguable basis for reversal of the order. Accordingly, this appeal was frivolous and never should have been filed.”
Establishes the court's finding that the appeal was frivolous and meritless, justifying the imposition of sanctions.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRoy Minton is serving concurrent life sentences for sexual battery of a child following convictions finalized over 22 years ago. He has filed five mot…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Newly Discovered Evidence Exception cases and more on FLexlaw
ORDER IMPOSING SANCTIONS
Appellant is serving concurrent life sentences after having been convicted of sexual battery of a child and other offenses. His. convictions and sentences were per curiam affirmed on direct appeal and have now been final for more than 22 years. See Minton v. State, 649 So.2d 237 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995) (mandate issued Feb. 3, 1995).
Prior to this case, Appellant had filed four motions for postconviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850, all of which were denied in orders that were per curiam affirmed on appeal. See' Case Nos. 1D02-5139,1 1D05-4042, 1D10-3418, 1D14-362. The order that was per curiam affirmed in this case summarily denied Appellant’s fifth rule 3.850 motion.
The order affirmed in this case clearly explained why the claims raised in Appellant’s motion were successive and why the newly discovered' evidence exception to the two-year time limit on postconviction claims did not apply to these claims. The initial brief filed by Appellant in this appeal did not present an arguable basis for reversal of the order. Accordingly, this appeal was frivolous and never should have been filed.
Based on Appellant’s filing history and continued frivolous attacks on his decades old convictions, we issued a Spencer2 order directing Appellant to “show cause why sanctions should not be imposed on him, including but not limited to a prohibi*698tion on the filing of any additional pro se appeals or petitions in this court relating to Suwannee County Case No. 1992-109-CF.” Appellant filed responses to the order in which he expressed some contrition for his prior filings, but primarily reargued the perceived merits of the claims in his current motion, complained about the prison law library system, blamed his filings on bad advice from prison law clerks, and made a frivolous argument that his current motion was not successive because the trial court never fully disposed of his initial rule 3.850 motion. We have carefully considered Appellant’s responses, but find that they fail to show cause why sanctions should not be imposed.
Accordingly, we hereby prohibit Appellant—Roy Minton, DOC Inmate No. 786933—from filing any pro se appeals, petitions, or other cases in this court relating to Suwanee County Case No. 1992-109-CF. The Clerk is directed not to accept any filings from Appellant related to that case unless they are signed by a member in good standing of The Florida Bar. Additionally, Appellant is cautioned that any future filings in violation of this order may result in the imposition of additional sanctions. See § 944.279, Fla. Stat.; Fla. R. App. P. 9.410(a).
It is so ordered.
WETHERELL, BILBREY, and JAY, JJ., CONCUR.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- State v. Spencer, 751 So. 2d 47 (Fla. 1999)
- Willis v. State, 702 So. 2d 638 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997)