GIFT OF LIFE ADOPTIONS, PETITIONER,
v.
S.R.B., RESPONDENT.
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Gift of Life Adoptions petitioned for a writ of certiorari to overturn a circuit court's order appointing counsel to an indigent, unmarried putative biological father in a termination of parental rights proceeding. The Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction, holding that GLA failed to demonstrate the jurisdictional requirements for certiorari relief, particularly that the appointment of counsel constituted material injury that cannot be corrected on appeal.
The petition for writ of certiorari was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction because GLA failed to satisfy the jurisdictional requirements for certiorari relief. Specifically, GLA did not demonstrate that the circuit court's appointment of counsel resulted in material injury for the remainder of the case that cannot be corrected on postjudgment appeal. The court held that the presence of opposing counsel in a contested termination proceeding does not constitute a cognizable injury under Florida law.
[1] A petitioner seeking a writ of certiorari must demonstrate a departure from the essential requirements of law resulting in material injury that cannot be corrected on pos…
[2] The appointment of counsel for an indigent parent in a termination of parental rights proceeding does not constitute a material injury that cannot be corrected on postjud…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The right to counsel in termination of parental rights cases is part of the process designed to ensure that the final result is reliably correct.”
Establishes that Florida law recognizes indigent parents have a right to appointed counsel in termination proceedings as essential to due process.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceGift of Life Adoptions (GLA), an adoption agency, initiated a proceeding to terminate the parental rights of a baby's biological parents. The biologic…
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Gift of Life Adoptions (GLA) is an adoption agency that is endeavoring to facilitate a baby's adoption by a prospective couple. As part of the adoption process, pursuant to section 63.089, Florida Statutes (2017), GLA initiated the underlying action to terminate the parental rights of the baby's biological parents. The biological mother of the baby, who had voluntarily surrendered her child to GLA for adoption, consented to the termination of her parental rights. The present controversy stems from the litigation to terminate S.R.B.'s parental rights, whom GLA refers to as "an unmarried putative biological father" of this child.
GLA served S.R.B. with a notice of an intended adoption plan while he was incarcerated in the Sarasota County Jail.1 In response, S.R.B. filed a handwritten paper in which he stated that he was the father of the baby and that he did not waive or consent to the termination of his parental rights. S.R.B. further stated that he was indigent "and would like the court to appoint an attorney to protect his right's [sic] as a parent." When informed by the clerk of the circuit court that it could not appoint him counsel, S.R.B. later filed a handwritten motion for the appointment of counsel to represent him in the termination proceeding.
GLA then filed a motion for default, arguing that because S.R.B. failed to comply with the statutory requirements of sections 63.062(2)(b)(2) and (3)(a), Florida Statutes (2017), his handwritten responses were insufficient, and he had therefore waived and surrendered any rights to the child. The circuit court held a hearing on GLA's motion, at which S.R.B. appeared telephonically and renewed his request for a court-appointed attorney. Relying upon language within this court's holding in S.C. v. Gift of Life Adoptions, 100 So.3d 774 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012), the circuit court felt bound to deny GLA's motion for default in *790order to appoint S.R.B. counsel.2 GLA now challenges that order in this timely petition for writ of certiorari.
The crux of GLA's argument for certiorari relief is that the circuit court departed from the essential requirements of law when it appointed S.R.B. counsel and that that error visited a material injury upon someone (GLA does not specify who) because the appointment of counsel "delays and places at risk" this child's prospective adoption. The substantive question GLA raises concerning S.R.B.'s right to counsel is a difficult one.3 But we cannot reach it in this certiorari proceeding.
Our jurisdiction to issue a writ for the "extraordinary remedy" of certiorari, Reeves v. Fleetwood Homes of Fla., Inc., 889 So.2d 812, 822 (Fla. 2004) (quoting Martin-Johnson, Inc. v. Savage, 509 So.2d 1097, 1098 (Fla. 1987) ), is well settled. To obtain certiorari relief, a petitioner must show "(1) a departure from the essential requirements of the law, (2) resulting in material injury for the remainder of the case (3) that cannot be corrected on postjudgment appeal." Reeves, 889 So.2d at 822 (quoting Bd. of Regents v. Snyder, 826 So.2d 382, 387 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) ). "The last two elements are jurisdictional and must be analyzed before the court may even consider the first element." Williams v. Oken, 62 So.3d 1129, 1132 (Fla. 2011) (citing Haines City Cmty. Dev. v. Heggs, 658 So.2d 523, 527 (Fla. 1995) ). The petition before us fails to meet either jurisdictional prong.
GLA has not cited, and we have not located, a single published decision where a court has construed a lawyer's representation to be, in and of itself, a cognizable, much less irremediable, injury in a termination of parental rights proceeding. Quite the contrary, whatever delay the presence of an opposing attorney could be said to entail, Florida law recognizes that indigent parents are entitled to court-appointed counsel in a proceeding to terminate their parental rights. Cf. J.B. v. Fla. Dep't of Children & Family Servs., 768 So.2d 1060, 1068 (Fla. 2000) ("The right to counsel in termination of parental rights cases is part of the process designed to ensure that the *791final result is reliably correct." (citing Dep't of Children & Family Servs. v. Natural Parents of J.B., 736 So.2d 111, 117 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) ) ); O.A.H. v. R.L.A., 712 So.2d 4, 7 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998) ("We believe that [ In the Interest of D.B., 385 So.2d 83 (Fla. 1980) ] mandates the appointment of counsel to represent a non-consenting parent in a contested adoption proceeding when the parent is indigent and his or her consent to the adoption is sought to be excused under section 63.072(1), Florida Statutes (1993)."). And the premise behind GLA's argument in this petition-that the presence of a lawyer for a putative father in a contested termination of parental rights proceeding constitutes a material injury-strikes us as rather troubling. See generally Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 84, 109 S.Ct. 346, 102 L.Ed.2d 300 (1988) ("The paramount importance of vigorous representation follows from the nature of our adversarial system of justice. This system is premised on the well-tested principle that truth-as well as fairness-is 'best discovered by powerful statements on both sides of the question.' " (quoting Irving R. Kaufman, Does the Judge Have a Right to Qualified Counsel?, 61 A.B.A.J. 569, 569 (1975) (quoting Ex Parte Lloyd (1822) Mont 70, 72n) ) ); Fla. Bar v. Dove, 985 So.2d 1001, 1010 (Fla. 2008) ("Lawyers who undertake representation in the vital areas of adoption, dependency, and delinquency and in other family law cases serve interests which have unexcelled importance in the law."). We are loathe to view what is a hallmark of adversarial proceedings in our judicial system as a material injury in this context.4
In sum, GLA has not shown how the circuit court's order appointing counsel results in a material injury for the remainder of the case that cannot be corrected on postjudgment appeal. Accordingly, we are without jurisdiction to review GLA's petition and must dismiss it without consideration of GLA's legal arguments. See Oken, 62 So.3d at 1132 ; Heggs, 658 So.2d at 527.
Petition dismissed.
KELLY and MORRIS, JJ., Concur.
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Derrion Rich v. State, 311 So. 3d 126 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020)…ctional and must be analyzed before the court may even consider the first element." Williams v. Oken, 62 So. 3d 1129, 1132 (Fla. 2011) (citing Haines City Cmty. Dev. v. Heggs, 658 So. 2d 523, 527 (Fla. 1995)). See Gift of Life Adoptions v. S.R.B., 252 So. 3d 788, 790 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018). It is simply impossible for us to meaningfully consider any of the three elements of certiorari relief when all we have is the circuit court's verbal indication of a forthcoming ruling on the merits. Cf. Davis v. Heye, 743…
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Authorities Cited (16 total)
- Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (U.S. 1988)
- Haines City Cmty. Dev. v. Leila Heggs, 658 So. 2d 523 (Fla. 1995)
- Martin-Johnson, Inc. v. Savage, 509 So. 2d 1097 (Fla. 1987)
- Reeves v. Fleetwood Homes OF Fla., Inc., 889 So. 2d 812 (Fla. 2004)
- Williams v. Keith Robinson Oken, M.D., 62 So. 3d 1129 (Fla. 2011)
- In the Interest of D. B. and D. S., 385 So. 2d 83 (Fla. 1980)
- J.B. v. Fla. Dep't of Child. & Fam. Servs., 768 So. 2d 1060 (Fla. 2000)
- Bd. OF Regents OF the State of Fla. v. Snyder, 826 So. 2d 382 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)
- Adams v. AETNA Cas. & Sur. Co., 574 So. 2d 1142 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)
- Adelman Steel Corp. & Claims Ctr. v. Winter, 610 So. 2d 494 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)