POTCHEN
v.
STATE
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The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal prohibited Robert Potchen from filing any further pro se motions concerning his prior case due to his repeated and frivolous filings, deeming it an abuse of the legal process.
Yes, Potchen's filings constitute an abuse of the judicial process, and he is therefore prohibited from filing any further pro se motions concerning the referenced case.
[1] A party who engages in abusive, repetitive, malicious, or frivolous pro se filings may be prohibited from making future pro se filings.
[2] A court may order a party to show cause why sanctions should not be imposed for abuse of the judicial process.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“Due to Potchen’s apparent abuse of the legal process by his repetitive, malicious, or frivolous pro se filings attacking his judgment and sentence in that case, this Court issued an order directing Potchen to show cause why he should not be prohibited from future pro se filings.”
Establishes the court's concern about Potchen's repeated filings and the reason for issuing an order to show cause.
Previewing 1 of 4 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRobert Potchen, representing himself, had previously appealed an order denying his motion to correct sentence. This court had affirmed that denial. Po…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
FIFTH DISTRICT
ROBERT POTCHEN, Appellant,
v. Case No. 5D18-2813 STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. ________________________________/ Decision filed May 3, 2019
3.800 Appeal from the Circuit Court for Orange County, Keith F. White, Judge.
Robert Potchen, Orlando, pro se.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and L. Charlene Matthews, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.
PER CURIAM. This Court previously affirmed the order denying Robert Potchen’s motion to correct sentence filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800 in Orange
County Circuit Court Case No. 2014-CF-8159-A-O. Due to Potchen’s apparent abuse of the legal process by his repetitive, malicious, or frivolous pro se filings attacking his judgment and sentence in that case, this Court issued an order directing Potchen to show cause why he should not be prohibited from future pro se filings. See State v. Spencer,
751 So. 2d 47, 48 (Fla. 1999). Having carefully considered the response and finding it fails to show cause why sanctions should not be imposed, we conclude that he is abusing the judicial process and should be barred from further pro se filings.
Therefore, in order to conserve judicial resources, Potchen is prohibited from filing with this Court any further pro se filings concerning the above referenced case. The Clerk of this Court is directed not to accept any further pro se filings concerning the referenced case. Any future filings regarding the referenced case will be summarily rejected by the
Clerk, unless filed by a member in good standing of The Florida Bar. See Isley v. State,
652 So. 2d 409, 411 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995) ("Enough is enough."). The Clerk is further directed to forward a certified copy of this opinion to the appropriate institution for consideration of disciplinary proceedings. See § 944.279(1), Fla. Stat. (2018); Simpkins v. State, 909 So. 2d 427, 428 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005).
FURTHER PRO SE FILINGS PROHIBITED. ORFINGER, EISNAUGLE and GROSSHANS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- State v. Spencer, 751 So. 2d 47 (Fla. 1999)
- Isley v. State, 652 So. 2d 409 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995)
- Simpkins v. State, 909 So. 2d 427 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005)