COUNTY OF DADE, STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
AUDREY CULVER, RESPONDENT
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 County of Dade challenged a circuit court's reduction of a disorderly conduct sentence imposed by the metropolitan court, arguing the metropolitan court was not a municipal court subject to sentence review under Florida statute. The appellate court held that the metropolitan court functions as a municipal court for purposes of sentence review to ensure equal protection rights.
The Metropolitan Court of Dade County, when rendering sentences for offenses such as disorderly conduct, discharges a responsibility in the nature of a municipal court and sentences may be reviewed for excessiveness pursuant to § 932.52(13), Florida Statutes. The court rejected the County's position because it would deprive Dade County citizens of sentence review rights available to citizens in all other Florida counties, violating equal protection of the law.
“to adopt the County's reasoning would deprive the citizens of Dade County of rights; i. e., to have sentences for such offenses as those involved in the instant case reviewed for excessiveness, which rights are possessed by citizens of the other sixty-six counties of this State”
Establishes the equal protection concern that motivated the court's decision
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAudrey Culver was convicted of disorderly conduct in Metropolitan Court in Dade County and sentenced to five days in jail and a $150 fine. The circuit…
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 Sentence Review cases and more on FLexlaw
Respondent, defendant in Metropolitan Court in and for Dade County, was convicted of the offense of disorderly conduct. Following the conviction, an appeal was duly prosecuted to the Circuit Court in and for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, whereupon the circuit judge affirmed the conviction but reduced the sentence from five days in jail and $150.00 fine to a $50.00 fine, pursuant to the provisions of § 932.52 (13), Fla.Stat., F.S.A., authorizing the circuit judge to reduce municipal sentences. Thereafter, the County filed the instant petition for certiorari, contending that the circuit judge departed from the essential requirements of the law in reducing the sentence, the principal thrust being that the metropolitan court is not a municipal court as referred to in § 932.52, Fla.Stat., F.S.A. The respondent has filed a cross-petition for certiorari, contending that the trial judge should have quashed her conviction in the metropolitan court.
We approve of the action of the circuit judge. There is no merit in the cross-petition. See: State v. Katz, Fla.App. 1959, 108 So.2d 60; Berger v. State, Fla.App. 1965, 174 So.2d 456.
The County’s petition for certiorari presents a more difficult problem. In this County, prior to the formation of the metropolitan government, the commission of an offense such as that involved in the instant cause [if committed in the unincorporated area of Dade County] would have been tried in the appropriate court as a misdemeanor and the sentence imposed by the trial judge as to excessiveness would have been subject to review by the Pardon Board. See: Green v. State, 121 Fla. 307, 163 So. 712; Roberson v. State, 137 Fla. 526, 188 So. 127; Brown v. State, 152 Fla. 853, 13 So.2d 458; Art. IV, § 12, Constitution of the State of Florida, F.S.A. If the offense had been committed in a municipality and the accused had been so charged and convicted, then the excessiveness of the sentence could have been reviewed under § 932.52(13), Fla. Stat., F.S.A. [authorizing circuit judges to review and reduce municipal sentences]. The County admits with candor that if its position is correct, sentences adjudicated in the metropolitan court are not reviewable by § 932.52(13), Fla.Stat., F.S.A., [relating to municipal courts] ; that they are not reviewable by the Pardon Board for excessiveness, and a person convicted in the Metropolitan Court of Dade County has no forum in which to seek a reduction of sentence [relying on County of Dade v. Saffan, Fla. 1965, 173 So.2d 138, wherein the supreme court indicated that, for purposes of appeal, the metropolitan court was not a municipal court].
We find that the metropolitan court partakes, in some instances, of the functions of a municipal court and in others of a trial court, as referred to in Art. VIII, § 11(1) (f), Constitution of the State of Florida. However, to adopt the County’s reasoning would deprive the citizens of Dade County of rights; i. e., to have sentences for such offenses as those involved in the instant case reviewed for excessiveness, which rights are possessed by citizens of the other sixty-six counties of this State. And, we adopt the view that as to the question of testing the excessiveness of a sentence the Metropolitan Court of Dade County [in rendering a sentence for an offense such as is involved in the instant case] is discharging a responsibility in the nature of a mu*897nicipal court and such sentence may be reviewed pursuant to § 932.52(13), Fla.Stat., F.S.A. Otherwise, the citizens of Dade County will be denied the equal protection of the law. See: Boynton v. State, Fla. 1953, 64 So.2d 536; § 1, Declaration of Rights, Constitution of the State of Florida; Fourteenth Amend., Constitution of the United States; 6 Fla.Jur., Constitutional Law, §§ 296, 298 ; 4 F.L.P., Constitutional Law, § 101.
Therefore, for the reasons stated above, the petition and cross-petition for the issuance of writs of certiorari be and the same are hereby denied.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Brown v. State, 152 Fla. 853 (Fla. 1943)
- Boynton v. State, 64 So. 2d 536 (Fla. 1953)
- State v. Katz, 108 So. 2d 60 (Fla. 3d DCA 1959)
- Green v. State, 121 Fla. 307 (Fla. 1935)
- Cnty. OF Dade v. Saffan, 173 So. 2d 138 (Fla. 1965)
- Berger v. State, 174 So. 2d 456 (Fla. 3d DCA 1965)
- Worth Roberson v. State, 137 Fla. 526 (Fla. 1939)