IN THE INTEREST OF GLORIA PULLEN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2000-06-19
No. 1D99-4384
BARFIELD, C.J., BOOTH and WOLF, JJ., concur.
764 So. 2d 704 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2000) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Gloria Pullen appealed an order authorizing her continued involuntary civil commitment under Florida's Baker Act. The court held that Anders v. California procedures do not apply to civil commitment appeals because the right to counsel arises from due process, not the Sixth Amendment, and dismissed the appeal for failure to prosecute.


Holding

Anders procedures do not apply to civil commitment appeals because the right to counsel in such cases arises from the due process clause rather than the Sixth Amendment. The court adopted the Ostrum procedure: counsel may move to withdraw after conscientious review finding no meritorious grounds, the appellant is afforded opportunity to file a pro se brief, and if the appellant fails to do so, the appeal is dismissed for failure to prosecute.


Headnotes

[1] The Anders procedure, which requires appointed counsel to conduct a conscientious review of the record for reversible error and file a brief, does not apply to appeals fr…

[2] The right to counsel in civil commitment cases arises from due process considerations, not the Sixth Amendment right to counsel in criminal prosecutions, thus distinguish…

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Key Quotes

“the procedures outlined in Anders are grounded on the Sixth Amendment right to counsel in criminal prosecutions, and concluded that because TPR cases are civil in nature and the right to counsel therein arises from due process considerations, Anders is not applicable”

Establishes the court's reasoning that Anders applies only to criminal cases with Sixth Amendment protections, not civil cases like commitment orders where counsel rights derive from due process

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Facts & Procedural History

Gloria Pullen sought review of an order authorizing her continued involuntary civil commitment under the Baker Act. Her appointed counsel filed a brie…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Gloria Pullen seeks review of an order authorizing her continued involuntary civil commitment under the Baker Act. In purported compliance with Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), her appointed counsel has filed an initial brief indicating that he can discern no reversible error in the proceedings below. Despite being afforded the opportunity to do so, Ms. Pullen has not filed a pro se initial brief. Noting that neither Ms. Pullen nor her appointed counsel have identified any arguable issue of reversible error, the state has moved to dismiss this appeal, arguing that the An-ders procedure does not apply. We agree and dismiss the appeal accordingly.

In Ostrum v. Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services, 663 So. 2d 1359 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995), the court addressed the question of whether the full panoply of Anders procedures should attend an appeal of an order of termination of parental rights (“TPR”). In so doing, the court noted that the procedures outlined in Anders are grounded on the Sixth Amendment right to counsel in criminal prosecutions, and concluded that because TPR cases are civil in nature and the right to counsel therein arises from due process considerations, Anders is not applicable. We reach the same conclusion with respect to Baker Act appeals. Like TPR cases, the right to counsel in -civil commitment cases arises not from the Sixth Amendment but rather from the due process clause. See Jones v. State, 611 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); see also In re Beverly, 342 So. 2d 481 (Fla.1977). Thus, Anders is not implicated in this circumstance, and where neither appointed counsel nor the pro se appellant identify any arguable issues, this court is not obligated to conduct an independent review of the record in an effort to identify any such issues.

Having determined that Anders does not apply in appeals from involuntary commitment orders, we hereby adopt the procedure outlined in Ostrum for purposes of processing cases of this nature. That is, where counsel in a civil commitment proceeding conducts a conscientious review of the record and can find no meritorious grounds on which to appeal, it will be sufficient for counsel to move to withdraw on that basis. We will then afford the pro se appellant the opportunity to file a brief, and if appellant fails to do so, the appeal will be dismissed for failure to prosecute. If appellant does file a brief, the case will proceed as any ordinary appeal, subject to our consideration of the propriety of summary affirmance under rule 9.315.

In this case, appellant’s counsel has failed to identify any potentially meritorious issues and appellant herself has already declined the court’s invitation to file a pro se initial brief. Accordingly, we hereby dismiss this appeal.

BARFIELD, C.J., BOOTH and WOLF, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Pullen v. State, 802 So. 2d 1113 (Fla. 2001)
    …o. The State filed a motion to dismiss the appeal, arguing that the Anders procedure does not apply to civil commitment proceedings. The First District Court of Appeal agreed and dismissed Pullen’s appeal with a written opinion. See Pullen v. State, 764 So. 2d 704 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000). The district court concluded that because Anders procedures are grounded in the Sixth Amendment right to counsel in criminal prosecutions while Baker Act proceedings are civil in nature and the right to counsel in such proceedi…
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