JOHN EVERETT PETTWAY, PETITIONER,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA RESPONDENT

Fla. | 2000-11-09
No. SC00-370
WELLS, C.J., and SHAW, HARDING, ANSTEAD, PARIENTE, LEWIS and QUINCE, JJ., concur.
776 So. 2d 930 Florida Supreme Court (2000) Positive Treatment
Also reported at: 2020 WL 819275
Cited by 95 cases

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.

Synopsis

The Florida Supreme Court denied a habeas corpus petitioner's motion to compel the Second District Court of Appeal to hear his transferred petition challenging his convictions and sentences. The Court held that it would not override a lower court's sanction barring a litigant who had abused the court system by filing successive, meritless petitions.


Holding

The Florida Supreme Court held that it will not compel a lower court to consider transferred petitions from litigants who have been sanctioned for abusing the judicial process by filing successive and meritless petitions. The Supreme Court's transfer order does not require the lower court to accept and consider the case on the merits, and the Court will not override a lower court's sanctions against repeat abusers.


Headnotes

[1] A court will generally not consider repetitive petitions from individuals who have abused judicial processes to the extent that they are barred from filing certain action…

[2] A prior decision by a district court of appeal, which was reviewed and denied discretionary review by the supreme court, cannot be further contested in a subsequent proce…

Previewing 2 of 5 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

Key Quotes

“Pettway's convictions and sentence have been exhaustively reviewed by this court and by the trial court, and he has received all relief due to him in this matter.”

The Second District's justification for rejecting the transferred petition, establishing that the case had been fully reviewed and relief exhausted.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

John Everett Pettway filed a habeas corpus petition asserting ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. The case was administratively transferred t…

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.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

On February 23, 2000, petitioner John Everett Pettway filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in this Court. In the petition, Pettway asserted, inter alia, that he had received ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. Although we have jurisdiction over petitions for writ of habeas corpus, see art. V, § 3(b)(9), Fla. Const., pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.140(j)(l), on March 27, 2000, the petition was administratively transferred to the district court of appeal where the alleged ineffective assistance of counsel occurred.

We now deny Pettway’s motion to enforce our previous transfer order.

On April 24, 2000, the clerk of court of the Second District Court of Appeal sent Pettway a letter acknowledging receipt of the transferred petition but advising him that the case would not be considered, citing its decision in Pettway v. State, 725 So. 2d 428 (Fla. 2d DCA), review denied, 735 So. 2d 1286 (Fla.1999), wherein the Second District held that Pettway had abused its processes by filing successive and meritless petitions repeatedly challenging the same convictions and sentences. The court stated that Pettway’s convictions and sentence have been exhaustively reviewed by this court and by the trial court, and he has received all relief due to him in this matter.

Accordingly ... the clerk of this court is directed to reject for filing all petitions for extraordinary relief sent by or on behalf of Pettway relating to his current conviction and sentence, unless submitted and signed by a member in good standing of The Florida Bar. Pettway, 725 So. 2d at 429 (footnote omitted). After receiving the letter from the Second District, Pettway filed a notice in this Court attaching the letter and asking this Court to compel the Second District to hear his case. Pettway has also filed an amended petition. We have treated the notice and the amended petition as a motion to enforce our transfer order. We deny the motion as set forth below.

This Court denied review of the District Court’s sanctioning decision when Pettway sought discretionary review of it in June of 1999. See Petttoay v. State, 735 So. 2d 1286 (Fla.1999).

Therefore, the propriety of that decision cannot be further contested in this proceeding. The sanction imposed by the Second District in Pett-way’s case bars him from submitting pleadings challenging certain convictions and sentences. It appears from the Second District Court’s decision that Pett-way’s abuse has been limited to petitions challenging certain convictions and the sanction has been equally limited to restricting only the types of petitions which Pettway has abused. Having concluded that the Second District’s decision is not subject to attack, we find no reason why we should require that the Second District accept this Court’s transfer under the circumstances described above.

This Court held in Harvard v. SingleTary, 733 So. 2d 1020 (Fla.1999), that due to constraints on its time this Court would transfer the majority of individualized proceedings to the lower courts where jurisdiction and relief are both available, reserving for this Court only exceptional matters meriting resolution by Florida’s highest court. To say that most petitions will be transferred to the lower courts because the cases do not warrant consideration by the Florida Supreme Court but those individualized petitions filed by litigants who have abused the system will be heard by the Florida Supreme Court (regardless of exceptional circumstances or state-wide importance) would be contrary to the underlying concept embodied in Harvard.

This Court’s transfer order specifically stated that “the transfer of this case is not an adjudication or comment on the merits of the petition; nor is it a determination as to the transferee court’s jurisdiction.” Our order did not actually require that the Second District accept and consider Pett-way’s case on the merits and we see no reason why we should compel it to do so now.

Accordingly, we conclude that this Court will generally not consider the repetitive petitions of persons who have abused the judicial processes of the lower courts such that they have been barred from filing certain actions there. We deny Pettway’s motion to enforce the transfer order. It is so ordered.

WELLS, C.J., and SHAW, HARDING, ANSTEAD, PARIENTE, LEWIS and QUINCE, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (51 total)

  • Pettway v. McNEIL, 987 So. 2d 20 (Fla. 2008)
    …he petition transferred by this Court would not be considered based on the order issued in Pettway, 725 So. 2d 428. Afterward, Pettway moved this Court to enforce our previous transfer order, which we denied by written opinion. See Pettway v. State, 776 So. 2d 930 (Fla.2000). In Pett-way, we concluded that “this Court will generally not consider the repetitive petitions of persons who have abused the judicial processes of the lower courts such that they have been barred from filing certain actions there. We d…
    1 / 2
  • Tate v. McNEIL, 983 So. 2d 502 (Fla. 2008)
    …; Tate v. McDonough, 937 So. 2d 1100 (Fla.) (habeas corpus petition denied as successive), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 127 S.Ct. 504, 166 L.Ed.2d 377 (2006); Tate v. State, 937 So. 2d 666 (Fla.) (mandamus petition dismissed pursuant to Pettway v. State, 776 So. 2d 930 (Fla.2000)), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 127 S.Ct. 501, 166 L.Ed.2d 374 (2006); Tate v. McDonough, 935 So. 2d 1220 (Fla.2006); Tate v. McDonough, No. SC06-672 (Fla. Apr. 21, 2006) (habeas corpus petition transferred); Tate v. McDonough, No. SC06-565 (Fl…
  • Hastings v. State, 79 So. 3d 739 (Fla. 2011)
    …stings is incarcerated. See Steele, 14 So. 3d at 224. It is so ordered. [*743] CANADY, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, QUINCE, POLSTON, LABARGA, and PERRY, JJ., concur. . We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(8), Fla. Const. . See Pettway v. State, 776 So. 2d 930, 931 (Fla.2000) (stating that the Court generally will not consider the repetitive petitions of persons who have abused the judicial processes of the lower courts such that they have been barred from filing certain actions there). . See Hastings v.…

Previewing 3 of 51 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw