KEITHAN DARNELL BATTIE, PETITIONER,
v.
HARRY SINGLETARY, SECRETARY OF THE FLORIDA DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS, RESPONDENT

Fla. 3d DCA | 2001-09-05
No. 3D98-1243
Before COPE, FLETCHER, and SHEVIN, JJ.
791 So. 2d 1261 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2001) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Holding

The court held that a motion to reopen a prior petition for belated appeal should be denied when the prior decision became final and the subsequent change in law is not retroactive.


Facts & Procedural History

Defendant pled guilty to murder charges in exchange for a waiver of the death penalty and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He later sought a belate…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Keithan Darnell Battie has filed a motion to reopen his earlier petition for belated appeal, which we denied in 1998. See Battie v. Singletary, 718 So. 2d 323 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998). We deny the motion to reopen.

In 1996, defendant-petitioner Battie entered into a plea bargain whereby he pled guilty to one count of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder, in exchange for a waiver of the death penalty. He was sentenced to consecutive life sentences. In 1998, defendant filed a petition for belated appeal. Because defendant had pled guilty and waived the right to appeal, this court denied the petition for belated appeal but certified conflict with Trowell v. State, 706 So. 2d 332 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998) (en banc). 718 So. 2d at 324-26.

Defendant did not seek review in the Florida Supreme Court. See Fla. R.App. P. 9.120. Subsequently the Florida Supreme Court approved the Trowell decision and disapproved conflicting precedent from this court. State v. Trowell, 739 So. 2d 77 (Fla.1999).

In 2001, defendant filed the present motion, seeking to reopen his 1998 petition for belated appeal. We deny the motion. When this court issued its decision in 1998, the defendant did not seek review in the Florida Supreme Court. The decision became final. Love v. State, 559 So. 2d 198, 200 (Fla.1990). The fact that the Florida Supreme Court subsequently announced a different rule of law amounted to an evolutionary refinement which is not retroactive. Id. at 200-01; Witt v. State, 387 So. 2d 922 (Fla.1980). Accordingly, we deny the motion to reopen.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Keithan Darnell Battie v. State, 117 So. 3d 71 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013)
    …and affirming order under review); Battie v. State, 848 So. 2d 325 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003) (table) (denying petition for writ of habeas corpus); Battie v. Singletary, 825 So. 2d 941 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001) (denying motion for rehearing); Battie v. Singletary, 791 So. 2d 1261 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001) (denying motion to reopen earlier petition for belated appeal); Battie v. State, 793 So. 2d 953 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001) (table) (affirming order denying Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800 motion); Battie v. State, 766 So. 2d 1053…

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