KEITHAN DARNELL BATTIE, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 2013-06-19
No. 3D13-766
Before SHEPHERD, LAGOA and FERNANDEZ, JJ.
117 So. 3d 71 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2013) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Holding

The court held that the appellant has reached the point where he is prohibited from filing any additional pro se appeals, pleadings, motions, or petitions relating to his prior convictions and sentences.


Headnotes

[1] A court may prohibit a pro se litigant from filing further pleadings concerning specific convictions and sentences after repeated unsuccessful and non-meritorious filings…

[2] Incarcerated persons have procedural vehicles to challenge their incarceration, but there is no constitutional right to file a frivolous lawsuit.

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellant, convicted of murder and sentenced to life, has filed over twenty postconviction relief motions since 1996. He filed a motion for collateral…

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Opinion of the Court
SHEPHERD, J.

ON ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

SHEPHERD, J.

On March 11, 2013, Appellant, Keithan Darnell Battie, filed a “Motion for Collateral Review and or Direct Review or any *72Review Necessary to Correct a Manifest Injustice” with this court. On April 15, 2013, we ordered Battie to show cause why he should not be prohibited from filing further pro se pleadings with this court concerning his January 1996 convictions and sentences arising from lower tribunal case number 94-7634. After carefully considering Battie’s response to this court’s show cause order, see State v. Spencer, 751 So.2d 47 (Fla.1999), and having reviewed the record, we now prohibit Battie from filing any additional pro se appeals, pleadings, motions, or petitions relating to these convictions and sentences.

FACTS

In January of 1996, Battie pled guilty to one count of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder. Battie was sentenced to consecutive life sentences, with a twenty-five-year minimum mandatory term for the first-degree murder conviction.

Since 1996, Battie has filed in excess of twenty petitions or motions for postconviction relief stemming from lower tribunal case number 94-7634.1 In the current appeal, Battie argues the trial court did not accept his guilty plea in open court, thereby subjecting him to a manifest injustice. In his response to this court’s show cause order, Battie contends he “only submitted this issue to this Honorable Court ... because petitioner is prohibited from presenting any pro [ ] se issues in the lower tribunal.” Battie further argues the legally dispositive issue is not frivolous, malicious or a waste of the court’s valuable time. We disagree. Of the multiple cases Battie has filed with this court, none have been found to be meritorious.

FRIVOLOUS APPEALS BY PRISONERS

“We recognize that incarcerated persons should and do have a full panoply *73of procedural vehicles with which to challenge the lawfulness of their incarcerations.” Edwards v. State, 96 So.3d 1154, 1155 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012) (quoting Hepburn v. State, 934 So.2d 515, 517 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005)). There is, however, no constitutional right to file a frivolous lawsuit. See Hepburn, 934 So.2d at 517-18; see also Villalobos v. State, 96 So.3d 970, 971 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012). As this court stated in Edwards v. State, 96 So.3d 1154, 1155 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012), and Middleton v. State, 95 So.3d 385, 388 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012), “there comes a point where enough is enough.” Based upon careful review of Battie’s filings in this court, we believe he has reached that point.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the trial court’s denial of Battie’s “Motion for Collateral Review and or Direct Review or any Review Necessary to Correct a Manifest Injustice.” We further direct the Clerk of the Third District Court of Appeal to refuse to accept for filing in this court and further appeals, pleadings, motions, petitions, or other papers to Battie’s convictions and sentences in lower tribunal case number 94-7634, unless they are filed by a Florida Bar member in good standing.

Finally, we direct the Clerk to forward a certified copy of this opinion to the Department of Corrections for consideration by that institution of disciplinary measures against Battie pursuant to sections 944.279(1) and 944.28(2)(a), Florida Statutes (2010). See Pettway v. McNeil, 987 So.2d 20 (Fla.2008).


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Citator

Cited By

  • Griffin v. State, 196 So. 3d 510 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016)
    …ensed member of the Florida Bar in good standing. The Clerk of this Court is directed to reject any further pro se filings from Griffin in violation of this prohibition. See Allen v. State, 16 So. 3d 152 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009); see also Battie v. State, 117 So. 3d 71 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013).…

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