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The following summaries are drawn from briefs and lower court judgments. They are meant to provide a general idea of facts and issues presented in cases, and should not be considered official court documents. Facts and issues presented in these summaries should be checked for accuracy against records and briefs, available from the Court, which provide more specific information.
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Names & phone numbers of attorneys in these cases are available in Acrobat format.
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Florida Supreme Court Oral Arguments
Monday, May 2, 2011
Arrive early. Times & order of appearance are tentative and subject to change with no notice. Cases may be postponed due to exigent circumstances.
Case |
Time |
Facts & Issues |
Place of Origin |
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Florida Supreme Court Oral Arguments
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Arrive early. Times & order of appearance are tentative and subject to change with no notice. Cases may be postponed due to exigent circumstances.
Case |
Time |
Facts & Issues |
Place of Origin |
Lancelot Uriley Armstrong v. State of Florida
SC09-1659
View briefs in Acrobat format by clicking the case
number(s) here
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9:00 |
Mr. Armstrong was convicted of the first-degree murder of Broward County
Deputy John Greeney, who was fatally shot while responding to a burglary alarm
in 1990. Mr. Armstrong was condemned but his death sentence was later
overturned on appeal. A new sentencing hearing was held; the jury voted 9-3 to
recommend a death sentence and the trial court condemned Mr. Armstrong. This
is Mr. Armstrong's direct appeal of his second death sentence. |
Broward County |
Romildo Meister v. Elizardo Rivero
SC10-2311
View briefs in Acrobat format by clicking the case
number(s) here
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Approx. 10:00 |
Mr. Meister sued Mr. Rivero after an auto accident. Neither Mr. Rivero nor his
attorneys were present when the trial was supposed to begin. The attorneys were
handling another case at the time and had not advised the judge or Mr. Meister's
lawyers. The judge imposed a sanction on Mr. Rivero's attorneys to compensate
Mr. Meister, who had taken time off work for the trial, and his attorneys, who had
prepared for trial. The Fourth District Court of Appeal, however, overturned that
decision and asked this Court to review the issue. |
Palm Beach County |
The Florida Bar v. William Bedford Watson, III
SC09-2022
View briefs in Acrobat format by clicking the case
number(s) here
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Approx. 10:40 |
In this disciplinary case, The Florida Bar accuses Mr. Watson of participating in
a scheme of financial fraud by misusing funds that were deposited into his trust
account. The trial judge considering the case as a referee concluded that Mr.
Watson was guilty of negligence but not deliberate misconduct and recommended
that this Court suspend him for 90 days. The Bar argues the misconduct was
intentional and that this Court should disbar Mr. Watson. Mr. Watson argues there
was no fraudulent scheme and that this Court should approve the referee's
recommendations. |
Alachua County |
Florida Supreme Court Oral Arguments
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Arrive early. Times & order of appearance are tentative and subject to change with no notice. Cases may be postponed due to exigent circumstances.
Case |
Time |
Facts & Issues |
Place of Origin |
Willie Seth Crain, Jr. V. State of Florida
SC09-1920
View briefs in Acrobat format by clicking the case
number(s) here
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9:00 |
Mr. Crain was convicted of the first-degree murder of 7-year-old Amanda Victoria
Brown, who disappeared in 1998. The jury voted unanimously to recommend a
death sentence. The trial court condemned Mr. Crain. This Court upheld the death
sentence on direct appeal and Mr. Crain filed a post-conviction challenge in trial
court. It was denied and this appeal followed. |
Hillsborough County |
Joshua D. Nelson v. State of Florida
SC10-540
View briefs in Acrobat format by clicking the case
number(s) here
|
Approx. 9:40 |
Mr. Lee was convicted of the first-degree murder of Thomas Owens, who was
fatally attacked with a baseball bat and box cutter in 1995. The jury voted
unanimously to recommend a death sentence. The trial court condemned Mr.
Nelson. This Court upheld the death sentence on direct appeal and Mr. Nelson
filed a post-conviction challenge in trial court. It was denied and this appeal
followed. |
Lee County |
David Carbajal v. State of Florida
SC10-466
View briefs in Acrobat format by clicking the case
number(s) here
|
Approx. 10:30 |
Mr. Carbajal pleaded no contest to felony drug charges in a case filed by Florida's
statewide prosecutor. He was sentenced to prison. Later he filed a postconviction
motion, arguing the statewide prosecutor had no jurisdiction to prosecute him
because all of the drug charges were from one county. The trial court denied his
challenge on the merits, and the Second District Court of Appeal ruled Mr.
Carbajal had waited too long to file his motion. The Second District noted its
ruling was in conflict with rulings by other district courts on the same issue. |
Lee County |
Robin Roshkind v. Belinda Charlene Machiela
SC10-1754
View briefs in Acrobat format by clicking the case
number(s) here
|
Approx. 11:10 |
Ms. Machiela retained the Roshkind law firm to represent her in a dissolution of
marriage proceeding. The Roshkind law firm later withdrew from representation
and filed a charging lien to collect fees. The trial court denied that motion because
the firm did not present expert testimony on reasonable legal fees. Citing case law,
the Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld that decision. But the 4th DCA also
noted that expert testimony on reasonable legal fees is often not needed and asked
this Court to consider the issue as one of great public importance. |
Palm Beach County |
Florida Supreme Court Oral Arguments
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Arrive early. Times & order of appearance are tentative and subject to change with no notice. Cases may be postponed due to exigent circumstances.
Case |
Time |
Facts & Issues |
Place of Origin |
Donte Jermaine Hall v. State of Florida
SC09-2326
View briefs in Acrobat format by clicking the case
number(s) here
|
9:00 |
Mr. Hall was convicted of the first-degree murders of Keson Evans and Anthony
Blunt, who were fatally shot in 2006. The jury voted 8-4 to recommend a sentence
of death for the murder of Mr. Blunt and recommended life imprisonment for the
murder of Mr. Evans. The trial court followed both recommendations and
condemned Mr. Hall for the murder of Mr. Blunt. This is Mr. Hall's direct appeal. |
Lake County |
William Michael Kopsho v. State of Florida
SC09-1383
View briefs in Acrobat format by clicking the case
number(s) here
|
Approx. 10:00 |
Mr. Kopsho was convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife, Lynne, who was
fatally shot in 2000. He was condemned, but this Court overturned his conviction.
A new trial was held and he was again convicted. The jury voted 10-2 to recommend a death sentence and the trial court again condemned Mr. Kopsho. This is
his direct appeal. |
Marion County |
Angela Samples v. Florida Birth-Related Neorological
Injury Compensation Association
SC10-1295
View briefs in Acrobat format by clicking the case
number(s) here
|
Approx. 11:00 |
Angela and Kenneth Ray Samples, whose child suffered a brain injury at birth,
challenged a provision of the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act. The Samples argue that the $100,000 limit on parental awards is vague
and ambiguous and should be applied to each parent individually in order to avoid
equal protection concerns. The Fifth District Court of Appeal ruled that the
parental award provision did not violate equal protection and asked this Court to
consider the issue as one of great public importance. |
Central Florida |
Florida Supreme Court Oral Arguments
Friday, May 6, 2011
Arrive early. Times & order of appearance are tentative and subject to change with no notice. Cases may be postponed due to exigent circumstances.
Case |
Time |
Facts & Issues |
Place of Origin |
| No cases scheduled
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