![[SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA]](sc3d.gif)
Oral Argument Press Summaries
October 2-6, 2000
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.
Via Satellite: Telstar 4, KU Band, 89
degrees west,
transponder 13 lower, 12078 vertical
polarity
Check with Erin Cleghorn
at FSU for last minute changes (800)
322-WFSU Ext. 347.
Some local cable systems in Florida
usually carry our broadcasts live or tape-delayed.
See the partial
list of these systems.
Watch us on the Web in RealVideo at http://wfsu.org/gavel2gavel/
If you miss a live case, view it from our archive at http://wfsu.org/gavel2gavel/archmain.htm
Names &
phone numbers of attorneys in these cases are available in Acrobat
format.
![[ETCHING: SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA]](press1.gif)
Robert
Craig Waters, Director of Public Information
(850) 414-7641
Florida Supreme Court Oral
Arguments
Monday,
October 2, 2000
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 |
| Inquiry Concerning a
Judge: Reginald A. Richardson
#93,954
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
9:00 |
Judge Richardson has been
ordered to appear before the Court to receive a public reprimand for ethical
misconduct. |
Dade County |
| Jean Nadd v. Le Credit
Lyonnais, S.A.
#96,917
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 9:10 |
Le Credit Lyonnais holds
two French judgments against Nadd entered in 1978 and 1979, before Nadd
moved from Paris to Pensacola and then Orlando. The company sought to enforce
these judgments by filing them in the Orange County trial court in October
1995. Nadd moved to dismiss on grounds that the judgments should have been
filed in Florida within five years of entry. The trial judge agreed, but
the Fifth District Court reversed on grounds that the actual time limit
was twenty years. |
Orange County
(Pensacola connection) |
| Clarence Jones v. Michael
Moore
#00-660
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 9:50 |
Jones was convicted and
sentenced to death for the July 7, 1988, murder of Tallahassee Police Officer
Ernest Ponce de Leon. His conviction and sentence were upheld on appeal.
He now challenges the validity of his sentence. |
Leon County |
| Brian Jones v. ETS of
New Orleans, Inc.
#96,287
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 10:30 |
Jones was injured while
on the job and as a result, he received workers compensation benefits.
Jones later sued the third party allegedly at fault in his injury and they
reached a settlement of $50,000. ETS, the workers' compensation insurance
carrier, filed a workers' compensation lien, as provided by Florida law.
The trial court entered an order and ETS appealed. The Second District
Court of Appeal held that only Jones' taxable costs, rather than all of
the costs he incurred, would be included for equitable distribution purposes. |
Hillsborough County |
| Case |
Time |
Facts & Issues |
Place of Origin |
| Florida Dept. of Health
& Rehabilitative Services v. S.A.P.
#00-105
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
9:00 |
S.A.P. was born in 1975
and removed from her abusive mother in 1978. HRS placed her with a foster
home in Jacksonville. In 1979 Clay County Sheriff's officers found her
in Orange Park, which was not the location of her supposed foster home.
S.A.P. had been severely beaten and burned and, though four years old,
weighed only 22 pounds. She sued in 1995, alleging that her HRS case worker
falsified records to suggest that her placement was being properly monitored.
The trial court dismissed the suit on grounds it was filed outside the
7-year statute of repose. On appeal, the First District Court reversed. |
Duval County |
| Major League Baseball
v. Frank L. Morsani
#96,004
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 9:40 |
This dispute arose from
failed attempts to bring the Minnesota Twins baseball team to the Tampa
Bay area. Morsani and others were involved in the matter but contend that
their efforts to secure the team failed by 1984. Major League Baseball
contends that Morsani and the others actively frustrated the deal. In 1992,
Major League Baseball sued Morsani and the others, who moved to dismiss
on grounds that the 4-year statute of limitations had expired. Major League
Baseball argued that the statute did not apply because Morsani and the
others had continued to promise to help bring an existing major league
team or an expansion team to Tampa Bay, thereby inducing it not to sue.
The trial court dismissed the claim but, on appeal, the Second District
Court reversed. |
Hillsborough County |
| Manuel Adriano Valle
v. State of Florida
#94,754
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 10:30 |
Valle was tried and sentenced
to death for the April 1978 murder of Coral Gables Police Officer Louis
Pena. His sentence was upheld on appeal. He now challenges the validity
of his sentence. |
Dade County |
| Jermaine Lebron v. State
of Florida
#93,955
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 11:10 |
Lebron was charged with
the murder of Larry Neal Oliver, whose body was found in a rural area of
Osceola County on Dec. 1, 1995. At Lebron's first trial in 1997, the judge
declared a mistrial after the jury deadlocked. He was tried again in 1998,
convicted, and sentenced to death based on a 7-to-5 vote of the jury. He
appeals. |
Osceola County |
| Case |
Time |
Facts & Issues |
Place of Origin |
| The Florida Bar Re: Becker
& Poliakoff, P.A.
#97,130
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
9:00 |
The law firm of Becker &
Poliakoff requires certain attorney-employees to sign contracts requiring
them to split fees with the firm if the employees leave and take firm clients
with them. The firm contends that this contract was approved by The Florida
Bar before it went into use and is supported by court decisions. In 1995,
The Bar issued an ethics opinion declaring the fee-sharing agreement unethical
and unenforceable. The firm has petitioned the Court to reverse this opinion. |
Palm Beach County |
| Diosdado Diaz v. Rina
Cohan Diaz
#95,534
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 9:40 |
After lengthy divorce proceedings,
the trial court ordered Mr. Diaz and his attorney to pay a portion of Mrs.
Diaz's attorneys fees and costs based on the judge's conclusion that they
had litigated in bad faith. On appeal, the Third District Court affirmed. |
Dade County |
| John Erroll Ferguson
v. State of Florida
#96,658
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 10:30 |
Ferguson was convicted and
sentenced to death for eight murders committed in 1978, two in Hialeah
(Brian Glenfeld and Belinda Worley) and six in the Carol City home of Livingston
Stocker. His sentences were upheld on appeal. Ferguson now challenges the
validity of his sentences, among other reasons, on grounds that he is schizophrenic. |
Dade County
Carol City
Hialeah |
| Donny L. Crook v. State
of Florida
#94,782
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 11:10 |
Crook was tried and convicted
for the March 14, 1996, murder of Betty Spurlock at the Bull Pen bar in
Avon Park. The jury recommended the death penalty by a vote of 7-to-5,
which the judge imposed. This is Crook's direct appeal. |
Highlands County |
| Case |
Time |
Facts & Issues |
Place of Origin |
| Jeffrey Lee Atwater v.
State of Florida
#94,865
& #99-179
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
9:00 |
Atwater was tried and sentenced
to death for the Aug. 11, 1989, murder of Ken Smith in St. Petersburg's
John Knox Apartments. His sentence was upheld on appeal. He now challenges
its validity. |
Pinellas County |
| Coastal Development of
North Florida, Inc. v. City of Jacksonville Beach
#95,686
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 9:40 |
Coastal Development filed
for a small-scale amendment to the City's comprehensive plan for development
of an office complex at Highway A1A and St. Augustine Boulevard. The proposed
amendment was opposed by adjoining residential property owners, and the
local Planning Commission eventually denied the request on a 3-to-2 vote.
The City Council backed the Commission. Coastal Development sued, and the
trial court ordered the City to grant the amendment. On appeal, the First
District Court reversed on grounds that the trial court had used the wrong
standard of review. |
Duval County |
| Seburt Nelson Connor
v. State of Florida
#93,697
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 10:30 |
Connor was tried and convicted
for the November 1992 murders of Lawrence and Jessica Goodine. The jury
recommended the death penalty by a vote of 8-to-4 in the murder of Jessica,
and the judge imposed it. This is Connor's direct appeal. |
Dade County |
| Johnny Wilmer Clark v.
State of Florida
#00-43
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 11:30 |
Clark was tried and convicted
for aggravated battery by using his truck to strike a truck driven by another
man. Neither was injured, though the victim's truck was damaged. On appeal,
the First District Court affirmed on grounds that a motor vehicle can legally
be an extension of a person's body. Thus, it ruled, the jury should decide
whether an attack upon a truck was an aggravated battery on the person
of its driver. |
Escambia County |
| Case |
Time |
Facts & Issues |
Place of Origin |
| City of Winter Springs
v. State of Florida
#00-413
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
8:30 |
The City created the Tuscawilla
Lighting and Beautification tax district to raise revenues for improvements
to an existing neighborhood. Proceeds would be used to finance bond issues
that would pay for improvements including landscaping, lighting, and signage.
The City sued to validate the bonds, but the trial court ruled that they
were legally invalid. |
Seminole County |
| State of Florida v. Charles
Hogan
#96,588
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 9:10 |
Hogan was charged with two
counts of burglary of a dwelling after he was found living in an unoccupied
residence owned by someone else. At trial, Hogan testified that someone
he had met at a chapel, Ted Hanson, gave him permission to stay in the
house. But he did not know where Hanson was. The prosecution argued that
Hanson was a figment of Hogan's imagination. Hogan was found guilty and
sentenced to eight years in prison. On appeal, the Fourth District Court
reversed on grounds that the prosecutor's comments may have led the jury
to believe that Hogan had the burden of proving his own innocence. |
Broward County |
| James Franklin Rose v.
State of Florida
#94,317
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 9:50 |
Rose was charged with the
October 1976 murder of Lisa Berry. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced
to death, but this sentence ultimately was overturned due to errors. In
the present proceedings, the jury recommended death on a vote of 9-to-3,
and the trial court reimposed the death penalty. This is Rose's direct
appeal. |
Broward County |
| Robert B. Waterhouse
v. State of Florida
#95,103
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 10:30 |
Waterhouse was convicted
and sentenced to death for the January 1980 murder of Deborah Kammerer.
A new sentencing hearing later was ordered due to errors at the original
trial. The jury recommended death 12-to-0, and the trial court again imposed
the death penalty. This sentence was upheld on appeal. Waterhouse now challenges
the validity of his sentence. |
Pinellas County |