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Oral Argument Press Summaries
November 1-5, 1999
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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Robert Craig
Waters, Director of Public Information
(850) 414-7641
Florida Supreme Court Oral
Arguments
Monday,
November 1, 1999
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 |
| Grady Carter v. Brown
& Williamson Tobacco Co.
No. 94,797
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
9:00 |
Carter began smoking cigarettes
in 1947 at age 16. After learning he had lung cancer in 1991, he sued the
tobacco manufacturers and later won a jury verdict against them. On appeal,
the First District Court reversed, and Carter appeals. |
Duval County |
| The Florida Bar v. Robert
L. Travis, Jr.
Nos. 93,559
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 9:40 |
Travis admitted to violations
of ethics rules governing trust funds held for clients, including using
the funds for personal purposes. The Bar referee recommended a 90-day suspension,
but The Florida Bar asks the Court to disbar Travis. |
Gadsden County |
| The Florida Bar v. N.
David Korones
No. 92,873
& 96,628
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 10:10 |
Korones is charged with
misappropriating funds from his uncle's estate while serving as executor.
The referee recommended a 90-day suspension, but The Florida Bar asks the
Court to disbar Korones. |
Pinellas County |
| Eugene F. Gaines v. Lynn
Sayne
No. 95,134
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 10:40 |
Gaines sued his wife Chlodel
for divorce in January 1996. The trial entered its order granting the divorce
and dividing assets in October 1996, but both parties asked for rehearing.
The trial court granted the wife's request. In February 1997 she died before
the rehearing could be held. In September 1997, the trial court entered
its final judgment. Gaines appealed and challenged the entire divorce proceeding
on grounds the marriage had been terminated by death before a final divorce
was entered. The Second District disagreed and ruled against him. |
Hillsborough County |
| Jason Demetrius Stephens
v. State of Florida
No. 92,987
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 11:20 |
Stephens was tried and convicted
for the murder of 3-year-old Robert Sparrow, Jr., who was kidnaped when
Stephens robbed the victim's family. The trial judge imposed the death
penalty based on the jury's 9-to-3 recommendation favoring it. Stephens
appeals. |
Duval County |
| Case |
Time |
Facts & Issues |
Place of Origin |
| Mazzoni Farms Inc. v.
E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.
Nos. 94,846
& 95,411
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
9:00 |
Mazzoni and other commercial
growers of trees and shrubs allegedly were injured when the DuPont commercial
product Benlate caused the mass destruction of their inventory. They sued
and later reached a settlement, but later sued on grounds DuPont had concealed
important information, making the settlement fraudulent. The federal trial
judge dismissed the second suit, and the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of
Appeals certified questions to the Florida Supreme Court during the later
appeal. |
South Florida |
| Joaquin J. Martinez v.
State of Florida
No. 90,952
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 9:40 |
Martinez, a citizen of Spain,
was tried and convicted for the October 1995 murders of Douglas Lawson
and Sherrie McCoy-Ward. The judge imposed the death penalty based on the
jury's 9-to-3 vote in favor of it. Martinez appeals. Meanwhile, the Ilustre
Colegio de Abogados de Madrid, Spain's largest bar association, has
filed a friend of the court brief alleging that Martinez' trial fell below
internationally recognized standards of due process. |
Hillsborough County
Spanish connection |
| Jana P. Vest v. Travelers
Insurance Co.
No. 93,355
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 10:40 |
Thomas Vest was killed in
an auto accident involving an underinsured motorist, whose insurer tendered
its policy limits to Jana Vest. She informed Mr. Vest's insurer, Travelers,
of the offer and sought Travelers' authorization to accept the policy limits
and demanded that Traveler pay under its own policy for damages over and
above those covered by the other insurer. Ms. Vest sued when Traveler did
not comply, but the trial court dismissed on grounds the suit was premature.
The First District Court affirmed. |
Escambia County |
| Duane Eugene Owen v.
State of Florida
No. 92,144
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 11:20 |
Owen was convicted and sentenced
to death for the May 1984 murder of Georgianna Worden in Boca Raton. His
conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal. He now challenges the
validity of his sentence. |
Palm Beach County |
| Case |
Time |
Facts & Issues |
Place of Origin |
| Deneace M. Joshua v.
City of Gainesville
No. 94,935
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
9:00 |
Under the Florida Civil
Rights Act of 1992, persons alleging unlawful discrimination by an employer
must file a complaint with a commission that is required to making findings
within 180 days. If it finds "reasonable cause" to believe discrimination
occurred, the complaining party must file suit with one year of the finding.
If the commission fails to make findings in 180 days, then "reasonable
cause" is presumed to exist. Here, Joshua filed her complaint against her
employer, the City of Gainesville, on July 21, 1995, but the commission
failed to make any findings. She then sued the City on January 20, 1998,
but the trial court dismissed it as time-barred. The First District Court
affirmed. |
Alachua County |
| Nathaniel Woods v. State
of Florida
No. 95,281
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 9:40 |
Florida adopted the Prison
Releasee Reoffender Punishment Act in 1997 to allow for enhanced penalties
for some released inmates who go on to commit more crimes. Woods was sentenced
under the Act for armed robbery of a Food Lion and challenged the Act as
unconstitutional. On appeal, the First District Court affirmed his conviction. |
Duval County |
| State of Florida v. Sammy
Cotton
No. 94,996
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 10:30 |
Cotton was charged with
robbery, resisting arrest without violence and soliciting for prostitution.
After finding him guilty, the trial judge refused the State's request to
sentence Cotton under the Prison Releasee Reoffender Punishment Act (see
above). Tthe Second District affirmed, and the State appeals. |
Pinellas County |
| Dominick Occhicone v.
State of Florida
No. 93,343
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 11:10 |
Occhicone was convicted
and sentenced to death for the June 1986 murders of the parents of his
former girlfriend Anita Gerrety. He now challenges the validity of his
sentence. |
Pasco County |
| Case |
Time |
Facts & Issues |
Place of Origin |
| Stephen Todd Booker v.
State of Florida
No. 93,422
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
9:00 |
Booker was tried, convicted,
and sentenced to death for the November 9, 1977, murder of 94-year-old
Lorine Demoss Harmon in her Gainesville apartment. His sentence was affirmed
on appeal. Later, the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his
sentence due to errors in jury instructions in the penalty phase. He again
was sentenced to death and appeals. |
Alachua County |
| Auto-Owners Insurance
Co. v. Karen Anderson
No. 95,337
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 9:40 |
On December 7, 1996,Anderson
was severely injured on I-75 when a car in which she was a passenger swerved
off the road trying to avoid a tractor-trailer rig pulling into the same
lane. The owner of the rig held an insurance policy providing maximum coverage
of $750,000 for each occurrence. Anderson sought $1.5 million based on
her contention that the tractor and the trailer were each separately covered
vehicles. The federal trial court found that the insurance policy language
was ambiguous as to the amount of coverage under these circumstances and
therefore determined that the $750,000 policy limit was available for each
of the covered vehicles. The U.S. Eleventh Circuit certified questions
to the Florida Supreme Court on Appeal. |
Marion County |
| Ralph Gross, Jr. v. State
of Florida
No. 95,302
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 10:30 |
Gross and other men engaged
in a series of "home invasion" robberies in which they appeared at people's
homes dressed as law enforcement officers and took money while conducting
"police searches." Gross was tried and convicted on racketeering charges
in connection with these events, and the Fourth District Court affirmed. |
Broward County |
| Keshbro, Inc. v. City
of Miami
Nos. 94,058
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 11:10 |
Keshbro and others are owners
of the Stardust Motel in a high-crime area in the northeastern sector of
the City of Miami. The City's Nuisance Abatement Board filed a complaint
alleging that the motel was a public nuisance because it harbored crime
and eventually ordered it closed for 175 days. The owners eventually filed
for bankruptcy and sued the City for the "taking" of their property. The
trial judge ruled for the owners, but the Third District reversed. |
Dade County
Pinellas County |
| City of St. Petersburg
v. Joseph H. Kablinger
No. 95,600
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 12.10 |
The City of St. Petersburg
Nuisance Abatement Board ordered the 1-year closure of rental property
owned by Kablinger at 506 Grove Street North due to alleged drug sales
on the premises. Kablinger sued the City for the "taking" of his property.
The trial judge ruled in his favor, and the Second District Court affirmed. |
Pinellas County |
| Case |
Time |
Facts & Issues |
Place of Origin |
| James Hitchcock v. State
of Florida
No. 92,717
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
9:00 |
James Ernest Hitchcock was
convicted and sentenced to death for the 1976 strangulation murder of his
brother's 13-year-old stepdaughter. He appeals a resentencing and primarily
argues that the trial court erred in allowing certain prosecution evidence
and argument during his third resentencing proceeding. |
Orange County |
| State of Florida v. Jean
David Paul
No. 95,265
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 9:40 |
While released on bond,
Paul was arrested on other charges. At the State's request, the trial court
revoked Paul's bond on the original charge and ordered him held without
bond pending trial. Paul filed an emergency petition that the Fourth District
Court granted, finding that the trial court did not have absolute discretion
to deny bond unless the defendant meets criteria provided by statute. The
District Court certified conflict with another Florida appeals court, and
the Supreme Court accepted review to resolve the conflict. |
Broward County |
| James Roger Huff v. State
of Florida
No. 91,913
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 10:30 |
Huff was convicted and sentenced
to death for the April 1980 murders of his parents, Norman and Genevieve
Huff. On appeal, his conviction and sentences were affirmed. Huff now challenges
the validity of his sentence. |
Sumter County |
| David Miller v. State
of Florida
No. 93,792
View briefs in Acrobat
format by clicking the case number(s) here |
Approx. 11:10 |
Miller was tried and convicted
for the March 1997 murder of Albert Floyd, a street person who routinely
slept under a covered doorway behind an Episcopal bookstore. The trial
judge sentenced him to death based on a jury recommendation favoring it
7-to-5. He appeals. |
Duval County |