Florida Supreme Court Oral Argument Press Summaries

Case

Time

Facts & Issues

Place of Origin

No cases scheduled

Case

Time

Facts & Issues

Place of Origin

Cowan Liebowitz &Latman, P.C. v. Donald Kaplan

SC03-59

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9:00

Medical Research Industries,Inc., (MRI) allegedly received bad legal advice from attorneys in connectionwith raising money to expand its operations. MRI later assigned its assetsto Kaplan, who then sued the attorneys for legal malpractice. The trialcourt ruled that claims for legal malpractice are nontransferable. TheThird District Court reversed.

Miami-Dade County

B.C. v. Florida Dep'tof Children & Families

SC03-1632

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Approx. 9:40

The State sought to terminatethe parental rights of a parent serving a prison sentence, under a lawauthorizing termination if incarceration constitutes a "substantial portion"of the time before the child turns 18. The trial court denied termination,but the Fourth District reversed and certified conflict with the SecondDistrict on whether the focus of the statute is the entire time the parentis incarcerated or the time left in the parent's sentence.

Palm Beach County

Donald David Dillbeckv. State of Florida

SC02-2044|SC03-1123

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Approx. 10:30

Dillbeck was tried, convicted,and sentenced to death for the June 1990 murder of Faye Lamb Vann. Hissentence was affirmed on appeal. He now challenges its validity. 

Leon County

Case

Time

Facts & Issues

Place of Origin

John Chamberlain v. Stateof Florida

SC02-1150

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9:00

Chamberlain was chargedwith the November 1998 murders of Daniel Ketchum, Brian Harrison, and CharlotteKenyan. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. This is his directappeal.

Palm Beach County

Jermaine Lebron v. Stateof Florida

SC02-1956

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Approx. 10:00

Lebron appeals his sentenceof death imposed on resentencing. In 1998, Lebron was found guilty of thefirst-degree felony murder and robbery with a firearm of Larry Neal Oliver,Jr., and sentenced to death. On August 30, 2001, this Court affirmed Lebron'sconvictions, but vacated the death sentence, and remanded the case fora new penalty phase. 

Osceola County

Erica Tyne v. Time WarnerEntertainment Co., L.P.

SC03-1251

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Approx. 10:40.

Billy Tyne, Jr., and DaleMurphy were lost at sea in October 1991 when their commercial fishing vessel,the Andrea Gail, apparently sank during a violent storm. A movie,ThePerfect Storm, later was filmed about this event and received grossearnings in excess of $150 million. Tyne and Murphy's surviving familyand one former crew member sued under a Florida statute prohibiting thecommercial use of people's names or likenesses without their permission.The trial court ruled in favor of Time Warner but, on appeal, the federalEleventh Circuit Court certified a question to the Florida Supreme Courton the proper interpretation of the statute. 

Central Florida

Statewide impact

State of Florida v. HenryMaynard Barnum

SC03-1315

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Approx. 11:20

Barnum was convicted ofattempted first degree murder of a law enforcement officer. At his trial,the jury was not required to find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Barnumhad knowledge of the victim's status as a law enforcement officer. Subsequently,this Court held in a 1997 case that knowledge is an element of the crimeof attempted first degree murder of a law enforcement officer. This casepresents the question of the retroactivity of that 1997 ruling.

Leon County

Case

Time

Facts & Issues

Place of Origin

Pedro Hernandez-Albertov. State of Florida

SC02-1617

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9:00

Hernandez-Alberto was accusedof the January 1999 murders of Isela Gonzalez and Donna Berezovsky. Attrial he was convicted and the jury recommended the death penalty on bothcounts by a vote of 10-to-2. The trial court imposed it. This is his directappeal.

Hillsborough County

Luther Douglas v. Stateof Florida

SC02-1666

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Approx. 10:00

Luther Douglas was convictedof the December 1999 sexual battery and first-degree murder of Mary AnnHobgood. The jury recommended a sentence of death 11-to-1. The trial judgefollowed the jury's recommendation and imposed a sentence of death. Thisis Douglas's direct appeal of his conviction and sentence.

Duval County

Florida Dep't of Children& Families v. F.L.

SC03-1602

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Approx. 11:00

The Department of Childrenand Families appeals the reversal of the trial court's termination of theparental rights of F.L., the Mother, to her seventh child. The order oftermination was based in part on a statute providing that a prior involuntarytermination of rights to a sibling may serve as grounds for terminationof rights to a current child. The primary issue is whether the statuteunconstitutionally shifts the burden of proof from DCF to the parent byrequiring the parent to show that her past conduct does not predict thatthe current child is at risk.

Broward County

Case

Time

Facts & Issues

Place of Origin

Sprint-Florida, Inc.V. Lila A. Jaber

SC03-235|SC03-236

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8:30

In consolidated appeals,Sprint and Verizon challenge the Public Service Commission's finding ofa default definition of "local calling area" for purposes of reciprocalcompensation between telecommunication carriers. In a cross-appeal, AT&Tchallenges the Public Service Commission's findings regarding telecommunicationcarriers' eligibility for the tandem interconnection rate.

Statewide impact

Robert L. Battle, Jr.V. State of Florida

SC03-443

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Approx. 9:10

Robert Battle, Jr., wasconvicted of attempted felony murder, attempted second-degree murder, andattempted robbery. Battle did not object to the jury instruction on attemptedfelony murder, but raised the issue as fundamental error on appeal. TheSecond District concluded that it was not fundamental error to fail toinstruct on an essential element of attempted felony murder in this casewhen Battle's defense was mistaken identity. However, the Second Districtcertified conflict with a decision of the Fourth District Court on thispoint. Battle also claims that the information charging him with attemptedfelony murder was fundamentally defective in that it failed to allege anessential element of the offense and that his conviction for both attemptedsecond-degree murder and attempted felony murder constituted a double jeopardyviolation.

Pinellas County

Michael Peter Fitzpatrickv. State of Florida

SC01-2759

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Approx. 9:50

Fitzpatrick was arrestedand charged with the August 1996 murder of Laura Romines. At trial, thejury convicted him and recommended the death penalty 10-to-2, which thetrial judge imposed. This is Fitzpatrick's direct appeal.

Pasco County