Oral Argument Schedule & Briefs

Case

 Time

Facts & Issues

Place of Origin

John Richard Marek v. State of Florida

SC65,821 | SC09-765

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 9:00

Mr. Marek was convicted of the first-degree murder of Adella Marie Simmons,who was sexually assaulted and strangled in 1983. The jury voted 10-2 to recommend a death sentence and the trial court condemned Mr. Marek. This Court upheld the death sentence on direct appeal and denied his postconviction challenges.The state has scheduled his execution for May 13.

Broward County

Walter A. McNeil v. Edison Canty

SC08-2369

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Approx. 9:40

Mr. Canty was convicted of 10 crimes in three different cases. He was sentencedto several concurrent 15-year sentences that were subject to conditional release.After almost a decade in prison, he was conditionally released. A few years later,he violated the terms of his conditional release supervision and was returned toprison. Officials calculated he would be eligible for release in seven years. Mr.Canty challenged that calculation, arguing it effectively added more than twoyears to his original sentence. The trial court denied his petition. Mr. Cantyappealed to the First District Court of Appeal, which granted the petition. Thisreview followed.

Miami-Dade County

Case

 Time

Facts & Issues

Place of Origin

Herman Lindsey v. State of Florida

SC07-1167

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9:00

Mr. Lindsey was convicted of the first-degree murder of Joanne Mazollo, who wasfatally shot during a pawn shop robbery in 1994. The jury voted 8-4 to recommenda death sentence and the trial court condemned Mr. Lindsey. This is his directappeal. He raises various issues.

Broward County

Timothy Lee Hurst v. State of Florida

SC07-1798

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Approx. 10:00

Mr. Hurst was convicted of the first-degree murder of Cynthia Harrison, who wasfatally stabbed and slashed during a restaurant robbery in 1998. The jury voted11-1 to recommend a death sentence and the trial court condemned Mr. Hurst.This Court upheld the death sentence on direct appeal and Mr. Hurst filed apostconviction challenge in trial court. It was denied and this appeal followed.

Escambia County

In Re Amendments to Rules of Procedure – DistrictCourt of Appeal Performance & AccountabilityRecommendations

SC08-1724

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Approx. 10:40

The Commission on District Court of Appeal Performance and Accountabilityrecommended changes in court rules intended to reduce delay in appeal casesdealing with juvenile dependency and termination of parental rights. Three committees on court rules - judicial administration, juvenile procedure and appellateprocedure - studied the Commission's recommendations and have proposed specific rule changes to implement the Commission's goal.

Statewide impact

The Florida Bar v. Gerald John D’Ambrosio

SC07-1369 | SC08-256

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Approx. 11:20

In these two cases, the Florida Bar alleges that Mr. D'Ambrosio flouted an orderfrom this Court suspending him from the practice of law for one year and violatedethical standards for lawyers by practicing law in another state where he did nothave a license. The trial judge assigned to hear the case as a referee concluded Mr.D'Ambrosio was guilty of these ethical violations and recommended he bedisbarred.

Palm Beach County

Case

 Time

Facts & Issues

Place of Origin

Inquiry Concerning a Judge: Clifford H. Barnes

SC06-2119

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9:00

County Court Judge Clifford H. Barnes has been summoned before the Court toreceive a public reprimand for ethical misconduct.

St. Lucie County

Ronnie Ferrell v. State of Florida

SC07-92 | SC07-1447

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Approx. 9:10

Mr. Ferrell was convicted of the first-degree murder of Gino Mayhew, who wasfatally shot in 1991. The jury voted 7-5 to recommend a death sentence and Mr.Ferrell was condemned. This Court upheld the death sentence on direct appealand Mr. Ferrell filed a postconviction challenge in trial court. The trial courtvacated his death sentence but upheld his murder conviction. Both Mr. Ferrell andthe state have appealed that decision.

Duval County

Louis R. Menendez, Jr. v. Progressive Express Insurance Co.

SC08-789

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Approx. 9:50

Cathy Menendez was injured in an automobile accident. She later sued her insurer,alleging she had been denied benefits under her personal injury protectioncoverage. The trial court denied Progressive's renewed motion for summary judgment and granted Ms. Menendez's motion for partial summary judgment, rulingthat she was not required to comply with a statutory presuit notice requirement.Progressive appealed the trial court's summary judgment ruling. The Third District Court of Appeal concluded that whether the statute applied involved a material disputed issue of fact. The 3rd DCA remanded the case back to the trial courtto resolve the factual dispute. This appeal followed.

Monroe County

Howard Curd v. Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC

SC08-1920

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Approx. 10:30

Mr. Curd, a commercial fisherman, sued Mosaic Fertilizer for economic damagesafter contaminated water from one of the company's storage ponds was releasedinto Tampa Bay, killing fish and crabs. The trial court dismissed the class-actionlawsuit and the Second District Court of Appeal upheld that ruling. This appealfollowed. The 2nd DCA also asked this Court to rule whether commercialfishermen had any right, under either common law doctrine or Florida statute, tobe compensated for damage to property they do not own.

Hillsborough County

Case

 Time

Facts & Issues

Place of Origin

No cases scheduled

Case

 Time

Facts & Issues

Place of Origin

No cases scheduled 

Case

 Time

Facts & Issues

Place of Origin

John Richard Marek v. State of Florida

SC09-821

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8:00

Mr. Marek was convicted of the first-degree murder of Adella Marie Simmons, who was sexually assaulted and strangled in 1983. The jury voted 10-2 to recommend a death sentence and the trial court condemned Mr. Marek. This Court upheld the death sentence on direct appeal and denied his postconviction challenges. The state scheduled his execution for May 13; this Court issued a stay of execution on May 11.

Broward County

David Eugene Johnston v. State of Florida

SC65525 | SC09-839

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Approx. 8:40

Mr. Johnston was convicted of the first-degree murder of 84-year-old Mary Hammond, who was fatally stabbed and strangled in her home in1983. The jury voted 8-4 to recommend a death sentence and the trial court condemned Mr. Johnston. This Court upheld the death sentence on direct appeal and denied his postconviction challenges. The state has scheduled his execution for May 27.

Orange County

Robert J. Pleus, Jr. v. Charles J. Crist, Jr.

SC09-565

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Approx. 9:20

Senior Judge Pleus filed a petition for mandamus seeking to compel Gov. Crist to fill a vacancy on the Fifth District Court of Appeal. Judge Pleus resigned from the 5th DCA in January, nearly four months after informing the governor of his decision to leave the court. The Judicial Nominating Commission certified a list of nominees to the governor. However, the governor asked the JNC to consider other applicants so as to increase diversity on the court. The JNC recertified the same list of nominees; the governor has not appointed a new judge to fill the vacancy.

East Central Florida