Amendments To Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.851, 3.852, & 3.993

797 So. 2d 1213, 26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 494, 2001 Fla. LEXIS 1408, 2001 WL 776678
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJuly 12, 2001
DocketNo. SC96646
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 797 So. 2d 1213 (Amendments To Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.851, 3.852, & 3.993) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Amendments To Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.851, 3.852, & 3.993, 797 So. 2d 1213, 26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 494, 2001 Fla. LEXIS 1408, 2001 WL 776678 (Fla. 2001).

Opinions

HARDING, J.

This Court has engaged in exhaustive efforts to balance the concerns of fairness and justice with the need for finality in postconviction proceedings in death penalty cases. During that process, we believe that a consensus has been reached as to the essential ingredients necessary to balance these competing concerns. Although we have not had the case management resources to provide information regarding the average length of capital postconviction proceedings, anecdotal evidence demonstrates and this Court has recognized [1215]*1215that the time for resolving these matters has been excessive.2

After thoroughly considering the numerous concerns and issues raised in response to this Court’s proposed amendments to rules 3.851 (Collateral Relief After Death Sentence Has Been Imposed and Affirmed on Direct Appeal), 3.852 (Capital Posteon-viction Public Records Production), and 3.993 (Forms Related to Capital Posteon-viction Records Production) of the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, we amend rule 3.851 as reflected in appendix A to this opinion.3 We are hopeful that the new rule will allow future capital posteonviction proceedings to be resolved within two years from the time the case becomes final, thereby eliminating the months and years of needless delay that we have seen in the past.

In recent years, we have found that cases are being resolved more expeditiously, due in large part to the implementation of this Court’s requirements for quarterly reports from the chief judges to the Chief Justice on the status of capital posteonviction cases, the Court’s requirement of mandatory training for judges handling capital cases, the Court’s adoption of rule 3.852 (“Capital Posteonviction Public Records Production”), and the development of registry counsel. These improvements notwithstanding, there is still more that needs to be done. Four components are essential to a balanced capital posteonviction system. First, a capital defendant facing execution must be promptly provided competent4 posteonviction counsel charged with the responsibility of investigating the facts and circumstances of the ease and researching the applicable law in order to present all posteonviction claims in a timely manner. Second, in order for posteonviction counsel to effectively carry out this responsibility, counsel must be given reasonable time and adequate resources. Third, posteonviction counsel must have timely access to all information concerning the defendant’s case, especially public records from investigating and prosecuting agencies. Fourth, there must be active and reasonable judicial oversight of the posteonviction process to ensure that the defendant’s claims are timely investigated and fairly and efficiently processed once presented. Pursuant to the changes we adopt today, in addition to the continued support of the above components, the Court is confident that we can obtain the goal of achieving a prompt, fair, and efficient resolution of capital posteonviction proceedings.

Although we have incorporated several of the features of our original proposals into current rule 3.851, we have determined that a procedure that would begin the capital posteonviction process concurrently with the direct appeal process cannot be adopted at this time. This is because of the continued application of certain public records exemptions to capital posteonviction defendants which would impede the efficacy of our original proposed procedure by precluding collateral counsel from investigating potential posteonviction claims in a timely manner.

[1216]*1216I. BACKGROUND

In developing our original proposals, we considered the proposed amendments to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851 submitted by the Supreme Court Committee on Postconviction Relief in Capital Cases (the Morris Committee), which was charged with developing a case management plan for capital postconviction relief and recommending amendments to the existing capital postconviction procedures. See Amendments to Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.851, 3.852 & 3.993, 772 So.2d 488, 489 (Fla.2000). We also were guided by the “dual-track” concept for capital postconviction proceedings contained in the Death Penalty Reform Act of 2000 (DPRA) .5

Our original proposals were designed to create a “dual-track” system similar to that contained in the DPRA. See Amendments to Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.851, 3.852 & 3.993, 772 So.2d 532 (Fla.2000); see also Amendments to Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.851, 3.852 & 3.993, 772 So.2d 488, 490 (Fla. 2000). They were intended to “eliminate those capital postconviction procedures that have historically created unreasonable delays in the process, while still maintaining quality and fairness.” Id. at 489; see also 772 So.2d at 533. The proposed rules were designed to promote the prompt and efficient processing of capital cases in a fair, just, and constitutionally sound manner while at the same time effectuating the Legislature’s intent, as expressed in the DPRA, to reduce unnecessary delays in capital cases by beginning the capital post-conviction process as early as possible after the imposition of a sentence of death and setting time limits for certain actions to be taken. See 772 So.2d at 489.

Under our original proposed amendments, fifteen days after the death sentence is imposed collateral counsel would be appointed under rule 3.851 and the public records production process would begin under rule 3.852. An initial motion for postconviction relief must be filed with the trial court within 180 days after this Court issues its mandate on direct appeal. Under the original scheme, counsel would begin a meaningful investigation of potential postconviction claims and all public records issues would be resolved well before the motion for postconviction relief was due to be filed in the circuit court. We noted, however, that if public records exemptions that do not end until the conviction and sentence become final on direct appeal6 remained in place, counsel could be precluded from effectively investigating potential postconvietion claims in a timely manner. Thus, in order to ensure that the proposed scheme functioned as intended, we asked the Florida Legislature to address these exemptions. See 772 So.2d at 491. When the regular legislative session ended with the exemptions as applied to capital cases intact, the Court proposed revised rules. See Amendments to Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.851, 3.852 & 3.993, 772 So.2d 512 (Fla.2000) (published order).

After reviewing the numerous comments filed and hearing oral argument on both our original and revised proposals, we postponed amending the rules until we [1217]*1217could thoroughly consider a number of critical issues and concerns, a number of which we address below. See 772 So.2d at 533-34.

II. FILING OF RULE 3.851 MOTION IN THIS COURT

First, as requested by the Legislature,7 we have considered the feasibility of requiring capital postconviction motions to be filed directly in this Court and have determined that such a change in procedure at this time would only serve to further delay the postconviction process.

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797 So. 2d 1213, 26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 494, 2001 Fla. LEXIS 1408, 2001 WL 776678, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/amendments-to-florida-rules-of-criminal-procedure-3851-3852-3993-fla-2001.