LATEST SUMMARIES

CIVIL PROCEDURE, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, GOVERNMENT LAW, PROPERTY LAW & REAL ESTATE, TAX LAW
• Crossings at Fleming Island Cmty. Dev. Dist. v. Echeverri

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, TRANSPORTATION
• Lescher v. Fl. Dep't of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, GAMING LAW, GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS, GOVERNMENT LAW, INDIAN LAW, TRAVEL & LEISURE
• Florida House of Representatives v. Crist

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, EVIDENCE, PER CURIAM, SENTENCING
• Gonzalez v. Florida
• Spann v. Florida
• Hudson v. Florida

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, EVIDENCE, PER CURIAM
• Deren v. Florida

LATEST SUMMARIES

CIVIL PROCEDURE, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, GOVERNMENT LAW, PROPERTY LAW & REAL ESTATE, TAX LAW
Crossings at Fleming Island Cmty. Dev. Dist. v. Echeverri, No. SC07-1556
A property appraiser acting in his or her official capacity does not have standing to raise the constitutionality of a statute as a defense in an action filed by a taxpayer. Read more...

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, TRANSPORTATION
Lescher v. Fl. Dep't of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, No. SC07-32
The elimination of the availability of hardship licenses from Florida Statutes section 322.271(4) for drivers with four DUI convictions does not constitute an ex post facto law. Read more...

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, GAMING LAW, GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS, GOVERNMENT LAW, INDIAN LAW, TRAVEL & LEISURE
Florida House of Representatives v. Crist, No. SC07-2154
In an action on a writ of quo warranto filed by the state legislature in order to dispute the governor's authority to bind the state to a compact with the Seminole Indian Tribe expanding casino gambling, the court rules that the governor does not have the constitutional authority to bind the state to a gaming compact that clearly departs from the state's public policy by legalizing types of gaming that are illegal everywhere else in the state. Read more...

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, EVIDENCE, PER CURIAM, SENTENCING
Gonzalez v. Florida, No. SC04-225
A conviction and death sentence for first degree murder are affirmed over claims of error regarding: 1) ineffective assistance of counsel; 2) summary denial of a claim of newly discovered evidence; 3) a failure to disclose records allegedly exempt from production under rule 3.852; 4) striking defendant's original post-conviction motion without permitting him leave to amend; 5) whether application of the new rule 3.851 to the defendant violates his due process and equal protection rights; 6) the constitutionality of Florida's capital sentence procedures; and 7) defendant's competency at the time of execution. Read more...

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, EVIDENCE, PER CURIAM, SENTENCING
Spann v. Florida, No. SC05-1334
In a prosecution for first degree murder which resulted in a death sentence, denial of defendant's motion for post-conviction relief is affirmed over claims of error regarding ineffective assistance of counsel during both the guilt and penalty phase. Read more...

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, EVIDENCE, PER CURIAM, SENTENCING
Hudson v. Florida, No. SC06-748
A conviction and death sentence for first degree murder are affirmed over claims of error regarding: 1) admission of evidence; 2) prosecutorial misconduct; 3) denial of a special instruction on the heinous, atrocious or cruel aggravator (HAC) charge; 4) fundamental error in the state's argument as to HAC; 5) admission of the victim's girlfriend's testimony that the victim knew he was going to die; 6) the trial court's finding on aggravators, its weighing of sentencing circumstances, and findings for imposing the death penalty; 7) the constitutionality of section 921.141; 8) sufficiency of the evidence; and 9) the proportionality of the sentence. Read more...

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, EVIDENCE, PER CURIAM
Deren v. Florida, No. SC07-1700
A court of appeals' decision is quashed and the case remanded for reconsideration where: 1) the district court erred in its statement of the elements of a Brady claim; and 2) the Florida Supreme Court has abandoned the four-prong test used in Melendez v. State, 612 So. 2d 1366 (Fla. 1992) in favor of the three-prong test outlined in Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263 (1999). Read more...