Sims v. State, SC 96731.

Citation753 So.2d 66
Decision Date08 February 2000
Docket NumberNo. SC 96731.,SC 96731.
PartiesTerry Melvin SIMS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Florida

Richard Jorandby, Public Defender, and Steven H. Malone, Assistant Public Defender, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, West Palm Beach, Florida; and Mark E. Olive and Timothy P. Schardl, Special Assistant Public Defenders of the Law Offices of Mark E. Olive, P.A., Tallahassee, Florida, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Judy Taylor Rush and Kenneth S. Nunnelley, Assistant Attorneys General, Daytona Beach, Florida, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

Terry Melvin Sims, while under a death warrant, filed and sent to a number of agencies and individuals requests for public records pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.852.1 At least two of the agencies filed objections to the requests, and the defendant filed a motion to compel production and a motion to modify the trial court's scheduling order.2 By order dated October 12, 1999, the trial court denied Sims' motion to compel and extended the time for filing a successive postconviction motion to October 13, 1999. Sims appeals this order. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. For the following reasons we affirm the trial court's denial of the motion to compel.

On September 29, 1999, Sims' counsel mailed letters to twenty-three agencies, requesting public records.3 The Department of Corrections (DOC) objected to the requests on the grounds: (1) that Sims had not requested documents from DOC prior to the instant requests and therefore was not authorized under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.852(h)(3) to make such requests at this late date; and (2) that the request was overbroad, unduly burdensome and failed to show the requested documents were reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. The DOC also objected to several of Sims' requests on the ground that they were not public records. The Seminole County State Attorney's Office objected to Sims' requests for records related to Robert Anthony Preston. It argued the only materials it had on Preston were boxes of records relating to Preston's conviction, direct appeal and 3.850 proceeding, which Sims had failed to indicate were even remotely relevant to his case.

On October 8, 1999, the trial court held a telephonic hearing on the various objections to the public records requests. At that hearing, the Duval County State Attorney's Office objected to Sims' requests, arguing Sims had not previously requested the documents and that Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.852(h)(3) only allowed additional requests for records where records had previously been requested.

The trial court ordered the DOC to produce printouts from its database on all identifiable individuals listed in Sims' requests and all records of nonconfidential medical and psychological reports. Confidential reports had to be sealed and could not be inspected absent a court order. Additionally, the DOC was ordered to make its facilities available to Sims' counsel. The court further ordered the Duval County State Attorney's Office to search its closed files for any of the individuals named in Sims' requests and to produce any file with Sims' name on it. The Seminole County State Attorney's Office agreed to make Preston's records available for review.

On October 11, 1999, Sims' counsel filed a motion to compel production of public records. Sims' counsel stated that as of the date of filing, only the Longwood Police Department and the Seminole County State Attorney's Office had sent records to the repository. The motion further alleged the Longwood Police Department's records were incomplete and counsel had not yet had an opportunity to fully inspect the Seminole County State Attorney's Office's records to determine whether those records were complete. Sims also filed a motion to modify the court's scheduling order due to the agencies' failures to turn over the requested records. Previously, the trial court had instructed the parties to file all motions by October 12, 1999.

On October 12, 1999, the trial court denied the motion to compel and granted Sims a twenty-four hour extension for filing motions. Under the trial court's ruling, Sims had until 5 p.m. on October 13, 1999, to file whatever motions he intended to file. As for the public records issue, the court found that Sims' requests appeared to be an "eleventh hour attempt to delay the execution rather than a focused investigation into some legitimate inquiry." The trial court reasoned that the trial in this case took place over twenty years ago, and Sims' counsel had failed to request the records in the following years. The trial court also addressed Sims' counsel's claim that he had been prevented from seeking public records due to rule changes in October 1998 and July 1999. The court explained the rule changes do not explain why Sims' counsel failed to seek public records prior to October 1998 or why counsel failed to seek relief from the rule changes. This appeal followed. In 1996, based on this Court's study of problems with the procedures pertaining to the production of public records in capital cases at the postconviction level, we promulgated Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.852. See In re Amendment to Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure— Capital Postconviction Public Records Production, 683 So.2d 475 (Fla.1996)

. We said, "This rule is a carefully tailored discovery rule for public records production ancillary to rule 3.850 and 3.851 proceedings." Id. at 476. The 1998 Legislature repealed rule 3.852 and enacted section 119.19, Florida Statutes (Supp.1998),4 to address the problems with public records productions in the capital postconviction setting. And, in response to the new statute, we adopted on an emergency basis the proposed rule 3.852 submitted by the Special Committee on Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.852. See Amendments to Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, 723 So.2d 163 (Fla.1998). After receiving comments and proposed changes, as well as holding oral argument, we made amendments to the rule and again stated, "This rule is a discovery rule for public records production ancillary to proceedings pursuant to rules 3.850 and 3.851." Amendments to Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, 754 So.2d 640, 643 (Fla.1999).

This is the rule under which Sims filed his public records requests.5 Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.852(h)(3), provides in pertinent part:

(h) Cases in Which Mandate was Issued Prior to Effective Date of Rule.
. . . .
(3) Within 10 days of the signing of a defendant's death warrant, collateral counsel may request in writing the production of public records from a person or agency from which collateral counsel requested public records. A person or agency shall copy, index, and deliver to the repository any public record:
(A) that was not previously the subject of an objection;
(B) that was received or produced since the previous request; or
(C) that was, for any reason, not produced previously.

Id. (emphasis added).6 Based on the emphasized language, the State argues Sims' requests for production of public records are overbroad because he failed to demonstrate that he had "previously" requested public records from these agencies and individuals. We agree and affirm the decision of the trial court.

The language of section 119.19 and of rule 3.852 clearly provides for the production of public records after the governor has signed a death warrant. However, it is equally clear that this discovery tool is not intended to be a procedure authorizing a fishing expedition for records unrelated to a colorable claim for postconviction relief. To prevent such a fishing expedition, the statute and the rule provide for the production of public records from persons and agencies who were the recipients of a public records request at the time the defendant began his or her postconviction odyssey. The use of the past tense and such words and phrases as "requested," "previously," "received," "produced," "previous request," and "produced previously" are not happenstance.

This language was intended to and does convey to the reader the fact that a public records request under this rule is intended as an update of information previously received or requested. To hold otherwise would foster a procedure in which defendants make only a partial public records request during the initial postconviction proceedings and hold in abeyance other requests until such time as a warrant is signed. Such is neither the spirit nor intent of the public records law. Rule 3.852 is not intended for use by defendants as, in the words of the trial court, "nothing more than an eleventh hour attempt to delay the execution rather than a focused investigation into some legitimate area of inquiry."

In this case, the defendant made public records requests of twenty-three7 agencies or persons. There is no indication in the record that most of these agencies had been the recipients of prior requests for public records. The record, read in the light most favorable to this defendant, demonstrates that the Seminole County Sheriffs Office was the recipient of a prior public records request via a letter dated April 19, 1990. Likewise, the Seminole County State Attorney's Office, by letter dated April 24, 1990, received a prior request for public records. On the other hand, the DOC objected to the request for public records and alleged that it had not been previously asked to produce any public records. The Duval County State Attorney's Office also objected to the production of public records arguing it had lot been the recipient of a prior request. There are no other documents or statements in the record demonstrating any prior requests for public records made to the other agencies or persons for which requests are now being made. The record simply does not support a conclusion that Sims is entitled to...

To continue reading

Request your trial
20 cases
  • Overton v. State, SC04-2071.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • 29 Noviembre 2007
    ...a procedure authorizing a fishing expedition for records unrelated to a colorable claim for postconviction relief (quoting Sims v. State, 753 So.2d 66, 70 (Fla. 2000))). In a similar manner, the summary denial of other ineffective assistance claims in Claim II was correct. The allegations o......
  • Muhammad v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • 19 Diciembre 2013
    ...tool is not intended to authorize a “fishing expedition” unrelated to a colorable claim for postconviction relief. See Sims v. State, 753 So.2d 66, 70 (Fla.2000). We have noted that requests for records under rule 3.852(h)(3) may be denied as far exceeding the scope of subsection (h)(3) if ......
  • Jimenez v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • 4 Octubre 2018
    ...[post-warrant request], we find that the trial court was correct in denying his claim without an evidentiary hearing."); Sims v. State , 753 So.2d 66, 70 (Fla. 2000) ("The use [in rule 3.852(h)(3) ] of the past tense and such words and phrases as ‘requested,’ ‘previously,’ ‘received,’ ‘prod......
  • Dennis v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • 8 Marzo 2013
    ...unrelated to a colorable claim for postconviction relief.’ ” Diaz v. State, 945 So.2d 1136, 1150 (Fla.2006) (quoting Sims v. State, 753 So.2d 66, 70 (Fla.2000)). Second, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Dennis' request for the personnel file of Assistant State Attorne......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT