Amendment to the Florida Rules of Judicial Admin., Rule 2.050(b)(10), In re, 89798
| Decision Date | 07 February 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 89798,89798 |
| Citation | 688 So.2d 320 |
| Parties | 22 Fla. L. Weekly S64 In re AMENDMENT TO THE FLORIDA RULES OF JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION, RULE 2.050(b)(10). |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
In order to prevent the assignment of new judges with no prior experience trying criminal cases to death penalty cases, this Court hereby enacts, effective immediately, rule 2.050(b)(10), Florida Rules of Judicial Administration. The rule, which is set forth below, ensures that all judges hearing capital cases have the experience and training necessary to handle the unique demands of such proceedings.
(10) The chief judge shall ensure that no judge presides over a capital case in which the state is seeking the death penalty or collateral proceedings brought by a death row inmate until that judge has served a minimum of six months in a felony criminal division and has successfully completed the "Handling Capital Cases" course offered through the Florida College of Advanced Judicial Studies within the last five years. The Chief Justice may waive this requirement in exceptional circumstances at the request of the chief judge.
Pursuant to the authority of rule 2.130(a), Florida Rules of Judicial Administration, dealing with emergency rule changes, we hereby fix the date of March 31, 1997, for further consideration of the new rule. Any person wanting to comment on or seek abrogation of the new rule shall submit such comments by that date.
It is so ordered.
Today this Court has taken an important step to help ensure the integrity of the trial process in capital cases. This rule, of course, is no substitute for the absolute commitment of chief judges, presiding judges, prosecutors, defenders and all other responsible persons in the system to maintain the integrity of the system by adhering to the very highest standards of professional conduct and competency in capital proceedings. The presiding judge also has the responsibility for supervising the conduct of the other participants in the system.
In addition to the high standards of preparation and performance judicial officers assume for themselves, judges responsible for the appointment of counsel must be certain that only highly qualified lawyers are appointed to represent indigent capital defendants. As with physicians charged with enormous responsibility for the lives of their patients, there is no margin of error for the qualifications of counsel in a capital case. Too many times this Court has reviewed records where the incompetence of counsel is patent and the attendant consequences to the particular case and the justice system are disastrous. Cf. Stephen B. Bright, Counsel for the Poor: The Death Sentence Not for the Worst Crime but...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
AMEND. TO FLA. RULES OF CRIM. PROC. 3.851, SC96646.
...consisting of affidavits stating that deceased inmate had confessed to killings). 15. See In re Amendment to the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration, Rule 2.050(b)(10), 688 So.2d 320 (Fla.1997). 16. See In re Amendment to Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure-Rule 3.112 Minimum Standards......
-
Allen v. Butterworth
...a mandatory training course on capital cases for all circuit judges presiding over capital cases. See In re Amendment to Fla. Rules of Jud. Admin., 688 So.2d 320 (Fla.1997). We recently created a similar rule addressing the minimum standards for attorneys representing indigent defendants in......
-
IN RE AMEND. TO FLA. RULES OF CRIM. PROC.
...training for trial judges who handle capital cases. See In re Amendment to Fla. Rules of Judicial Admin., Rule 2.050(b)(10). 688 So.2d 320 (Fla.1997). More recently, in order to eliminate unnecessary delays in capital postconviction proceedings and ensure the quality and fairness of those p......
-
IN RE AMEND. TO FLA. CRIM. RULE 3.112, 90,635.
...we addressed a concern over the qualifications of judges handling death penalty cases. See In re Amendment to Fla. Rules of Judicial Admin., Rule 2.050(b)(10), 688 So.2d 320 (Fla.1997). There, we added a new rule to the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration to ensure that judges presidin......