Long v. Dillinger, 90617
| Decision Date | 13 November 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 90617,90617 |
| Citation | 701 So.2d 1168 |
| Parties | 22 Fla. L. Weekly S705 Robert Joseph LONG, Petitioner, v. Bob DILLINGER, etc., Respondent. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Sidney W. Kilgore, Assistant CCR, Office of the Capital Collateral Representative, Tampa, for Petitioner.
Bob Dillinger, Public Defender, Sixth Judicial Circuit, Clearwater, for Respondent.
Robert Joseph Long petitions this Court for a writ of mandamus to require Bob Dillinger, the public defender for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, to relinquish possession and control of his file in State v. Long, No. 84-2275CFAES (Fla. 6th Cir.Ct.1984)(Long's Pasco County case). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(8), Fla. Const.
In the Pasco County case, Long was represented by the public defender on a charge of first-degree murder. He was convicted as charged and sentenced to death. Subsequently, his conviction and sentence were vacated by this Court based on insufficient evidence. Long v. State, 689 So.2d 1055 (Fla.1997). Long was also sentenced to death for first-degree murder in Hillsborough County. That sentence has been affirmed by this Court. Long v. State, 610 So.2d 1268 (Fla.1992)
The capital collateral representative (CCR) is now representing Long in the collateral proceedings involving the Hillsborough County death sentence. CCR is seeking to obtain the public defender's file in Long's Pasco County case to aid in the Hillsborough County collateral proceeding. According to CCR, the public defender has determined that he will provide CCR access to the file but that he will not release the original file to CCR. CCR asserts that the file belongs to Long and may not be withheld by the public defender.
We have previously determined that the files of attorneys who represent indigent defendants are not public records under chapter 119, Florida Statutes (1995). Kight v. Dugger, 574 So.2d 1066 (Fla.1990). In Kight, we did state that such files are the private records of the defendant. We did so, however, in explaining why CCR did not have to disclose its files to the state attorney. We noted that such files are prepared and maintained for the purpose of aiding in the defense of the accused. Further, we stated that CCR and the public defender perform an essentially private function by advancing the interests of the client. We then concluded that to allow the state access to CCR's files would subject the records of a defendant represented by CCR or a public defender to public disclosure while those of a defendant represented by private counsel would be immune from such disclosure. Id. at 1069. Thus, we were comparing the files maintained by CCR and the public defender to those maintained by private counsel.
As noted by the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Dowda & Fields, P.A. v. Cobb, 452 So.2d 1140 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984), files prepared and maintained by attorneys on their clients' cases are commonly referenced by a particular client's name. In reality, however, such referral simply means that the file relates to a particular client; the file and its contents are the personal property of the attorney. Id. at 1142. The court reached this conclusion based on the fact that the attorney's file may or may not contain documents or other property of the client. Importantly, the court noted that, while the...
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Coronado Police Officers Ass'n v. Carroll
...the same type of database as is the public defender, such that any equal protection concerns are involved. (See also Long v. Dillinger (1997) 701 So.2d 1168, 1169, also a Florida case, distinguishing Kight's statement that a public defender's file is the private record of the defendant, as ......
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In re Amendments to the Fla. Rules of Judicial Admin.
...and all information pertaining to the case that was created and obtained during the representation. As we stated in Long v. Dillinger, 701 So.2d 1168, 1169 (Fla.1997), an attorney's original file is the property of the attorney, and the attorney is not required to surrender the original fil......
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Potts v. State, 2D03-2536.
...and maintained by an attorney for the purpose of representing a client are the attorney's personal property. See Long v. Dillinger, 701 So.2d 1168, 1169 (Fla.1997). However, transcripts that were prepared at public expense on behalf of an indigent defendant must be provided to the defendant......
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Colon v. Irwin, 98-2351.
...settled that a specially appointed public defender must turn over to his client depositions taken at public expense. Long v. Dillinger, 701 So.2d 1168, 1169 (Fla.1997); Harris v. Webb, 711 So.2d 641 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998); McCaskill v. Dees, 698 So.2d 628 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997); Pearce v. Sheffey......