Martin v. State, No. SC93573

• Decision Date: 20 January 2000
• Docket Number: No. SC94012., No. SC93573
• Citation: 747 So.2d 386
• Parties: Anthony R. MARTIN, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent. Anthony R. Martin, Petitioner, v. Walter Colbath, et al., Respondents.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

747 So.2d 386

Anthony R. MARTIN, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.

Anthony R. Martin, Petitioner, v. Walter Colbath, et al., Respondents.

Nos. SC93573, SC94012.

Supreme Court of Florida.

January 20, 2000.

ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR REVIEW BY THE COURT EN BANC, ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR REHEARING, AND SANCTION ORDER

In July and September of 1998, Anthony R. Martin filed the two instant petitions seeking writs of mandamus against the Clerk of the Fourth District Court of Appeal and the Chief Judge of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Court. On March 17, 1999, this Court consolidated the two petitions and denied them as procedurally barred. Due to Martin's long history of filing procedurally barred and abusive petitions, this Court issued an order requiring that Martin show cause why he should not be prospectively denied indigency status as a sanction for abusing the judicial system. On April 8, 1999, Martin filed a Motion for Review by the Court En Banc and a Motion for Rehearing. This Court hereby denies both the Motion for Review by the Court En Banc and the Motion for Rehearing and finds that sanctions should be imposed upon Martin for the following reasons.

Anthony R. Martin, also or previously known as Anthony R. Martin-Trigona, is one of this State's most active, as well as abusive, pro se litigants. Martin's current petitions generally stem from a decision rendered by the Fourth District Court of Appeal in 1995. In Martin v. Marko, 651 So.2d 819 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995), the Fourth District Court of Appeal issued an opinion in a writ case censuring Martin for his abusive writ practice and his "scurrilous allegations" against numerous judges. Id. at 821. There the court had issued an order to Martin to show cause why his petition for leave to proceed without payment of the filing fee should not be denied for that case and prospectively. In its order to show cause, the court commented on the large number of frivolous appeals and original writ petitions he had filed there. In 1995, the number there surpassed forty-three filings. The court also noted that Martin's filings were not only without merit, but included extremely abusive insults directed at numerous non-respondents, public officials, judges and the judicial system as a whole. The court noted that the "tactic of injecting personal insults into proceedings was first noted by the Illinois Supreme Court as part of the reason for the denial of Martin's admission to the Illinois Bar." Id. at 820 (citing In re Martin-Trigona, 55 Ill.2d 301, 302 N.E.2d 68 (1973), cert. denied, 417 U.S. 909, 94 S.Ct. 2605, 41 L.Ed.2d 212 (1974)). The court then found that it had inherent authority to refuse to grant indigency status to a pro se litigant as a sanction, despite his actual financial situation, in extreme situations when the litigant had thoroughly abused the court system. The court quoted from an opinion of the United States Supreme Court in which that Court had utilized the same procedure. Id. at 821. In that case, the United States Supreme Court stated:

In order to prevent frivolous petitions for extraordinary relief from unsettling the fair administration of justice, the court has a duty to deny in forma pauperis status to those individuals who have abused the system.

In re Sindram, 498 U.S. 177, 180, 111 S.Ct. 596, 112 L.Ed.2d 599 (1991). Based on these findings, the court had issued the order to Martin requiring that he show cause why he should not be denied in forma pauperis status in the case pending there and prospectively due to his past "pattern and practice of filing frivolous extraordinary writs and appeals." Martin v. Marko, 651 So.2d at 821. Martin had responded by attaching a copy of another lawsuit he was filing against all the judges of the Fourth District Court. The court found the response inadequate, dismissed the petition, and issued an order denying Martin indigency status prospectively. It further instructed its clerk's office to refuse for filing any petitions unless accompanied by the proper filing fee. Id. In 1998, the Fourth District Court of Appeal found in Martin v. State, 711 So.2d 117 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998), that while Martin might be insolvent for purposes of his bankruptcy proceedings, considering the fact that Martin had received income on a regular basis from his rental properties and that he had transferred property and income to family members, he could not be deemed insolvent for purposes of having the Public Defender appointed to defend him in an appeal of his conviction for criminal mischief. Id. at 120.

The Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit followed suit and issued an administrative order denying Martin indigency status as a sanction for his abuse of that court's legal processes. The Fifteenth Circuit noted that Martin had filed an estimated twenty-seven civil cases there and an equal number in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. See In re Anthony R. Martin, Admin. Order No. 2.052-8/98 (Fla. 15th Cir.Ct. Aug. 18, 1998). The court noted the malicious, vindictive, and frivolous nature of those petitions and that the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut had also observed the abusive nature of Martin's petitions. Id. (citing In re Martin-Trigona, 592 F.Supp. 1566 (1984), aff'd, 763 F.2d 140 (2d Cir.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1061, 106 S.Ct. 807, 88 L.Ed.2d 782 (1986)).

In addition, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals approved the enforcement of an injunction issued against Martin by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. See Martin-Trigona v. Shaw, 986 F.2d 1384 (11th Cir. 1993)

. In that case the Eleventh Circuit noted that Martin was a "notoriously vexatious and vindictive litigator who has long abused the American legal system." Id. at 1385.

Martin has filed nearly thirty petitions in this Court. See Martin v. State, 727 So.2d 907 (Fla.1998)(No. 93,707); Martin v. Palm Beach County Sheriff, 718 So.2d 1234 (Fla.1998) (No. 93,271); Martin v. State, 718 So.2d 1234 (Fla.1998)( No. 93,449); Martin v. Palm Beach County Sheriff, 718 So.2d 1234 (Fla.1998)(No. 93,493); Martin v. Fourth Dist. Court of Appeal, 707 So.2d 1125 (Fla.1998)(No. 91,882); Martin v. Fourth Dist. Court of Appeal, 707 So.2d 1125 (Fla.1998)(No. 91,837); Martin v. State, 704 So.2d 520 (Fla. 1997)(No. 91,404); Martin v. Brescher, 658 So.2d 991 (Fla.1995)(No. 85,306); Martin v. Fourth Dist. Court of Appeal, 658 So.2d 991 (Fla.1995)(No. 84,596); Martin v. Towey, 630 So.2d 1100 (Fla.1993)(No. 82,644); Martin v. Ross, 624 So.2d 267 (Fla. 1993)(No. 81,562); Martin v. State, 613 So.2d 6 (Fla.1993)(No. 80,885); Martin v. District Court of Appeal (Special Panel), 613 So.2d 6 (Fla.1992)(No. 80,593); Martin v. District Court of Appeal (Special Second DCA Panel), 599 So.2d 657 (Fla. 1992)(No. 79,378); Martin v. District Court of Appeal (Special Second DCA Panel), 599 So.2d 657 (Fla.1992) (No. 79,553); Martin v. Scott, 599 So.2d 1279 (Fla. 1992) (No. 78,574); Martin v. District Court of Appeal (Special Second DCA Panel), 599 So.2d 657 (Fla.1992)(No. 79,353); Martin v. District Court of Appeal (Special Panel), 595 So.2d 557 (Fla. 1992)(No. 79,167); Martin v. Florida Supreme Court, 595 So.2d 557 (Fla.1992)(No. 79,073); Martin v. District Court of Appeal, 592 So.2d 681 (Fla.1991)(No. 78,791); Martin v. District Court of Appeal, 591 So.2d 182 (Fla.1991) (No. 78,588); Martin v. District Court of Appeal, 587 So.2d 1328 (Fla.1991) (No. 77,991); Martin v. Marko, 582 So.2d 623 (Fla.1991)(No. 77,852); Martin v. Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, 582 So.2d 623 (Fla.1991) (No. 77,846); Martin v. Martinez, 560 So.2d 234 (Fla.1990)(No. 75,475); Martin-Trigona v. District Court of Appeal, 520 So.2d 585 (Fla.1988)(No. 71,692).

In one of the latest petitions filed here, Martin contested his denial of bail pending an appeal. That petition was denied as procedurally barred since he had already litigated the matter. See Martin v. Palm Beach County Sheriff, 718 So.2d at 1234. In another recent petition, Martin contested the determinations by both the Fourth District Court of Appeal and the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Court in Palm Beach County that those courts would continue to refuse submission of writ petitions without the payment of filing fees. That petition was also denied. See Martin v. State, 718 So.2d 1234 (Fla.1998)(No. 93,449). In case No. 93,271, Martin again contested the same denial of bail as he had done in case No. 93,493. In addition he personally insulted a variety of people. See Martin v. Palm Beach County Sheriff, 718 So.2d 1234 (Fla.1998)(No. 93,493).

On August 11, 1998, Martin filed another petition challenging the Fourth District Court of Appeal's refusal to grant him indigency status. This time Martin asserted that the reason for the indigency status denial was that the judges of the Fourth District Court of Appeal wanted to disrupt his campaign for the United States Senate. That petition was denied on October 16, 1998. See Martin v. State, 727 So.2d 907 (Fla.1998)(No. 93,707). In this Court's denial order it advised Martin that the continued filing of procedurally barred petitions could ultimately result in sanctions. Id.

The two instant petitions were filed in July and September of 1998. They both concerned the same matter-the continuing refusal by both the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Court in Palm Beach County and the Fourth District Court of Appeal to permit Martin to file any more legal actions there without the payment of filing fees. He also continued to personally attack the judge who denied him bail, accusing the judge of "kidnaping" him. In addition, scattered throughout these petitions were even more atrocious insults. He made anti-Semitic remarks against the Jewish community as a whole and against justices of this Court. He then insinuated that if this Court did not remedy his problems, he would file a federal lawsuit.

Martin has now responded to this Court's...