Moreland v. State, No. 76752

CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Florida
Writing for the CourtMcDONALD; SHAW
Citation582 So.2d 618
Decision Date11 July 1991
Docket NumberNo. 76752
PartiesMervyn MORELAND, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent. 582 So.2d 618, 16 Fla. L. Week. S481

Page 618

582 So.2d 618
Mervyn MORELAND, Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.
No. 76752.
582 So.2d 618, 16 Fla. L. Week. S481
Supreme Court of Florida.
July 11, 1991.

Page 619

Viktoria L. Gres, Stuart, for petitioner.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Joan Fowler, Bureau Chief, Sr. Asst. Atty. Gen., Carol Cobourn Asbury, Asst. Atty. Gen. and Allen R. Geesey, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for respondent.

McDONALD, Justice.

We review State v. Moreland, 564 So.2d 1164 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990), because of conflict with Nova v. State, 439 So.2d 255 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983). We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(3), Florida Constitution, and quash Moreland.

In 1980 the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, by administrative order, divided Palm Beach County into eastern and western jury districts. We held that the administrative order resulted in the unconstitutional systematic exclusion of blacks from the eastern district's jury pool and reversed a defendant's first-degree murder conviction and death sentence in Spencer v. State, 545 So.2d 1352 (Fla.1989). While Spencer was pending in this Court, Moreland, on trial in Palm Beach County for first-degree murder, made the same sixth amendment challenge to the county's jury districts that Spencer had made. Moreland's trial court rejected that challenge, the jury convicted him of first-degree murder, and the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment. Moreland raised the constitutionality of the jury districts on appeal, but the district court affirmed his conviction and sentence without opinion. Moreland v. State, 525 So.2d 896 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988).

After we released Spencer, Moreland filed a Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion, asking to have his conviction and sentence vacated based on Spencer. The trial court held an evidentiary hearing and granted Moreland's motion, holding that Spencer should be applied retroactively. The court considered Witt v. State, 387 So.2d 922, 931 (Fla.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1067, 101 S.Ct. 796, 66 L.Ed.2d 612 (1980), and found that "Spencer (a) emanates from the Supreme Court of Florida, (b) is constitutional in nature, and (c) constitutes a development of fundamental significance." The district court, on the other hand, found Spencer to be an evolutionary refinement rather than a jurisprudential upheaval, Witt, 387 So.2d at 929-30, and held that Spencer should not be applied retroactively.

We agree with the district court that a...

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12 practice notes
  • Parker v. Secretary for Dept. of Corrections, No. 02-13292.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)
    • May 20, 2003
    ...appeal or in post-conviction proceedings. See Nova v. Florida, 439 So.2d 255 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1983), limited by Moreland v. Florida, 582 So.2d 618, 619 n. 1 (Fla.1991); Dozier v. Florda, 361 So.2d 727 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1978); Flowers v. Florida, 351 So.2d 387 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App. 1977). The cle......
  • State v. Barnum, No. SC03-1315.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • September 22, 2005
    ...the Fourth District's decision in Sweeney because the Sweeney court had failed to consider this Court's decision in Moreland v. State, 582 So.2d 618 (Fla.1991). See Barnum II, 849 So.2d at 374. The district court noted that in Moreland, this Court held that fundamental fairness may require ......
  • Hughes v. State, No. SC02-2247.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • April 28, 2005
    ...was unconstitutional, should be retroactively applied where James' counsel objected to the instruction at trial); Moreland v. State, 582 So.2d 618, 620 (Fla. 1991) (holding that decision in Spencer v. State, 545 So.2d 1352, 1355 (Fla.1989), which held that administrative order that divided ......
  • Johnson v. State, No. SC03-1042.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • April 28, 2005
    ...was unconstitutional, should be retroactively applied where James' counsel objected to the instruction at trial); Moreland v. State, 582 So.2d 618, 620 (Fla.1991) (holding that decision in Spencer v. State, 545 So.2d 1352, 1355 (Fla.1989), which held that administrative order that divided P......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
12 cases
  • Parker v. Secretary for Dept. of Corrections, No. 02-13292.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)
    • May 20, 2003
    ...appeal or in post-conviction proceedings. See Nova v. Florida, 439 So.2d 255 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1983), limited by Moreland v. Florida, 582 So.2d 618, 619 n. 1 (Fla.1991); Dozier v. Florda, 361 So.2d 727 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1978); Flowers v. Florida, 351 So.2d 387 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App. 1977). The cle......
  • State v. Barnum, No. SC03-1315.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • September 22, 2005
    ...the Fourth District's decision in Sweeney because the Sweeney court had failed to consider this Court's decision in Moreland v. State, 582 So.2d 618 (Fla.1991). See Barnum II, 849 So.2d at 374. The district court noted that in Moreland, this Court held that fundamental fairness may require ......
  • Hughes v. State, No. SC02-2247.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • April 28, 2005
    ...was unconstitutional, should be retroactively applied where James' counsel objected to the instruction at trial); Moreland v. State, 582 So.2d 618, 620 (Fla. 1991) (holding that decision in Spencer v. State, 545 So.2d 1352, 1355 (Fla.1989), which held that administrative order that divided ......
  • Johnson v. State, No. SC03-1042.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • April 28, 2005
    ...was unconstitutional, should be retroactively applied where James' counsel objected to the instruction at trial); Moreland v. State, 582 So.2d 618, 620 (Fla.1991) (holding that decision in Spencer v. State, 545 So.2d 1352, 1355 (Fla.1989), which held that administrative order that divided P......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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