Roesch v. State
| Decision Date | 23 December 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 79937,79937 |
| Citation | 633 So.2d 1 |
| Parties | 19 Fla. L. Weekly S1 James Allen ROESCH, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Bruce Rogow of Bruce S. Rogow, P.A., and Beverly Pohl, Fort Lauderdale, for petitioner.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Carolyn M. Snurkowski, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for respondent.
James Marion Moorman, Public Defender and Stephen Krosschell, Asst. Public Defender, Bartow, amicus curiae for Florida Public Defenders Ass'n.
Leonard W. Yanke, pro se, amicus curiae.
We review Roesch v. State, 596 So.2d 1214 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992), in which the court certified the following question as one of great public importance:
WHAT IS THE APPROPRIATE METHOD OF DISCLOSURE OF PUBLIC RECORDS HELD BY THE STATE ATTORNEY OR CLERK OF THE COURT WHERE THE RECORDS ARE REQUESTED BY AN UNREPRESENTED PRISONER WHO SEEKS THE RECORDS IN CONJUNCTION WITH A MOTION FOR POSTCONVICTION RELIEF?
Id. at 1215. We have jurisdiction under article V, section 3(b)(4) of the Florida Constitution.
Roesch was convicted of three crimes and sentenced to prison in 1990. His convictions and sentences were affirmed on November 22, 1991. Roesch v. State, 589 So.2d 1331 (Fla. 2d DCA), review dismissed, 593 So.2d 1052 (Fla.1991). Thereafter, while still in prison, Roesch filed a motion to compel the state attorney to turn over his file pursuant to the Public Records Act. He alleged that he was indigent and asserted that the state attorney's file would disclose extensive violations of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). The motion was denied. The district court of appeal held that the trial court should have considered the merits of the request for disclosure of the state attorney's file. However, the court ruled that Roesch was not entitled to receive copies of documents under the Public Records Act without paying for them and certified the question quoted above. 1
There is no doubt that certain portions of the state attorney's investigation file are public records under chapter 119 once a defendant's conviction and sentence become final. State v. Kokal, 562 So.2d 324 (Fla.1990). However, section 119.07(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1991), requires the custodian of public records to charge a reasonable fee for furnishing copies of such records. There is no provision in chapter 119 for providing copies of the public records free of charge to indigent persons.
In responding to a request similar to that of Roesch in Campbell v. State, 593 So.2d 1148 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992), the court said:
Several cases have held that a prisoner is entitled to no greater relief than other persons requesting relief pursuant to chapter 119, Florida Statutes. Wootton v. Cook, 590 So.2d 1039 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991); Yanke v. State, 588 So.2d 4 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1991). A prisoner, therefore, would not be entitled to copies of the records without paying reasonable copying costs (Wootton, supra; Yanke, supra ), nor would the prisoner be entitled to a list of documents (Wootton, supra ), nor would the custodian be required to provide the original file to the prisoner at the place of incarceration (see section 119.07(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1991), which provides that inspections shall be permitted at a reasonable time and under reasonable conditions).
It would appear that the appropriate relief would be for the trial court to enter an order that the prisoner not be denied access to the records pursuant to chapter 119, Florida Statutes. The prisoner then must make appropriate accommodation to secure the records.
Campbell, 593 So.2d at 1149-50.
Likewise, in Yanke v. State, 588 So.2d 4 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991), review denied, 595 So.2d 559 (Fla.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1592, 118 L.Ed.2d 309 (1992), the Second District Court of Appeal stated:
The question remains as to whether Yanke is entitled to the documents free of charge under applicable principles of due process relating to a criminal proceeding. In Carr v. State, 495 So.2d 282 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986), we held that, although an indigent defendant has a right to transcripts without payment of costs for a direct appeal, there is no right to free transcripts for use in preparation of a post-conviction motion. The rationale of Carr would seem to apply, if anything more persuasively, where, as here, Yanke has already prosecuted his post-conviction motions and the related appeals and is not seeking the transcripts of his case but merely the files of the state attorney. We hold that there is no right to free copies of the criminal investigation files of the state attorney under these circumstances.
We know of no court which has ever ordered that indigent inmates be furnished public records free of charge. On the contrary, several out-of-state courts have also denied such requests. Ely v. United States Postal Serv., 753 F.2d 163 (D.C.Cir.) (no Fourteenth Amendment violation by Postal Service's refusal to waive copying fee for indigent inmate), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1106, 105 S.Ct. 2338, 85 L.Ed.2d 854 (1985); Rizzo v. Tyler, 438 F.Supp. 895 (S.D.N.Y.1977) (); State, ex rel. Mayrides v. Whitehall, 62 Ohio App.3d 225, 575 N.E.2d 224 (1990) (), aff'd, 62 Ohio St.3d 203, 580 N.E.2d 1089 (Ohio 1991).
There is simply no authority by which this Court may properly order that Roesch be furnished copies of documents under chapter 119. Roesch's suggestion that the files could be mailed to the prison where he could look at them under supervision is equally unavailing. Section 119.07(1)(a) provides that any examination of the public records must be under "reasonable conditions." Aside from the fact that the cost of personally supervising an inmate's examination of the file would far exceed the copying costs, it would be manifestly unreasonable to require state attorneys to send their original files to prisons throughout the state every time an indigent defendant demanded it. Moreover, Roesch is not being deprived of any constitutional right. See McDonald v. Board of Election Comm'rs, 394 U.S. 802, ...
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