State v. Boyd
Decision Date | 17 April 2003 |
Docket Number | No. SC02-26.,SC02-26. |
Citation | 846 So.2d 458 |
Parties | STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Mahlard K. BOYD, Respondent. |
Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Celia Terenzio, Bureau Chief, West Palm Beach, and Daniel P. Hyndman, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, FL, for Petitioner.
R. Mitchell Prugh of Middleton & Prugh, P.A., Melrose, FL, for Respondent.
We review Boyd v. State, 801 So.2d 116 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001), which certified conflict with Giles v. State, 773 So.2d 1167 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. The issue is whether the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure allow a court to extend the two-year deadline for seeking postconviction relief under rule 3.850. We hold that they do, and therefore approve Boyd, disapprove Giles, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Respondent Mahlard Boyd sought postconviction relief under rule 3.850. The deadline for filing his motion was April 13, 2000. On April 10, he filed a motion for extension of time, explaining that on March 29 he had been transferred to another prison, but his legal papers had remained behind, where a law clerk had been assisting him, and his papers had not yet been forwarded to him. Boyd ultimately filed his postconviction motion on May 15, but the trial court denied it as untimely. Boyd, 801 So.2d at 116. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.050 permits extensions of time for postconviction motions. Boyd, 801 So.2d at 116.
Rule 3.850 requires motions for postconviction relief to be filed within two years from the date the conviction becomes final. The rule also establishes exceptions to the deadline:
While Boyd does not meet any of these exceptions, he argues that due process entitles him to a hearing on whether the State prevented the timely filing of his rule 3.850 motion. We see no reason to decide this case on due process grounds. Cf. State v. Mozo, 655 So.2d 1115, 1117 (Fla.1995) ( ); Singletary v. State, 322 So.2d 551, 552 (Fla.1975) ( ).
Instead, we find that the plain language of rule 3.050 allows for extensions of the deadline. That rule, entitled "Enlargement of Time," authorizes trial courts to grant extensions of time for filing postconviction motions, providing in part:
When by these rules ... an act is required or allowed to be done at or within a specified time, the court for good cause shown may, at any time, in its discretion (1) with or without notice, order the period enlarged if a request therefor is made before the expiration of the period originally prescribed....
Rule 3.050 expressly authorizes extensions of all time limitations imposed by "these rules"—i.e., the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. The rule excepts certain types of deadlines (for motions for new trial, notices of appeal, and motions for judgment of acquittal), but not those for motions filed under rule 3.850. Therefore, rule 3.050 allows a court, "for good cause shown," to extend the two-year deadline for filing postconviction motions under rule 3.850. Cf. Abreu v. State, 660 So.2d 703, 705 (Fla.1995) ( ).
We emphasize that an extension of time under rule 3.050 is not designed to indefinitely expand the two-year deadline, but only to afford a defendant a short period of extra time to file the motion where good cause is shown. We have defined "good cause," in the context of extensions of time, as follows:
We defined good cause in [In re Estate of ]Goldman [79 So.2d 846 (Fla.1955) ], finding that it is "a substantial reason, one that affords a legal excuse, or a cause moving the court to its conclusion, not arbitrary or contrary to all the evidence, and not mere ignorance of law, hardship on petitioner, and reliance...
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