Topps v. State

• Decision Date: 22 January 2004
• Docket Number: No. SC02-1085.,SC02-1085.
• Citation: 865 So.2d 1253
• Parties: Martha M. TOPPS, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

865 So.2d 1253

Martha M. TOPPS, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. SC02-1085.

Supreme Court of Florida.

January 22, 2004.

Martha M. Topps, pro se, North Lauderdale, FL, for Petitioner.

No appearance, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM.

Petitioner Martha M. Topps petitions this Court for writ of mandamus. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(8), Fla. Const.

As further discussed below, we deny the petition based on the application of the doctrine of res judicata but hold that henceforth, for purposes of uniformity, unelaborated denials entered in connection with all extraordinary writ petitions filed in any Florida court shall not be considered decisions on the merits which would bar the litigant from presenting the same or a substantially similar issue on appeal or by a subsequent writ petition, or by other means, in the same or a different Florida court.

FACTS

On June 12, 2001, Martha M. Topps filed a petition for writ of mandamus in this Court challenging the Stop Turning Out Prisoners Act, which amended various statutes to require that inmates serve eighty-five percent of their criminal sentences in prison. This was accomplished, for the most part, by limiting the amount of gain time that could be applied to an inmate's sentence to reduce the amount of time the inmate would actually remain in prison. See § 944.275(4)(b)3, Fla. Stat. (2001); ch. 95-294, § 2, at 2717-18, Laws of Fla. Topps alleged in her petition, inter alia, that the Florida Legislature should not have been permitted to pass a law reducing the amount of gain time an inmate could receive because, as she argued, the Legislature should have accomplished the result through the mechanism of a constitutional amendment. At that time, we considered all of the arguments presented in Topps' petition and deemed them to be without merit. However, we denied the petition by simply issuing an unelaborated order denying relief. See Topps v. State, 800 So.2d 617 (Fla.2001) (table).¹ Topps has now filed another petition for writ of mandamus asserting the identical issue.

ANALYSIS

The term "procedural bar" is a very broad term essentially meaning that the case, claim, or issue is precluded in some manner from being considered on the merits. The notion that a claim or an issue can be procedurally barred or "precluded" by a prior adjudication is commonly expressed in the concepts of res judicata and collateral estoppel.

Res judicata (or claim preclusion) is one type of procedural bar.² Translated from the Latin, it means "a thing adjudicated." See Black's Law Dictionary 1312 (7th ed.1999). The doctrine of res judicata bars relitigation in a subsequent cause of action not only of claims raised, but also claims that could have been raised. See Florida Dep't of Transp. v. Juliano, 801 So.2d 101, 107 (Fla.2001)

. The idea underlying res judicata is that if a matter has already been decided, the petitioner has already had his or her day in court, and for purposes of judicial economy, that matter generally will not be reexamined again in any court (except, of course, for appeals by right). See Denson v. State, 775 So.2d 288, 290 n. 3 (Fla.2000). The doctrine of res judicata applies when four identities are present: (1) identity of the thing sued for; (2) identity of the cause of action; (3) identity of persons and parties to the action; and (4) identity of the quality of the persons for or against whom the claim is made. See McGregor v. Provident Trust Co. of Philadelphia, 119 Fla. 718, 162 So. 323, 328 (1935); Palm AFC Holdings, Inc. v. Palm Beach County, 807 So.2d 703, 704 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002).

The doctrine of collateral estoppel (or issue preclusion), also referred to as estoppel by judgment, is a related but different concept. In Florida, the doctrine of collateral estoppel bars relitigation of the same issues between the same parties in connection with a different cause of action. See Clean Water, Inc. v. State Dep't of Envtl. Reg., 402 So.2d 456, 458 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)

(citing Gordon v. Gordon, 59 So.2d 40, 44 (Fla.1952) (finding that "the principle of estoppel by judgment is applicable where the two causes of action are different, in which case the judgment in the first action only estops the parties from litigating in the second action issues—that is to say points and questions—common to both causes of action and which were actually adjudicated in the prior litigation")).

This Court and other Florida courts have held that a ruling must be "on the merits" for an issue to have truly been "decided" and thus preclude the consideration of an issue on the basis of res judicata. See Kent v. Sutker, 40 So.2d 145, 147 (Fla.1949) (noting that "a judgment rendered on any grounds which do not involve the merits of the action may not be used as a basis for the operation of the doctrine of res judicata"), cited in Cabinet Craft, Inc. v. A.G. Spanos Enters., Inc., 348 So.2d 920, 922 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977)

; Weit v. Rhodes, 691 So.2d 1108, 1109 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). Florida courts have set forth similar holdings with regard to specific writ petitions. See Barone v. Scandinavian World Cruises (Bahamas), Ltd., 531 So.2d 1036, 1039 n. 3 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988) (petitions for writ of certiorari); Pub. Employees Relations Comm'n v. Dist. Sch. Bd. of DeSoto County, 374 So.2d 1005, 1010 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979) (petitions for writ of prohibition); State Dep't of Envtl. Reg. v. Falls Chase Special Taxing Dist., 424 So.2d 787, 790 n. 8 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982) (prohibition petitions). Therefore, consistent with our prior decision in Kent, we conclude that for a matter to have res judicata effect, the disposition of a writ petition must be on the merits.

Although it is clear that a decision on the merits must have been made before res judicata becomes applicable, Florida case law is totally unclear and in conflict as to whether an unelaborated denial of relief related to extraordinary writ petitions should be considered a decision on the merits. For example, in Florida, the First, Second, and Fifth District Courts of Appeal have held that with one type of writ petition (petitions for writ of prohibition), an unelaborated denial will not be deemed a ruling on the merits and will not preclude the petitioner from presenting or asserting the issue again on direct appeal. See Smith v. State, 738 So.2d 410 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999)

; Sumner v. Sumner, 707 So.2d 934 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998); State Dep't of Envtl. Reg. v. Falls Chase Special Taxing Dist., 424 So.2d 787 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982).

In contrast, the Third and Fourth District Courts of Appeal have addressed this uncertainty by specifically holding that an unelaborated denial of a petition for a writ of prohibition entered in such courts will be deemed a ruling on the merits. See Hobbs v. State, 689 So.2d 1249 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)

; Obanion v. State, 496 So.2d 977 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). The conflict and lack of uniformity is clear. Further, in Norman v. Singletary, 698 So.2d 614, 615 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997), the First District Court of Appeal concluded that this Court's denial of a petition for a writ of mandamus in an order which did not set forth the basis for the denial did not bar the appellant from subsequently presenting an identical claim for relief on appeal from the denial of a habeas petition by the trial court.

This instant case is not the first time that we have considered addressing the lack of uniformity among the district courts on the issue of whether an unelaborated denial of an extraordinary writ petition should be considered a denial on the merits. In 1998, we addressed the matter through a proposed amendment of Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.100, which is the rule that establishes the procedures for the processing of writ petitions filed in the appellate courts. At that time, we proposed a new subdivision 9.100(l), Disposition of Writ Petitions. Under the proposed subdivision at that time, an unelaborated denial would have been considered a decision on the merits.³ The proposed amendments were submitted to The Florida Bar's Appellate Court Rules Committee (committee) for consideration. The committee subsequently presented this Court with a petition to amend the rules but, contrary to the proposal as submitted by this Court, the committee's proposed amendments totally reversed the approach and provided that an unelaborated denial of an extraordinary writ petition would not be a decision on the merits. This Court at that time denied the committee's petition, rejected the committee's proposal, and directed publication of the Court's proposed amendments as originally drafted in The Florida Bar News. The records reflect that, after reviewing the proposals and the comments received related to the Court's proposed amendments, none of which were in support of the Court's proposed amendments, this Court determined that it would be better to approach a remedy for the lack of uniformity in the district courts with regard to the effect of an unelaborated denial of a writ petition by opinion when the appropriate case was presented to this Court for consideration.⁴

The unique procedural posture of the instant case now presents the appropriate case for us to address the issues for clarification of the law. Historically, in most cases, when we have denied an extraordinary writ petition on the merits we have either included information in the order indicating the basis of our decision, or we have specifically stated that the denial is "on the merits" or "with prejudice," or "without prejudice." Although the order issued in Topps' previous case was unelaborated, this Court intended its denial to be on the merits. Because the four identities set forth in McGregor are now present in the instant case and in Topps' prior case, we deny the instant petition upon application of the doctrine of res judicata. Nevertheless, we write this opinion today to clarify the future legal effect of an unelaborated denial in extraordinary writ petition cases...