Case Title: In Re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851

Citation: 

Docket Number: SC14-1977

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 2015-01-29T00:00:00Z

Document:
Supreme Court of Florida 
 
 
____________ 
 
No. SC14-1977 
____________ 
 
 
IN RE:  AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA RULE OF CRIMINAL 
PROCEDURE 3.851. 
 
[January 29, 2015] 
 
PER CURIAM. 
 
This matter is before the Court for consideration of an amendment to Florida 
Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851 (Collateral Relief After Death Sentence has 
Been Imposed and Affirmed on Direct Appeal) proposed by the Capital 
Postconviction Proceedings Subcommittee of the Criminal Court Steering 
Committee (Subcommittee).  We have jurisdiction1 and amend rule 3.851 as 
proposed.   
 
The Subcommittee asks the Court to amend subdivision (g)(2) 
(Incompetence to Proceed in Capital Collateral Proceedings) of rule 3.851 
                                          
 
 
1.  See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const. 
 
 
 
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consistent with the amendment to subdivision (e)(1) (Contents of Motion; Initial 
Motion) of the rule recently adopted in In re Amendments to Florida Rules of 
Judicial Administration; Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure; & Florida Rules of 
Appellate Procedure—Capital Postconviction Rules, 148 So. 3d 1171 (Fla. 2014).  
The amendment to subdivision (e)(1) “eliminate[d] the requirement that capital 
postconviction motions be filed under oath.”  See id. at 1175.  Consistent with the 
amendment to subdivision (e)(1), we remove the reference to the “signed oath by 
the defendant that otherwise must accompany a motion filed under [rule 3.851]” in 
subdivision (g)(2) by deleting the last sentence of that subdivision. 
Accordingly, we amend Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851 as set 
forth in the appendix to this opinion.  The deletion is indicated by struck-through 
type.  The amendment shall become effective immediately upon the release of this 
opinion.  Because the amendment was not published for comment prior to its 
adoption, interested persons shall have sixty days from the date of this opinion in 
which to file comments with the Court.2 
                                          
 
 
2.  All comments must be filed with the Court on or before March 30, 2015, 
with a certificate of service verifying that a copy has been served on the 
Subcommittee Chair, Honorable Kevin M. Emas, Third District Court of Appeal, 
Miami, Florida 33175, emask@flcourts.org, as well as a separate request for oral 
argument if the person filing the comment wishes to participate in oral argument, 
which may be scheduled in this case.  The Subcommittee Chair has until April 20, 
2015, to file a response to any comments filed with the Court.  If filed by an 
attorney in good standing with The Florida Bar, the comment must be 
electronically filed via the Portal in accordance with In re Electronic Filing in the 
 
 
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It is so ordered. 
LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, QUINCE, CANADY, POLSTON, 
and PERRY, JJ., concur.  
 
THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER THE 
EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS. 
 
Original Proceedings – Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure  
 
Judge Kevin M. Emas, Chair, Capital Postconviction Proceedings Subcommittee, 
Miami, Florida, and Bart Neil Schneider, Staff Liaison, Office of the State Courts 
Administrator, Tallahassee, Florida,  
 
for Petitioner  
 
                                          
 
Supreme Court of Florida via the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, Fla. Admin. Order 
No. AOSC13-7 (Feb. 18, 2013).  If filed by a nonlawyer or a lawyer not licensed to 
practice in Florida, the comment must be electronically filed via e-mail in 
accordance with In re Mandatory Submission of Electronic Copies of Documents, 
Fla. Admin. Order No. AOSC04-84 (Sept. 13, 2004).  Electronically filed 
documents must be submitted in Microsoft Word 97 or higher.  Any person unable 
to submit a comment electronically must mail or hand-deliver the originally signed 
comment to the Florida Supreme Court, Office of the Clerk, 500 South Duval 
Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1927; no additional copies are required or will 
be accepted. 
 
 
 
 
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APPENDIX 
 
RULE 3.851. 
COLLATERAL RELIEF AFTER DEATH 
SENTENCE HAS BEEN IMPOSED AND 
AFFIRMED ON DIRECT APPEAL 
(a) – (f)     [No change]   
(g) 
Incompetence to Proceed in Capital Collateral Proceedings. 
(1) 
[No change] 
(2) 
Collateral counsel may file a motion for competency 
determination and an accompanying certificate of counsel that the motion is made 
in good faith and on reasonable grounds to believe that the death-sentenced  
defendant is incompetent to proceed. The motion and certificate shall replace the 
signed oath by the defendant that otherwise must accompany a motion filed under 
this rule. 
(3) – (13)   [No change]  
(h) – (j)   [No Change] 
Court Commentary 
[No change] 
Criminal Court Steering Committee Commentary 
[No change]