Title: Calvin v. State

State: florida

Issuer: Florida Supreme Court

Document:

Supreme Court of Florida 
 
____________ 
 
No. SC2023-0268 
____________ 
 
KEITH L. CALVIN, 
Petitioner, 
 
vs. 
 
STATE OF FLORIDA, 
Respondent. 
 
September 7, 2023 
 
PER CURIAM. 
 
Keith L. Calvin, an inmate in state custody, filed a pro se 
petition with this Court seeking a writ of mandamus.1  On April 27, 
2023, we dismissed the instant petition, expressly retained 
jurisdiction to pursue possible sanctions against Calvin, and 
directed Calvin to show cause why he should not be sanctioned for 
his repeated misuse of this Court’s limited resources.  Calvin v. 
State, No. SC2023-0268, 2023 WL 3117265 (Fla. Apr. 27, 2023); 
see Fla. R. App. P. 9.410(a) (Sanctions; Court’s Motion).  We now 
 
 
1.  We have jurisdiction.  See art. V, § 3(b)(8), Fla. Const. 
 
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find that Calvin has failed to show cause why he should not be 
barred, and we sanction him as set forth below. 
Calvin was convicted of second-degree murder in the Circuit 
Court of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, in and for Marion County, 
Florida, case number 422004CF000536CFAXXX, and was 
sentenced as a habitual violent felony offender to life imprisonment 
on September 12, 2006.  On October 30, 2007, the Fifth District 
Court of Appeal per curiam affirmed Calvin’s conviction and 
sentence.  Calvin v. State, 969 So. 2d 1036 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007) 
(table).  A corrected judgment of conviction and sentence was 
entered on March 23, 2009. 
Since 2009, Calvin has demonstrated a pattern of vexatious 
filing of meritless pro se requests for relief in this Court related to 
case number 422004CF000536CFAXXX.  Including the petition in 
the instant case, Calvin has filed eight pro se petitions with this 
Court.2  The Court has never granted Calvin the relief sought in any 
of his filings here; all the petitions were dismissed or denied, with 
 
 
2.  See Calvin v. State, No. SC2023-0268, 2023 WL 3117265 
*1 (Fla. Apr. 27, 2023). 
 
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the exception of one that was transferred.  His petition in this case 
is no exception.  Calvin reasserted his previously raised claim that 
the State was barred from prosecuting the charge against him 
because the applicable statute of limitations in effect at the time of 
his crime had expired.3  On April 27, 2023, we denied the instant 
petition and directed Calvin to show cause why he should not be 
barred from filing any further pro se requests for relief in this 
Court. 
In response to this Court’s show cause order, Calvin maintains 
that his conviction is unlawful, and that he has a constitutional 
right to merits review by this Court of his underlying claim. 
Upon consideration of Calvin’s response, we find that he has 
failed to show cause why sanctions should not be imposed.  
Therefore, based on Calvin’s extensive history of filing pro se 
petitions and requests for relief that were meritless or otherwise 
 
 
3.  Calvin raised essentially the same claim in habeas petitions 
previously filed in the Court, including case numbers SC2020-0430 
(Baker dismissal), SC2017-0351 (Pettway dismissal), SC2015-1955 
(Baker dismissal), and SC2014-1464 (Baker dismissal), as well as in 
a petition to invoke the Court’s all writs jurisdiction (case number 
SC2012-2228; denied for lack of jurisdiction). 
 
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inappropriate for this Court’s review, we now find that he has 
abused the Court’s limited judicial resources.  See Pettway v. 
McNeil, 987 So. 2d 20, 22 (Fla. 2008) (explaining that this Court 
has previously “exercised the inherent judicial authority to sanction 
an abusive litigant” and that “[o]ne justification for such a sanction 
lies in the protection of the rights of others to have the Court 
conduct timely reviews of their legitimate filings”).  If no action is 
taken, Calvin will continue to burden the Court’s resources.  We 
further conclude that Calvin’s mandamus petition filed in this case 
is a frivolous proceeding brought before the Court by a state 
prisoner.  See § 944.279(1), Fla. Stat. (2022). 
 
Accordingly, we direct the Clerk of this Court to reject any 
future pleadings or other requests for relief submitted by Keith L. 
Calvin that are related to case number 422004CF000536CFAXXX, 
unless such filings are signed by a member in good standing of The 
Florida Bar.  Furthermore, because we have found Calvin’s petition 
to be frivolous, we direct the Clerk of this Court, pursuant to 
section 944.279(1), Florida Statutes (2022), to forward a copy of this 
opinion to the Florida Department of Corrections’ institution or 
facility in which Calvin is incarcerated. 
 
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No motion for rehearing or clarification will be entertained by 
this Court. 
It is so ordered. 
MUÑIZ, C.J., and CANADY, LABARGA, FRANCIS, and SASSO, JJ., 
concur. 
COURIEL and GROSSHANS, JJ., dissent. 
 
Original Proceeding – Mandamus 
 
Keith L. Calvin, pro se, Milton, Florida, 
 
for Petitioner 
 
No appearance for Respondent