FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL

STATE OF FLORIDA

_____________________________

No. 1D2022-1650

_____________________________

LARRY L. DORTLEY,

Appellant,

v.

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Appellee.

_____________________________

On appeal from the Circuit Court for Columbia County.

Mark E. Feagle, Judge.

March 27, 2024

PER CURIAM.

Larry L. Dortley was convicted of murder and armed burglary 

over forty years ago, receiving a life sentence. He did not file a 

direct appeal but continues to file postconviction motions or 

petitions recycling claims that have already been rejected.

In this case, for example, Dortley argues that his detention is 

illegal because the trial court failed to find him competent before

trial. The postconviction court denied his claim as successive, 

explaining that Dortley had previously brought a nearly identical 

claim and did not obtain relief in that court or on appeal. The court 

also cautioned Dortley about filing frivolous claims in the future.

Undeterred, Dortley brought this appeal.
2

We affirm. See Dougherty v. State, 149 So. 3d 672, 676 (Fla. 

2014) (holding that a defendant’s claim that he was incompetent 

to proceed at trial was procedurally barred because he did not raise 

the issue on direct appeal); Zuluaga v. State, 32 So. 3d 674, 676–

77 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010) (explaining that “[h]abeas corpus is not a 

vehicle for obtaining additional appeals of issues which were 

raised or should have been raised on direct appeal, or which could 

have been, should have been, or were raised in post-conviction 

proceedings”).

We also write to address Dortley’s abuse of process in this 

Court. Our records reflect that Dortley has filed thirteen appeals 

or petitions here relating to his 1983 judgment and sentence in 

Columbia County Circuit Court Case No. 82-99-CF. See First 

District Case Nos. 1D2022-1650, 1D21-0671, 1D20-0812, 1D19-

4261, 1D18-3932, 1D10-5318, 1D10-2119, 1D10-0130, 1D08-2935, 

1D08-2936, 1D90-1440, 1D89-1913, and BE-265. In Case No. 

1D89-1913, the sole case in which he obtained any relief, this Court 

reversed on procedural grounds and without reaching the merits 

of his claims. 

Like the postconviction court, we have previously warned 

Dortley about pursuing frivolous claims. See Dortley v. State, 285 

So. 3d 938 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019). His filings, like all papers filed in 

this Court, require the Court to expend scarce judicial resources. 

May v. Barthet, 934 So. 2d 1184, 1187 (Fla. 2006). Part of our 

responsibility is “to see that these resources are allocated in a way 

that promotes the interests of justice.” Id. (quoting In re 

McDonald, 489 U.S. 180, 184 (1989)). This Court is imbued with 

the inherent power to sanction litigants who abuse the legal 

system. See id. We find that Dortley has reached the point of 

deserving to be sanctioned. See Ferris v. State, 100 So. 3d 142, 144 

(Fla. 1st DCA 2012) (Wetherell, J., concurring) (“The 

postconviction process and the appellate courts do not exist simply 

to give prisoners something to do while they serve their sentences, 

and there comes a point in every criminal case that the defendant 

needs to accept the finality of his judgment and sentence and just 

do his time.”). 

Accordingly, Dortley shall show cause within twenty days why 

sanctions should not be imposed on him, including a prohibition on 
3

further pro se filings in this Court. See State v. Spencer, 751 So. 2d 

47, 48–49 (Fla. 1999). We also refer this matter to the Department 

of Corrections for disciplinary action under section 944.279, 

Florida Statutes (2023).

AFFIRMED.

LEWIS, RAY, and KELSEY, JJ., concur.

_____________________________

Not final until disposition of any timely and 

authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 

9.331.

_____________________________

Larry L. Dortley, pro se, Appellant.

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Heather Flanagan Ross, 

Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.