Case Name: STATE of Florida ex rel. MIAMI HERALD PUBLISHING COMPANY, etc., et al., Relators, v. Russell H. McINTOSH, Circuit Court Judge, Respondent
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1975-11-05
Citations: 322 So. 2d 544
Docket Number: No. 48264
Parties: STATE of Florida ex rel. MIAMI HERALD PUBLISHING COMPANY, etc., et al., Relators, v. Russell H. McINTOSH, Circuit Court Judge, Respondent.
Judges: ADKINS, C. J., and ROBERTS, OVERTON, ENGLAND, SUNDBERG and HATCHETT, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 322
Pages: 544–549

Head Matter:
STATE of Florida ex rel. MIAMI HERALD PUBLISHING COMPANY, etc., et al., Relators, v. Russell H. McINTOSH, Circuit Court Judge, Respondent.
No. 48264.
Supremo Court of Florida.
Nov. 5, 1975.
Parker D. Thomson, Susan W. Diner and Dan P. S. Paul, Paul & Thomson, Miami, for relators.
Joseph P. Metzger, Walton, Lantaff, Schroeder, Carson & Wahl, West Palm Beach, for respondent.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
This cause is before us on petition for writ of prohibition, writ of mandamus, and for other constitutional writs necessary to the complete exercise of this Court's jurisdiction. From the facts asserted in the pleadings we glean that :
Three mortgage brokers and three corporate brokerage firms are charged with " . . . selling unregistered securities, selling securities while not registered as a securities salesman, securities fraud, grand larceny and conspiracy to sell unregistered securities and to commit grand larceny. . " These charges are the first to emerge from the Comptroller's statewide investigation into what he terms a mammoth securities and mortgage fraud within the State. Since this investigation has been the subject of widespread coverage by state and national press, the six criminal defendants joined in a Motion to Control Prejudicial Publicity, which motion was served only on counsel for the State and for the defendants and was heard along with other pretrial motions. Upon consideration of the motion, argument of counsel, a file of press clippings and the authorities presented by the parties to the criminal action, Respondent entered his first order in which he ordered:
"1. The defendant's Motion to Control Prejudicial Publicity, in order to afford a fair trial of this cause, is hereby granted and the Court orders as follows:
"A. Members of the news media shall not report any testimony presented and/or evidence exhibited in the absence of the jury unless same shall have been admitted in evidence by the Court, or is a public record, or is presented in open court in the presence of the jury; .
"B. Defense counsel, all members hnd employees of the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office, all members and employees of the Attorney General's office, members and employees of the Division of Securities, and members 'and employees of the Office of the Comptroller, and all officials of the State of Florida, including the Comptroller and the Attorney General of the State of Florida, law enforcement officers, subpoenaed witnesses, bailiffs, clerks and other officials in attendance to this Court, shall not give or authorize any extrajudicial statement or interview relating to the trial of this cause or the parties or issues in the trial for dissemination by any means of public communication during the course of this trial, ex cept they may quote from or refer without comment to public records, or testimony or evidence that has been admitted in evidence during the course of this trial.
"2. The intendement [Sic] of this Order is to prevent publicity of a nature that would tend to adversely affect the rights of the defendants to a fair trial."
On his morning arrival at the courtroom Relator Schwartz, a reporter for Relator newspaper, was instructed to pick up a copy of this order, which he did. That afternoon, Realtors sought revocation of Respondent's first order; a hearing was scheduled for the following morning. At that hearing, Relators filed a Motion to Vacate Respondent's first order, supporting their Motion with a memorandum of law. No additional factual support for the first order was submitted. At the conclusion of the hearing, Respondent entered his second order in which he not only denied Relators' Motion on the ground that they had no standing to challenge the first order but he also made the following gratuitous "findings of fact":
"That there has been a considerable amount of publicity by news media throughout the State, some of which quotes high government officials on the subject matter of this prosecution;
"That it is reasonable to expect that this publicity will continue during the course of this trial; and
"That the continuance of this publicity if it is permitted to include preferred testimony and/or documents or other physical evidence which are inadmissible against the defendants or opinions of public officials, attorneys, court personnel, and other restrained by the contested order constitutes a 'clear and present danger' that the defendants in this prosecution will not receive a fair trial unless the order entered herein be enforced."
Immediately, on October IS, 1975, after the denial of their Motion, Relators sought expedited review in the District Court of Appeal, Fourth District, by filing a Suggestion for Writ of Prohibition, which Suggestion was denied Per Curiam, with a dissenting opinion on October 17, 1975. Jury selection began October 14, 1975, and concluded on Friday, October 17, 1975. The taking of testimony commenced on Monday, October 20, 1975. Thereafter, on October 28th, some eleven days after the decision of the District Court, Petitioners filed for relief in this Court, seeking, among other things, a Stay Order suspending operation of the trial judge's orders. An emergency hearing was set and oral argument heard on Monday, November 3, 1975. After careful review of the record, we make the following determinations.
Since the District Court of Appeal, Fourth District, has rendered its decision on the same matters presented to this Court, we deem it inappropriate to entertain the Petition for Prohibition, and Mandamus is not available as a remedy in this case. See State ex rel. Dykeman v. Petteway, 96 Fla. 74, 117 So. 696 (1928) and its progeny. Relief, therefore, is denied.
Section 2(a), Article V, Constitution of Florida, provides, among other things, that "no cause shall be dismissed because an improper remedy has been sought." Pursuant to that authority, the Court has elected to treat the Petition filed in this cause as a Petition for Conflict Certiorari, recognizing therein an apparent conflict between the decisions of the District Courts because of the decision in the instant case and the case of State ex rel. Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Rose, 271 So.2d 483 (Fla.App. 2, 1972). Noting that the two decisions may be in conflict, the Court deems there to be colorable jurisdiction for the purpose of making a determination at an appropriate time on the question of jurisdiction, and, if the Court determines that it has conflict jurisdiction, to render a decision on the merits under rules relating to Conflict Certiorari.
We realize that this temporary delay will be little comfort to the Relators as to the trial now pending, but believe all parties understand that this is an important issue both as to how the Stay Order might affect the present trial in progress and future criminal trials of public interest and that, therefore, this Court should not rule in a summary manner without full briefing and the record in this cause. Because of the importance of the question of law involved, we expect that this cause will proceed to final determination even after disposition of the pending criminal trial. Furthermore, we observe that Relators initially chose as their forum the Fourth District Court of Appeal, rather than this Court, within which to seek prohibition of the enforcement of the orders involved and that the matter arrives here when the criminal trial is in its third week. We have received a brief on the merits from only one side in this cause. Naturally, we deem it inappropriate to discuss the merits of this controversy without the benefit of argument or briefs by both sides.
Accordingly, it is the opinion of the Court and we hold:
1. That the Petition for Prohibition, Mandamus and Stay Order is denied.
2. Pursuant to Section 2(a), Article V, Constitution of Florida, the Court has classified the Petition as a Petition for Conflict Certiorari governed by Section 3(b)(3), Article V, Constitution of Florida, and rules relating to Conflict Certiorari. Relief requested for any other constitutional relief is denied.
3. Petitioners shall file their briefs on jurisdiction and merits on or before noon, Monday, November 10th, and Respondent is directed to file brief on jurisdiction and merits on or before Friday, November 14th, with oral argument, thirty minutes to the side, to be heard on jurisdiction and merits on November 17th. Parties shall file such supplements to the record as they deem appropriate with their respective briefs.
It is so ordered.
ADKINS, C. J., and ROBERTS, OVERTON, ENGLAND, SUNDBERG and HATCHETT, JJ., concur.
BOYD, J., concurs in part and dissents in part with an opinion.