Opinion ID: 1702151
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Roles of the Different Appellate Courts

Text: Consistent with his dissenting opinion in Klayman, Justice Wells asserts that L.B. was a nonretroactive change in the law, rather than a clarification subject to Fiore. According to Justice Wells, because a decision of a district court is binding upon all Florida trial courts in the absence of interdistrict conflict, this Court in reviewing district court decisions can only change, rather than clarify, the law. In Justice Wells' view, Fiore can never apply in Florida because of the different appellate court structure in this State. I disagree, not only because Fiore is based on constitutional principles of due process of law but also because Justice Wells' description of the roles played by this Court and the district courts of appeal is incomplete. As the Second District has recognized, the function of the district courts in interpreting the law of the state is secondary to its primary function of error correction: Under our present constitutional scheme, the district courts of appeal engage primarily in the so-called error-correcting function to insure that every litigant receives a fair trial. This frees the supreme court to discharge its judicial policy-making function of clarifying the law and promulgating new rules of law. Whipple v. State, 431 So.2d 1011, 1014 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983). Therefore, although the principle that a district court decision can be binding on trial courts outside that district guides trial courts on what law to follow under certain circumstances, it does not diminish this Court's power to authoritatively interpret the law when conflict arises or constitutional issues are at stake. A district court decision is never binding on this Court or another district court. Differences in the structure of the Pennsylvania and Florida court systems, on which Justice Wells relies, do not warrant a contrary conclusion. It is true that this Court's discretionary review authority is more circumscribed than that of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which issued the decision clarifying the law of that state and requiring the reversal of Fiore's conviction. Compare 42 Pa. Cons.Stat. Ann. § 724 (West 2004) (providing that final orders of the Superior Court and Commonwealth Court may be reviewed by the Supreme Court upon allowance of appeal by any two justices of the Supreme Court upon petition of any party to the matter) with art. V, § 3(b)(3)-(4), Fla. Const. (authorizing discretionary review of only those district court decisions that meet specific criteria). But the difference in how cases can reach the high courts of Florida and Pennsylvania is of no significance to the authority of decisions made by these courts. Florida and Pennsylvania are among the great majority of states that have intermediate appellate courts to facilitate the prompt administration of justice. In this type of system, the existence of mid-level courts does not diminish the authority of the state's highest court to interpret the law, resolve conflicts among lower courts, and determine issues of constitutional stature or statewide importance. The fact that district courts, performing their primary function of error correction, dispose of most criminal appeals without opinion further weighs against precluding the application of Fiore in Florida. In a recent year (July 1, 1998 to June 30, 1999), district courts issued per curiam affirmances (PCAs), which are not directly reviewable by this Court, in 69.2 percent of all criminal appeals, and citation PCAs, which are reviewable only if at least one of the cases cited is under review by this Court, in another 6.9 percent of criminal appeals. See Judicial Management Council, Final Report and Recommendation, Committe on Per Curiam Affirmed Decisions Appendix D-6 (May 2000) (available on this Court's website at h ttp:// www.flcourts.org/sct/sctdocs/bin/pca-report.pdf.). The availability and prevalence of the PCA means that a district court could issue an opinion construing a provision such as section 790.001(13) against a defendant and then affirm all other appeals raising that issue through a PCA. In fact, the Second District issued a PCA in Bunkley's direct appeal. See Bunkley v. State, 539 So.2d 477 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989). The court did not address any of the three issues raised by Bunkley concerning the weapon enhancement: (1) section 790.001(13) provided unconstitutionally inadequate notice that his pocketknife was statutorily defined as a weapon  the very issue subsequently addressed by the Second District in L.B.; (2) the evidence was insufficient to establish that he possessed a weapon, and (3) the trial court erred in instructing the jury that it could apply the weapon enhancement even if Bunkley did not use the knife during the burglary. Unless Fiore applies, litigants such as Bunkley who are precluded by a PCA from seeking discretionary review in this Court would never be able to obtain the benefit of a subsequent decision of this Court clarifying that their conduct was not prohibited. Fiore requires that the dictates of due process of law take precedence over the legitimate interest in the finality of district court decisions under these circumstances.