Court Opinion

ID: 9893221
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-26 15:04:23.91057+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:01:46.804202
License: Public Domain

Supreme Court of Florida
                             ____________

                          No. SC2023-0616
                            ____________

                        JOSEPH LUIS LEVIN,
                            Petitioner,

                                  vs.

                        STATE OF FLORIDA,
                           Respondent.

                          October 26, 2023

PER CURIAM.

     Joseph Luis Levin, an inmate in state custody, filed a pro se

petition that was treated by the Court as a petition for writ of

habeas corpus. 1 On June 20, 2023, we denied the instant petition

and expressly retained jurisdiction to pursue possible sanctions

against Levin. Levin v. State, No. SC2023-0616, 2023 WL 4078870

(Fla. June 20, 2023); see Fla. R. App. P. 9.410(a) (Sanctions;

Court’s Motion). We now find that Levin has failed to show cause

     1. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(9), Fla. Const.
why he should not be barred, and we sanction him as set forth

below.

     Levin was convicted in Fourth Judicial Circuit case number

452013CF000958CFAXYX of six counts of lewd and lascivious

sexual battery of a victim 12-15 years old and sentenced to six

years’ imprisonment for each count. He was also convicted of lewd

and lascivious exhibition using a computer and traveling to meet a

minor for sex and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for each.

Since being sentenced in 2015, Levin has demonstrated a pattern of

vexatious filing of meritless pro se requests for relief related to case

number 452013CF000958CFAXYX.

     Including the petition in the instant case, Levin has filed

nineteen pro se petitions with this Court. The Court has never

granted Levin the relief sought in any of his filings here; each of the

petitions was dismissed, denied, or transferred. His petition in this

case is no exception. Levin argued that the State presented false

information during the plea colloquy in his case. On June 20,

2023, we denied the instant petition as repetitive pursuant to Topps

v. State, 865 So. 2d 1253 (Fla. 2004), as he had previously raised

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this exact claim in a prior habeas petition filed with the Court. See

Levin, 2023 WL 4078870, at *1.

     In response to this Court’s show cause order, Levin asks this

Court to discharge the order to show cause as it has served as a

sufficient warning to him. However, Levin has since filed a new

petition for writ of habeas corpus with this Court, case number

SC2023-1063.

     Upon consideration of Levin’s response, we find that he has

failed to show cause why sanctions should not be imposed.

Therefore, based on Levin’s extensive history of filing pro se

petitions and requests for relief that were meritless or otherwise

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, Levin will continue to burden the Court’s resources. We

further conclude that Levin’s habeas petition filed in this case is a

                                  -3-
frivolous proceeding brought before the Court by a state prisoner.

See § 944.279(1), Fla. Stat. (2023).

     Accordingly, we direct the Clerk of this Court to reject any

future pleadings or other requests for relief submitted by Joseph

Luis Levin that are related to case number

452013CF000958CFAXYX, unless such filings are signed by a

member in good standing of The Florida Bar. Furthermore, because

we have found Levin’s petition to be frivolous, we direct the Clerk of

this Court, pursuant to section 944.279(1), Florida Statutes (2023),

to forward a copy of this opinion to the Florida Department of

Corrections’ institution or facility in which Levin is incarcerated.

     No motion for rehearing or clarification will be entertained by

this Court.

     It is so ordered.

MUÑIZ, C.J., and CANADY, LABARGA, COURIEL, GROSSHANS,
FRANCIS, and SASSO, JJ., concur.

Original Proceeding – Mandamus

Joseph Luis Levin, pro se, Monticello, Florida,

     for Petitioner

No appearance for Respondent

                                 -4-