Court Opinion

ID: 9955126
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-27 18:03:34.782704+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:15:16.708820
License: Public Domain

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.
     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

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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.

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