Court Opinion

ID: 9963034
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-24 15:03:35.535645+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:20:29.741848
License: Public Domain

FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
                STATE OF FLORIDA
                  _____________________________

                         No. 1D2023-1780
                  _____________________________

SPENCER D. DANIELS,

    Petitioner,

    v.

STATE OF FLORIDA,

    Respondent.
                  _____________________________

Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus—Original Jurisdiction.

                          April 24, 2024

PER CURIAM.

     Spencer D. Daniels petitions this Court for a writ of habeas
corpus to correct a manifest injustice and obtain immediate release
from prison. Because each of his claims could have been raised on
direct appeal or in an appropriate postconviction motion, we
dismiss the petition as unauthorized. See Baker v. State, 878 So.
2d 1236, 1245–46 (Fla. 2004); Beiro v. State, 289 So. 3d 511, 511
(Fla. 3d DCA 2019) (noting that “[t]he mere incantation of the
words ‘manifest injustice’ does not make it so.”).

    We also write to address Daniels’s abuse of process in this
court. Our records reflect that Daniels has filed seven additional
appeals or petitions here relating to his 2005 judgment and
sentence in Leon County Circuit Court Case No. 2003-CF-3077.
See First District Case Nos. 1D05-3044, 1D11-1927, 1D11-2378,
1D12-4468, 1D16-2081, 1D18-2603, and 1D20-3157. He has not
obtained relief in any of these cases.

     This Court has previously warned Daniels about filing
frivolous claims. See Daniels v. State, 312 So. 3d 1029 (Fla. 1st
DCA 2021). 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, 109 S.Ct. 993, 103 L.Ed.2d 158 (1989)). This Court is imbued
with the inherent power to sanction litigants who abuse the legal
system. See id. We find that Daniels 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, pursuant to section 944.279, Florida Statutes, we
direct the Clerk to forward a certified copy of this opinion to the
Department of Corrections for appropriate disciplinary action
against Daniels. We also order Daniels to show cause within
twenty days why additional sanctions should not be imposed on
him, including a prohibition on further pro se filings in this Court.
See State v. Spencer, 751 So. 2d 47, 48–49 (Fla. 1999).

B.L. THOMAS, 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.
               _____________________________

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Spencer D. Daniels, pro se, Petitioner.

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Respondent.

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