terence lenamon trial documents: motion for florida statute 27.5304 to be held unconstitutional
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7/31/2019 Terence Lenamon Trial Documents: Motion for Florida Statute 27.5304 to be Held Unconstitutional
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OF FLA., 7120 BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT, Senate Budget
Committee, Reg. Sess., at 3 (2011).
3. Now, fees in excess of the established flat fees incurred by criminal conflict counsel shallbe paid first by the Justice Administrative Commission in a special category in the
General Appropriations Act designated for attorney payments over the flat fee, and if the
$3,000,000 appropriated to that special category is expended, then the rest of the
payments shall be made from the due process funds, or other funds as necessary,
appropriated to the state court system in the General Appropriations Act. See
27.5304(12), Fla. Stat. (effective July 1, 2012) (emphasis added).
4. Section 27.5304, Florida Statutes (2012), is unconstitutional because: 1) the session lawamending Chapter 27 violates the single subject rule; 2) Section 27.5304 creates a
conflict of interest between the judiciary and the indigent defendant; 3) Section 27.5304
violates the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights of capital defendants; and 4)
Section 27.5304 violates the separation-of-powers doctrine.
I. The Session Law Amending Chapter 27, Florida Statutes (2012), Violates the Single-
Subject Rule.
5. Section 27.5304 was one of multiple sections of the Florida Statutes amended by thepassage of Senate Bill 1960. Senate Bill 1960 became session law Chapter 2012-123,
parts of which were ultimately codified as Section 27.5304 of the Florida Statutes. See
Ch. 2012-123, 8, Laws of Fla.
6. Chapter 2012-123 violates Article III, Section 6 of the Florida Constitution because itcontains several subjects, including civil and criminal provisions that are not logically
connected; the underlying senate bill was hastily amended and passed in the waning days
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of the legislative session; and the legislature identified no crisis necessitating broad
reform of the matters addressed in the chapter law.
7. Commonly known as the single-subject rule, Article III, Section 6 of the FloridaConstitution provides, in pertinent part, that "[e]very law shall embrace but one subject
and matter properly connected therewith, and the subject shall be briefly expressed in the
title."
8. While generally a law may be as broad as the legislature chooses, the FloridaConstitution requires that the matters included in the act have a natural or logical
connection. Chenoweth v. Kemp, 396 So. 2d 1122 (Fla. 1981); see also State v.
Thompson, 750 So. 2d 643, 644 (Fla. 1999) (statute violated the single subject rule
because the law improperly addressed two different subjects: domestic violence and
career criminals);Heggs v. State, 759 So. 2d 620, 626 (Fla. 2000) (a law "violate[d] the
single subject rule because it, too, embraces civil and criminal provisions that are not
logically connected. The two subjects are designed to accomplish separate and
dissociated objects of legislative effort.").
9. Chapter 2012-123 amends and creates sections of the Florida Statutes regarding subjectmatters that are not properly connected.
a. Section 1 of the chapter law substantially amends Section 27.40, Florida Statutes,giving circuit courts the option to create a limited registry of attorneys to accept
indigent defendants in cases requiring court appointment of private counsel.
b. Section 2 of the chapter law amends Section 27.511, Florida Statutes. The sectionaddresses the manner in which an appointed regional counsel may be replaced by
the Governor, and requires the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating
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Commission to take certain timely action upon the vacancy of an appointed
regional counsel position.
c. Section 3 of the chapter law amends Section 27.52, Florida Statutes, byrenumbering certain sections and providing clarifying language regarding the
clerk of court's obligations in making indigent determinations.
d. Section 4 of the chapter law amends Section 27.5304, Florida Statutes, byordering all circuit judges to select only one judge per circuit to hear and
determine motions to exceed fee limits in court-appointed cases, and providing
that multi-county circuits and the Eleventh Circuit may have up to two such
designated judges. Section 4 also amends the manner in which criminal court
orders of payment in excess of flat fees shall be paid in relation to the General
Appropriations act; the manner in which payment shall be made in the event that
designated funds are exhausted; and creates a requirement that the Justice
Administrative Commission provide certain monthly data concerning court-
appointed cases, payments in excess of flat fees, and cases where compensation
was waived.
e. Section 5 of the chapter law amends Section 39.8296, Florida Statutes, andspecifically allows a guardian ad litem to transport a child alleged to be abused,
abandoned, or neglected, but specifies that the guardian ad litem may not be
required to transport the child.
f. Section 6 of the chapter law creates Section 39.8297, Florida Statutes, whichallows a county and the Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office to enter into an
agreement for the purpose of the county providing funds to the local guardian ad
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litem office in order to employ persons to assist in the operation of the guardian
ad litem program in that county. Section 6 establishes the responsibilities of the
Statewide GuardianAd Litem Office and the counties under such agreements.
g. Section 7 of the chapter law amends Section 318.18, Florida Statutes, by requiringthat the Clerk of the Court submit its annual report on collected surcharges for
traffic infractions in an electronic format as developed by the Florida Clerks of
Court Operations Corporation; and adding the requirement that said report be
submitted to the Florida Clerks of Court Operation Corporation in addition to the
current requirement that it be submitted to the Governor, President of the Senate,
Speaker of the House, and the board of county commissioners.
h. Section 8 of the chapter law provides that the act shall take effect July 1, 2012.10.The various sections in Chapter 2012-123 do not bear sufficient relationship to one
another as required by the single-subject rule. There are essentially four unrelated
subjects: 1) the limited registry wheel; 2) regional counsel; 3) the Statewide Guardian ad
litem office and individual guardians ad litem matters; and 4) clerks of court reporting
procedures on traffic assessments.
a. The limited registry provisions (section 1) have nothing to do with contractsbetween counties and the Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office, or whether
guardians ad litem may transport a child (sections 5 and 6).
b. The nomination and replacement of regional counsel (section 2) has nothing to dowith the contracts between counties and the Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office
or whether guardians ad litem may transport children (sections 5 and 6).
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c. The guardian ad litem provisions (sections 5 and 6) have nothing to do with theclerks of court electronically reporting surcharges for traffic tickets (section 7).
11.Where, as here, two or more of the sections of a chapter law are not logically connected,a finding that one or more of the other sections are logically connected does not save the
chapter law from invalidation on single subject grounds. Fla. Dept of Highway Safety
and Motor Vehicles v. Critchfield, 842 So. 2d 782, 786 (Fla. 2003). The fact that civil
and criminal elements of an act both fall under the broad umbrella of the state judicial
system do not render them sufficiently related to survive a single subject rule challenge.
See id.; Heggs, 759 So. 2d at 626.
12.The single-subject rule is violated where the subjects of an act "are designed toaccomplish separate and dissociated objects of legislative effort," Heggs, 759 So. 2d at
626, as is the case with chapter 2012-123. Therefore, the unrelated subjects in the
individual sections of chapter 2012-123 render the chapter violative of the single subject
rule and accordingly, unconstitutional.
13.Moreover, the Court has warned repeatedly that single-subject rule violations are themost likely to occur under the circumstances found in this case: the inclusion of both civil
and criminal provisions, hastily-filed amendments, and voting at the end of the legislative
session without time for thought and discussion regarding the amendments. See State ex
rel. Landis v. Thompson, 163 So. 270, 283 (Fla. 1935).
14.The legislative history of Chapter 2012-123 reveals substantial last-minute amendments,title changes, and passage on the last day of session.
a. The limited registry language and the title amendments were both introduced inthe bill's third amendment on the single day prior to the vote on the bill.
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b. The third amendment was filed at 8:03 a.m. on March 8, 2012.c. Senate Bill 1960 was passed in the Senate the next day, March 9, 2012, at 3:17
p.m.
d. Senate Bill 1960 was adopted in the House and passed in the House on March 9,2012, at 8:39 p.m., the last day of the legislative session.
15.The legislative history of Senate Bill 1960 thus reflects late amendments, title changes,and passage in both houses on the final day of the regular session. It cannot be plausibly
maintained that the individual legislators were provided with sufficient time to consider
or discuss the amendments prior to the votes in both houses. No committee heard
testimony or considered this amendment after it was filed. Nor can it be said that the
public was provided with any notice whatsoever with which to allow for comment or
debate on the amendments. "[I]t is in circumstances such as these that problems with the
single subject rule are most likely to occur." State v. Thompson, 750 So. 2d 643, 644 (Fla.
1999) (quoting Thompson v. State, 708 So. 2d 315, 317 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998)).
16.Significantly, the legislature did not identify some specific crisis that it meant to addresswith Chapter 2012-123. Such identification might allow a chapter with disparate
statutory provisions to be found constitutional. See, e.g., Smith v. Dept of Ins., 507 So.
2d 1080, 1085-87 (Fla. 1987) (involving challenge to chapter 86-160, Laws of Florida, in
which the legislature identified crisis in the availability of commercial liability
insurance); Chenoweth v. Kemp, 396 So. 2d 1122, 1124 (Fla. 1981) (involving challenge
to Chapter 76-260, Laws of Florida, in which the legislature identified crisis in the tort
law/medical malpractice liability insurance system).
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17.No such identification was made in this chapter, which solidifies the basis for a findingthat Chapter 2012-123 violates the single-subject rule and is unconstitutional.
18.Furthermore, the title of this bill is another strong indication that it is overly broad andcontains unrelated subject matter. The subject of an act is derived from the short title,
which is the language immediately following the phrase, "an act relating to," and
preceding the indexing of the act's provisions. Franklin v. State, 887 So. 2d 1063, 1076
(Fla. 2004). The short title must provide real guidance as to what the body of the act
contains.Id. at 1076. An example of an overly broad short title is, "an act relating to the
justice system."Id.
19.The title of Chapter 2012-123 is "an act relating to the state judicial system." Thus, as inFranklin, the title of Chapter 2012-123 is overly broad and provides no real guidance as
to the subject of the act.
20.Based on the foregoing, Chapter 2012-123 is unconstitutional because it violates theArticle III, Section 6 of the Florida Constitution.
II. Section 27.5304, Florida Statutes (2012), Creates A Judicial Conflict of Interest That
Violates an Indigent Defendants Right to Due Process.
21.Section 27.5304 puts the circuit court judge in the unconstitutional position of decidingwhether to grant an indigent defendants due process costs in the form of criminal court -
appointed counsel excess fees, with the knowledge that the courts budget will be
affected once the special appropriations of $3,000,000 for attorneys fees in excess of the
flat rate for indigent cases is exhausted.
22.The right of every litigant to appear before an impartial tribunal is a fundamental tenet ofthe constitutional guarantee of due process. U.S. CONST. Amend. XXIV. The law and
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justice demand that no judge preside in a case in which his or her neutrality is shadowed
or even questioned, for a litigant is entitled to nothing less than the cold neutrality of an
impartial, disinterested, and independent judge. State v. Steele, 348 So. 2d 398, 401
(Fla. 3d DCA 1977).
23.The question whether disqualification of a judge is required focuses on those mattersfrom which a litigant may reasonably question a judges impartiality rather than the
judges perception of his ability to act fairly and impartially. See Fla. Code of Jud.
Conduct, Canon 3(E)(1).
24.The amended portion of Section 27.5304, Florida Statutes (2012), creates a reasonable
question of a judges impartiality because the judge must decide between granting an
indigent defendants due-process costs or protecting the due-process funds appropriated
to the state courts system to fund the courts administration, a finding that, in turn,
undeniably andpersonally affects the judge.
25.Furthermore, when looking at the legislative intent behind this recent amendment toSection 27.5304, Florida Statutes (2012), inarguably a financial interest for the judge was
intended to be created by the legislature.
26.The Florida Senate Bill Analysis and Fiscal Impact Statement for Senate Bill 1960 (SPB7064), the bill that passed and became Section 27.5304, Florida Statutes (2012),
explicitly reveals the legislatures intent behind transferring the financial burden for
attorney compensation in excess of the statutory caps from the Justice Administrative
Commission and the legislatures unallocated general revenue to the Florida courts own
due-process budgets. Section III of the Fiscal Impact Statement sets forth the Effect of
Proposed Changes and states:
https://a.next.westlaw.com/Link/Document/FullText?findType=L&pubNum=1005186&cite=FLSTCJCCANON3&originatingDoc=Ibdd7bfda34ad11d98c35826ab923e189&refType=LQ&originationContext=document&transitionType=DocumentItem&contextData=(sc.History*oc.Search)https://a.next.westlaw.com/Link/Document/FullText?findType=L&pubNum=1005186&cite=FLSTCJCCANON3&originatingDoc=Ibdd7bfda34ad11d98c35826ab923e189&refType=LQ&originationContext=document&transitionType=DocumentItem&contextData=(sc.History*oc.Search)https://a.next.westlaw.com/Link/Document/FullText?findType=L&pubNum=1005186&cite=FLSTCJCCANON3&originatingDoc=Ibdd7bfda34ad11d98c35826ab923e189&refType=LQ&originationContext=document&transitionType=DocumentItem&contextData=(sc.History*oc.Search)https://a.next.westlaw.com/Link/Document/FullText?findType=L&pubNum=1005186&cite=FLSTCJCCANON3&originatingDoc=Ibdd7bfda34ad11d98c35826ab923e189&refType=LQ&originationContext=document&transitionType=DocumentItem&contextData=(sc.History*oc.Search) -
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Section 3 amends s. 27.5304, F.S., to require the state court system to pay courtappointed counsel fees ordered by the court above the flat fees set in the FloridaStatutes and the General Appropriations Act once the funds appropriated for thatpurpose have been spent. This change is aimed at encouraging the courts to take astronger role in governing the ordering of fees. If the court system is answerable
for some of the costs associated with payments above the flat fee, judges may beless willing to order these fees.
27.Section V provides the Fiscal Impact Statement that anticipates that the bill mayreduce the amount paid to court appointed counsel in certain circumstances.
28.The amended statute thus runs afoul of the third judicial canon which states that a judgemust recuse him- or herself in instances where the judge knows that he or she
individually has an economic interest in the subject matter in controversy or in a party
to the proceeding or has any other more than de minimis interest that could be
substantially affected by the proceeding.Fla. Code of Jud. Conduct, Canon 3(E)(1)(c).
29.As Section II of the Florida Senate Bill Analysis and Fiscal Impact Statement for SenateBill 1960 (SPB 7064) estimates that the total costs for payments exceeding the flat fees
for fiscal year 2011-12 will be $6,798,189 an amount far exceeding the $3,000,000
appropriation made for this purpose, the economic interest of the judiciary is both well-
founded and anything but de minimis.
30.Essentially, the amended language to Section 27.5304, Florida Statutes, creates animpermissible fiduciary interest as to criminal circuit court judges and infringes on an
indigent defendants constitutional right to an impartial tribunal because it places the
circuit court judge in the untenable position in which granting a defendants right to due
process costs in the form of attorneys fees impinges on the courts own budgetary
scheme.
https://a.next.westlaw.com/Link/Document/FullText?findType=L&pubNum=1005186&cite=FLSTCJCCANON3&originatingDoc=Ibdd7bfda34ad11d98c35826ab923e189&refType=LQ&originationContext=document&transitionType=DocumentItem&contextData=(sc.History*oc.Search)https://a.next.westlaw.com/Link/Document/FullText?findType=L&pubNum=1005186&cite=FLSTCJCCANON3&originatingDoc=Ibdd7bfda34ad11d98c35826ab923e189&refType=LQ&originationContext=document&transitionType=DocumentItem&contextData=(sc.History*oc.Search) -
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III. Section 27.5304, Florida Statutes (2012), Violates The Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth
Amendment Rights Of Capital Defendants.
31.Indigent defendants facing incarceration, and certainly those facing a death sentence, areguaranteed the right to the assistance of court-appointed counsel under the Sixth
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Gideon v. Wainwwright, 372 U.S.
335 (1963), and under Article I, Section 16 of the Constitution of the State of Florida. It
has long been recognized that, subsumed within the constitutional right to counsel, is the
right to the effective assistance of counsel. McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 771 n.
14 (1970).
32.The right to effective assistance of counsel encompasses the right to representation freefrom actual conflict. Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 350 (1980); Hunter v. State, 817
So. 2d 786, 791 (Fla. 2002).
33.External circumstances may justify a presumption of ineffectiveness, and a consequentSixth Amendment deprivation, without inquiry into counsels actual performance, such as
when counsel is operating under a conflict of interest. United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S.
648, 662 (1984).
34.The amendment to section 27.5304 will give rise to a conflict of interest when a capitaldefendant is represented by court-appointed counsel, and thus violates the defendants
Sixth Amendment right to counsel, and the reliability, proportionality, and equal
protection guarantees of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments and Article I, Sections
2, 9, 16, and 17 of the Florida Constitution. For under the statutes new constraints,
court-appointed registry counsel will have a well-founded fear that their work, even if
reasonable and necessary in an extraordinary and unusual case, will not receive anywhere
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near fair remuneration; that is, remuneration that is not confiscatory of his or her time,
energy, and talents. See White v. Bd. Cnty. Commrs of Pinellas County, 537 So. 2d
1376, 1378 (quotingMakemson v. Martin County, 491 So. 2d 1109, 1115 (Fla. 1986)).
35.Indeed, the very intent of the amendment, as elucidated in the Florida Senate BillAnalysis and Fiscal Statement in support of the new statute, is to encourage judges to
be less willing to order these fees [in excess of the statutory caps] and to reduce the
amount paid to court-appointed counsel in certain circumstances. See State of Fla., 1960
Senate Bill (SPB 7064), Bill Analysis and Fiscal Impact Statement (2012).
36.The Supreme Court of Florida has recognized the direct relationship between attorney
compensation and a defendants right to counsel. Olive v. Maas, 811 So. 2d 644, 652
(Fla. 2002). In Olive, the Court explained:
The relationship between an attorneys compensation and the quality of his or herrepresentation cannot be ignored. It may be difficult for an attorney to disregardthat he or she may not be reasonably compensated for the legal services provideddue to the statutory fee limit. As a result, there is a risk that the attorney mayspend fewer hours than required representing the defendant or may prematurelyaccept a negotiated plea that is not in the best interests of the defendant. Aspectre is then raised that the defendant received less than the adequate, effectiverepresentation, the very injustice appointed counsel was intended to remedy.
811 So. 2d at 652 (quoting White v. Bd. Cnty. Commrs of Pinellas County, 537 So. 2d 1376,
1379-80).
37.The Supreme Court of Florida has also recognized that all capital cases by their verynature can be considered extraordinary and unusual, White, 537 So. 2d at 1378, and the
Supreme Court of the United States has held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments
require that capital trials be conducted in a reliable, individualized. and proportionate
manner. Parker v. Dugger, 498 U.S. 308 (1991); Tuilaepa v. California, 512 U.S. 137
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(1987); Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420 (1980); Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586 (1978);
Gardner v. Florida, 430 U.S. 349 (1977); Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976);
Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242 (1976); Zant v. Stephens, 462 U.S. 862 (1983). It is
undeniable that to afford greater resources to some capital defendants, but deny them to
others who are represented by court-appointed registry counsel, would deny equal
protection as well as violate Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment requisites.
38.The new statutory scheme, promulgated to discourage the courts grant of reasonable andnecessary fees to court-appointed registry counsel in the extraordinary and unusual
capital case, therefore gives rise to a violation of the capital defendants Sixth
Amendment right to counsel, Eight Amendment right to a reliable, individualized, even-
handed, and proportionate sentencing process, and Fourteenth Amendment right to Due
Process and the Equal Protection of the Laws.
IV. Section 27.5304, Florida Statutes (2012), Violates the Separation-of-Powers
Doctrine.
39.Article II, Section 3, of the Florida Constitution provides that: No person belonging toone branch shall exercise any powers appertaining to either of the other branches unless
expressly provided herein.
40. Although the office of the state attorney and public defender are provided for in ArticleV of the Florida Constitution, neither the state attorney, nor the public defender, are
considered to be part of the judiciary. SeeOffice of the State Attorney, Fourth Jud. Cir. v.
Parrotino, 628 So. 2d 1097, 1098-99 (Fla. 1993); Schreiber v. Rowe, 814 So. 2d 396, 398
(Fla. 2002).
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41.While state attorneys are quasi-judicial officers, neither court-appointed counsel norpublic defenders enjoy this status, and it is thus a given that court-appointed counsel are
not part of the judicial branch. See Schreiberat 398-99; Olive v. Maas, 811 So. 2d 644,
655 (Fla. 2002).
42.The Florida Supreme Court has held that the judicial branch cannot be subject in anymanner to budget oversight by the executive branch and that a statutory scheme
establishing budget reduction of the judiciary through the executive was unconstitutional.
See Chiles v. Children A, B, C, D, E, AND F, 589 So. 2d 260 (Fla. 1991). That Court has
also held that the legislature cannot take actions that would undermine the independence
of Floridas judicial .. . offices for such action would violate the doctrine of separation
of powers. Parrotino, 628 So. 2d at1099.
43.By utilizing the budget for the court system as the default funding source for any excessfees over that appropriated by the legislature to pay court-appointed counsel, Section
27.5304, Florida Statutes (2012), gives the judicial branch, in effect, the power to
appropriate funds for court-appointed counsel. As court-appointed counsel is not part of
the judicial branch, this funding allocation violates the separation-of-powers doctrine.
44.One could posit the flawed argument that this is no different than the current system inwhich the courts determine the appropriateness of fees. However, this argument fails to
recognize the subtle, yet significant, differences between the two. Traditionally, courts
have determined whether the fees requested by court-appointed counsel are reasonable
and necessary. Once that determination is made, if the fees requested are over the
statutory cap, the court is required to determine whether the case is extraordinary and
unusual and whether it would be confiscatory of court-appointed counsel's time, energy,
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and talents not to grant the requested fees. This determination is a traditional judicial
function of fact finding and then applying those facts to the law.
45.Under the new provisions of Section 27.5304, Florida Statutes (2012), the courts willhave the added consideration of where fees granted are going to be appropriated from.
This is strictly a legislative function, not a judicial one. Still v. Justice Admin. Commn,
82 So. 3d 1168, 1170 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012). To require that judges choose between the
defendant's constitutional rights to counsel and due process, the attorney's fiduciary
interest, and the fiscal well-being of the court is simply untenable, and violates the
separation-of-powers doctrine and the judicial canons.
46.Additionally, Article V, Section 14 of the Florida Constitution states all justices andjudges shall be compensated only by state salaries fixed by general law. Funding for the
state courts system, state attorneys offices, public defenders offices, and court-
appointed counsel shall be provided from state revenues appropriated by general law.
47.The Florida Legislature has historically granted separate appropriations to deal withjudges salaries, the state courts system, the state attorneys offices, public defenders
offices, and court-appointed counsel because part of the intent of Section 14 of Article V
was that these categories should be funded separately and independent of each other.
48.The state attorneys budget is apportioned separately from the public defenders budget,the budget for judges salaries is apportioned separately from the court systems budget,
and up until now, the appropriation for court-appointed counsel has been funded through
its own appropriations bill.
49.By now including court-appointed counsel funding as part of the state court systembudget, Section 27.5304, Florida Statutes (2012), runs contrary to Article V, Section 14
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of the Florida Constitution, in which the state court system and court-appointed counsel
are listed separately and must be funded as two entirely separate entities.
CONCLUSION
For all the foregoing reasons, Section 27.5304, Florida Statutes (2012), does not pass
constitutional muster. The amendments pose a Constitutional threat to the rights of indigent
capital defendants as well as to the integrity and independence of the judiciary.
WHEREFORE, the Defendant respectfully requests that the Court grant this Motion to
Declare Section 27.5304, Florida Statutes (2012), Unconstitutional.
I HEREBY CERTIFY that a copy of this Motion has been sent to the Office of The State
Attorney, 1350 N.W. 12th
Avenue Miami, Florida 33136 and the Justice Administrative
Commission , P.O. Box 1654, Tallahassee, Florida and 32302 this 9th day of July, 2012.
Respectfully Submitted,
_____________________
Terence LenamonFL Bar No.: 970476100 N. Biscayne Blvd. Suite 3070Miami, Florida 33132(305) 373-9911Fax: (786) [email protected]