Staff attorneys for the 4th Judicial Circuit are going through the motions.
That’s not meant in the sense they are doing something without believing in it.
It refers to the backlog of about 1,300 post-conviction motions filed by inmates whose cases have completed the appeal process.
Many of the motions must be disposed of within a 30-day deadline.
The circuit’s in-house lawyers will be getting some help after City Council approved the transfer of $86,521 from the Court Innovations-Cash Carryover account to be used to hire contract attorneys.
They’ll help reduce the backlog in the file room, which will allow the circuit’s full- and part-time staff attorneys to work on active capital and non-capital trials, county court appeals, civil matters and cases as directed by the 1st District Court of Appeal.
The backlog of motions is years-old and more motions are filed almost every day.
Cecelia Birk, director of judicial staff attorneys, said the file room was full when she joined the circuit in April 2012.
This past June, staff started reviewing the collection to weed out motions already disposed of, motions filed by defendants who no longer were in custody and motions filed by defendants who have died.
As of Oct. 1, there were 1,282 motions awaiting review and the stream hasn’t slowed.
Sixty-one motions came in during February. They were prioritized by deadlines imposed by statute or by the appellate court. Of the 61 motions, at least 35 had strict deadlines.
Compounding the issue, when a defendant’s motion has not been ruled on, the defendant can petition the appellate court to issue a writ of mandamus on the circuit court to rule on the motion.
Typically, when the appeal court receives such a petition, it directs the state attorney general to file within 30 days a report on the status of the motion, Birk said.
“The attorney general’s office then notifies this court to file an order on the motion within 30 days or to provide a sufficient reason for extending the deadline,” she said.
In the past three years, judicial staff attorneys have drafted an average of 20 orders for motions per month.
The court had to dispose of 29 motions that were filed in February within 30 days as ordered by the appellate court, Birk said.
Court Administrator Joe Stelma said the funds transferred by council are derived from a $65 criminal defense filing fee collected by the city and then credited each year to the court account for a purpose determined by the chief judge of the circuit.
Chief Judge Mark Mahon directed the most recent transfer be used to hire contract attorneys to draft orders for the motions and to help reduce the backlog.
They will be paid $50 per hour.
Stelma said the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in January moving the decision in Florida death penalty cases out of the judge’s chamber and into the jury room is likely to increase the number of motions filed by defendants who will challenge the legality of their sentences.
That makes it even more important to be able to hire contract attorneys.
Stelma said the court ideally will recruit former staff attorneys for the work, since they require little, if any, training and can begin reviewing motions and drafting orders sooner than lawyers who aren’t as familiar with the process.
Contract attorneys may work full- or part-time and many work from home.
The search will be conducted statewide and it could be a months-long contract, considering the backlog and the expected increase in the never-ending flow of post-conviction motions.
“We’re going to try to sign them up for a full year,” Stelma said.
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