posted 2018 | J.B. v. State (Broward)
This case is still pending in the Florida Supreme Court, but it took a hard fought battle simply to have the opportunity to seek appellate review. It took a clever argument by Mr. Forman to persuade the Court that they should allow the client to seek review in these unusual circumstances.
Client was convicted of over 100 pornography related charges and was sentenced to over 500 years in prison. On appeal, the appellate court vacated the 100 convictions, but found that the issue regarding the search warrant did not require reversal. His appellate attorney filed a motion for rehearing in the appellate court, but it was denied.
Surprisingly, the client’s appellate attorney told the client’s family that there was nothing else to do and that the appeal was over. However, they could have sought review in the Florida Supreme Court. After the time to seek review had expired, Mr. Forman was hired to file a petition to seek belated discretionary review asking the Florida Supreme Court to make an exception in his case due to the misadvise of appellate counsel.
The attorney general’s office, as well as the client’s former appellate attorney, fought the client’s request and urged the court to deny the petition because the client never asked to appeal the matter further. Technically, they were correct under the rules. However, Mr. Forman came up with a clever argument that was normally used in the context of the denial of a motion for post-conviction relief. Despite the resistance from the state, Mr. Forman won and the court granted the petition! The case is now pending and the client is waiting to see if the court will agree to hear his case.
