Please be advised that the Division F ZOOM access link is as follows:

https://fljud13-org.zoom.us/j/3777074721. 

To access ZOOM by dialing in, call, +13052241968,,85650928941.  The ZOOM meeting ID is 377 707 4721.

 

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT A MOTION FOR SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL MUST BE FILED AND HEARD AT LEAST 7 DAYS BEFORE THE PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE IF COUNSEL DESIRES TO WITHDRAW OR SUBSTITUTE IN ON A CASE.

 

A MOTION TO CONTINUE WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED BY THE COURT AT THE PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE, ABSENT UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES.

 

Arraignments

All Arraignments for both in-custody and out-of-custody Defendant’s will be conducted via ZOOM.  For all Second-Degree and Third-Degree Felonies, the Court will set the case for a Pre-Trial Conference and Jury Trial date in the future, giving counsel ample time to conduct discovery on the matter. If the case is a First-Degree Felony or Capital Offense, the Court will schedule a Status Hearing via ZOOM to determine if Counsel desires to Waive Speedy Trial. 

 

Bond Motions Considered in Chambers by the Court

The Court will consider a bond motion without evidence or hearing.  A written Motion for Bond Reduction may be filed with the Clerk of Court, and emailed to opposing counsel. 

A copy of the Motion for Bond Reduction shall be forwarded to the Court via the Division F Judicial Assistant at felonydivf@fljud13.org.  Once said motion has been filed and received by the Judicial Assistant, the Court will direct the State to file a written response with the Clerk of Court.   A copy of said response by the State shall be filed, and emailed to the Court and opposing counsel within 24 hours.  The Court will then rule on the bond motion by sending an email to all parties.  Defense counsel shall then prepare an Order reflecting the Court’s ruling and upload said Order to E-Portal for the Court’s signature.  All Orders shall be approved by the State prior to submitting to the Court for signature.

 

Bond Motions where Counsel is Requesting a Hearing

If Counsel desires to have an “In Court” Hearing on a Bond Motion, Counsel shall contact the Division F Judicial Assistant at felonydivf@fljud13.org. The Motion must be filed prior to requesting a hearing date.

 

All Bond Motions are presumed to be conducted via ZOOM unless counsel specifically requests an “In Person” hearing.

 

Changes of Plea

A change of plea for an incarcerated Defendant or a Defendant that is not in-custody will be conducted via ZOOM unless Counsel specifically requests an “In Person” Hearing.  Counsel shall contact the Division F Judicial Assistant at felonydivf@fljud13.org  for the first available hearing date.

 

Prior to obtaining a hearing date from the Division F Judicial Assistant, all required forms must be filed with the Clerk of Court. Said forms for ZOOM “changes of pleas” are (1) Waiver of Physical Presence in Court Form, (2) Plea form, (3) DNA Form, and (5) Fingerprint card (if Defendant is out-of-custody):

 

1. Waiver of Physical Presence in Court Form
2. Plea form – Felony bilingual
3. Plea form DNA Addendum
4. Plea form Waiver of Presence Addendum
5. Fingerprint Card

These forms can also be found on the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Website under the Criminal Tab  “forms” link.

1. Attorneys: Attorneys are required by the terms of those forms to discuss each of them line by line with the Defendant in a private, confidential setting that allows for meaningful question and answer discussions. Please note the plea form indicates that the Defendant has seen and agrees with the scoresheet as prepared by the State, so you must go over that document with the Defendant as well, and be prepared to answer questions regarding the same.
2. Signature on Forms: Once the attorney has fully discussed ALL forms with the Defendant and obtained the Defendant’s permission for the attorney to sign those forms FOR him/her (or, s/he has chance to sign them) the attorney shall file the forms with the Clerk of Circuit Court.
3. Filing of Forms: Each form must be uploaded as a separate document via the E-Portal. Each individual case number requires each of these forms be filed separately (i.e. for 2 felony cases, you would have 6 separate forms uploaded.) VOP cases do not need the Felony Plea Form nor the DNA form, but DO require a Waiver of Physical Appearance 
4. Interpreter: If an interpreter is needed, please contact the Court Interpreter’s Office at (813) 272-5947 or via email at interpreterrequest@fljud13.org to reserve an interpreter for the hearing.

 

Pre-Trial Motions

All motions shall be filed and heard prior to the Pre-Trial Conference.  All motions not heard prior to the Pre-Trial Conference shall be deemed waived and shall not be grounds for a continuance.

 

Written Response Required: The non-moving party shall file a written response to all contested motions at least seven days before the hearing.  This shall include all relent case law the non-moving party intends to rely on.

 

Motion Hearings

(10 minutes or less WITHOUT witness testimony)

All non-evidentiary motions that require 10 minutes or less of hearing time shall be heard virtually on ZOOM every Tuesday and Thursday morning beginning at 8:30am on “Non-Trial Weeks” or 8:00am on the Division F “Trial Weeks”, unless Counsel specifically requests an “In Person” hearing.

 

These hearings do not include motions requiring witness testimony. These hearings are restricted to legal argument only.

 

All motions must be filed with the Clerk of Court prior to obtaining a hearing date from the Judicial Assistant.  You may contact the Judicial Assistant at felonydivf@fljud13.org to obtain potential hearing dates for the motion after the motion has been filed with the Clerk of Court.  You must include a copy of the motion, the case number, and case name in the email sent to the Judicial Assistant when requesting a hearing date.  The email address for the Judicial Assistant is felonydivf@fljud13.org.

 

The Court expects that counsel will confer with one another to select an agreed upon hearing date after the Division F Judicial Assistant has given prospective hearing dates.  After a hearing date has been agreed upon by the parties, counsel shall notify the Judicial Assistant via email at felonydivf@fljud13.org.

 

The party requesting the hearing shall file a Notice of Hearing with the Clerk of Court, sending a copy to opposing counsel as well to the Court via the felonydivf@fljud13.org email address. 

 

If an interpreter is needed for the hearing, please contact the Court Interpreter’s Office at (813) 272-5947 or via email at interpreterrequest@fljud13.org to reserve an interpreter for the hearing.

 

Defendants Appearance: It is the responsibility of counsel for the Defendant to either file a written Waiver of the Defendant’s Presence at the time the motion is filed, if the Defendant does not wish to appear at the hearing, OR procure a means for the Defendant to appear at the ZOOM motion hearing if the Defendant is not in custody.  It is the responsibility of counsel for the Defendant to notify the Defendant when and how to appear at the ZOOM hearing.

 

The Division F “ZOOM link” shall be contained in the Notice of Hearing prepared by the party requesting the hearing.

 

Attending Hearings:  Parties shall attend the hearings via videoconference through ZOOM.  PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ATTEND THE HEARING IN PERSON UNLESS SPECIFIC PERMISSION HAS BEEN OBTAINED BY THE JUDICIAL ASSISTANT FOR AN “IN PERSON” HEARING.  Please note the following information about Division F ZOOM hearings:

1. ZOOM access link:  You may access the hearing through the following link:  Join URL: https://fljud13-org.zoom.us/j/3777074721
2. ZOOM meeting ID: The ZOOM meeting ID is 377 707 4721. 
3. ZOOM Application:  You must download the ZOOM application to your device from ZOOM.us prior to attending the hearing.

 

Exhibits:  At the time Counsel files the motion, Counsel shall file a “Notice of Filing”, attaching any exhibits that are requested to be introduced into evidence during the hearing.  All exhibits shall be numbered sequentially without using alphabetic characters to identify an exhibit.

 

Public access:  Please note all court hearings are open to the public and may be observed by anyone via ZOOM.  However, all persons will be muted except for the parties involved in the hearing being held.

 

Competency Motions

All motions in which a party is requesting the Court to appoint a doctor for a Court Ordered Forensic Competency Evaluation shall be filed with the Clerk of Court. Once the motion has been filed, please email the Judicial Assistant at felonydivf@fljud13.org including a copy of the motion in the email. The Court will advise counsel of the doctor to be appointed from the approved Court Appointed List. Counsel requesting the evaluation shall be responsible for uploading the Order to the Court’s work queue for signature. 

 

Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI cases)

All cases in which the State and Defense have agreed to a PTI resolution may now be accomplished WITHOUT THE NECESSITY OF A COURT HEARING. 

 

Once the Defendant and Defense Counsel have signed the PTI Contract, the State has the responsibility of uploading said contract to the Court’s work queue for signature.

 

Per the instructions on the PTI Contract, the Defendant will have 24 hours to call the PTI Office to schedule an appointment with the Department of Corrections Probation Officer.

 

There is no need to docket the case and request a hearing date. 

 

Dispositional Dates

The Court has PERMANENTLY eliminated interim dispositional dates.  This, by no means, should be interpreted that counsel does not have an affirmative duty to continue to conduct discovery on a pending case and file any motions that require the Court to consider. It is incumbent upon a party to obtain a hearing date prior to the Pre-Trial Conference date for said motions. 

 

Attendance at Pre-Trial and Jury Trial Dates

All Pre-Trial Conferences will be conducted “In Person” AND THE DEFENDANT’S PRESENCE IS REQUIRED at said hearing as the Court conducts an extensive colloquy with both counsel of record and the Defendant regarding the following issues:

 

Any offers extended by the State to the Defendant to resolve the case and the revocation of such offer at the Pre-Trial Conference.

 

Whether or not the Defendant has had sufficient time to discuss the case with his attorney and the offer that has been extended by the State to resolve the case.

 

Whether Counsel for the Defendant has reviewed the Criminal Punishment Code Scoresheet with the Defendant.

The number of witnesses each side intends to call at the trial.

The length the trial is expected to last.

The deadline for counsel to inspect opposing counsel’s exhibits.

The timeframe for submitting jury instructions to the Court.

Any scheduling issues for witnesses, counsel, or the Defendant.

The tentative date for jury selection and the subsequent trial.

 

Attendance at Pre-Trial Conference by Counsel of Record on the case

COUNSEL OF RECORD WHO WILL BE TRYING THE CASE is required to attend the Pre-Trial Conference on the matter.  At this hearing, the Court will address witnesses expected to be called, length of the trial, scheduling issues, exhibit lists, jury instructions, and the tentative jury selection date/time as well as the jury trial date/time.

 

Pro Se Litigants

If you are representing yourself and need assistance in appearing at a videoconferencing hearing or have questions concerning any of the procedures outlined above, you may contact the Judicial Assistant at felonydivf@fljud13.org.

 

Jury Trial

Jury Instructions: The Friday before jury selection, Counsel for State/Defense shall submit all proposed jury instructions, applicable lesser included offenses, any enhancement instructions and proposed verdict form, and any specially requested instructions to the Court and opposing counsel via email in WORD format, Times New Roman, 12 font.

 

All jury instructions and verdict forms shall comply with the Standard Jury Instructions and verdict forms located on the Florida Bar website.  To the extent that any proposed instruction or verdict form deviates from the forms contained in the Florida bar website, the proposed instruction or verdict form shall be clearly denoted as a “modified” jury instruction or verdict form, with appropriate citation of authority. 

 

Motions To Modify/Terminate Probation/Community Control:

The Court will review these motions in Chambers; therefore, a hearing date does not need to be secured when the motion is filed.

 

A copy of the motion shall be mailed or forwarded via email to the Division F Judicial Assistant at felonydivf@fljud13.org, while the original motion is filed with the Clerk’s Office. 

 

Once a response from DOC and State are received at the request of the Division F Judicial Assistant, the Court will review and either make a ruling in Chambers or determine that a hearing is necessary.  The Division F Judicial Assistant will then reach out to the parties, accordingly.