IN THE COUNTY COURT OF THE SIXTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

IN AND FOR MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA



UPPER KEYS CRIMINAL DIVISION



STANDING ORDER REGARDING PRETRIAL MOTIONS IN CRIMINAL CASES

THIS ORDER shall apply in all criminal cases filed in the Upper Keys County Court Criminal Division of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit assigned to the Honorable Sharon I. Hamilton. To ensure the timely and orderly disposition of criminal cases and comply with the directive of the Florida Supreme Court in Rule 2.250(a)(1)(A) of the Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration, the following requirements shall apply in all cases absent express permission of the Court to the contrary:

  1. Pretrial motions must comply with the requirements of Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.190—in other words, such motions shall be in writing, "state the ground or grounds on which it is based," Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.190(a), and " state clearly the particular evidence sought to be suppressed, the reasons for suppression, and a general statement of the facts on which the motion is based." Fla. R. Crim. P.

  1. Pretrial motions in misdemeanor cases must be filed with the clerk of court within 90 days of the arraignment at which an indictment or information is filed. Absent a showing that the basis for the motion could not have been identified within that time with the exercise of reasonable professional diligence, motions filed thereafter will be denied as untimely. See Clark v. State, 985 so. 2d 637 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008); see also Powell v. State, 717 so. 2d 1050 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998). Untimely motions must set forth the reason(s) why the motion could not have been timely filed. Untimely motions that fail to make this showing will be summarily denied. Once filed, the moving party must request that the motion be set for hearing within 10 days. The request should be made by e-mail to the Court's judicial assistant, with copies to all parties. If no request is made to set the motion for hearing within 10 days, it will be considered abandoned and summarily denied.

  1. Pretrial objections to the admissibility of audio or video evidence disclosed in discovery must be made at or before the pretrial conference, (Docket Sounding), at which the case is set for trial. Any objection to the admissibility of such evidence made during trial will be denied as untimely unless the party opposing its admission can show that the basis for the motion could not have been identified earlier with the exercise of reasonable professional diligence. See Sparkman v. State, 902 So. 2d 253 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005).

  1. These requirements will be enforced, subject to objectively reasonable grounds justifying why they should be excused. Perfervid philippics about due process or plaintive lamentations of manifest injustice are not objectively reasonable grounds for non-compliance. Nor is dilatory action by counsel.

IT IS SO ORDERED at Key west, Monroe County, Florida this 29th day of November, 2021.




SHARON I. HAMILTON

 

SHARON I. HAMILTON COUNTY JUDGE



cc: Office of the State Attorney

Counsel for the Defendant

Clerk of the Court