Background
Malcolm Watkins, proceeding pro se, petitioned the Florida First District Court of Appeal for a belated appeal. He sought review of an order entered by a circuit court in a civil matter.
The case came before the appellate court as an original proceeding on Watkins’s petition. The Florida Department of Corrections made no appearance.
The Court’s Holding
The First District dismissed Watkins’s petition for lack of jurisdiction. The court held that it lacked authority to grant a belated appeal from an order entered in a civil proceeding.
The court explained that Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.141 authorizes petitions for belated appeal only in review proceedings involving collateral or postconviction criminal cases. It also relied on Perez v. Jones, 174 So. 3d 1088 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015), which similarly explained that the court cannot grant a belated appeal in a civil proceeding.
Key Takeaways
- Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.141 does not authorize a belated appeal in an ordinary civil matter.
- The First District lacks jurisdiction to grant belated appellate review of a circuit court’s civil order through a Rule 9.141 petition.
- The court dismissed the petition without addressing the merits of the underlying circuit court order.
Why It Matters
The decision reinforces the jurisdictional boundary governing belated-appeal petitions in Florida. A litigant who misses the deadline to appeal a civil order cannot use the procedure reserved for collateral or postconviction criminal cases to obtain appellate review.