The opinion
Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed May 21, 2025.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D25-0228
Lower Tribunal No. F95-33413
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William Sims,
Appellant,
vs.
State of Florida,
Appellee.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Richard
Hersch, Judge.
William Sims, in proper person.
James Uthmeier, Attorney General and Magaly Rodriguez, Assistant
Attorney General, for appellee.
Before LOGUE, C.J., and GORDO and BOKOR, JJ.
GORDO, J.
William Sims (“Sims”), pro se, appeals the trial court’s January 21,
2025, order denying his motion to compel the Office of the Public Defender
to provide him with the record on appeal, including all trial and deposition
transcripts related to the direct appeal of his 1995 felony case. The trial court
denied Sims’ motion to compel, referencing a response from the Office of the
Public Defender that it was not in possession of the requested documents.
Because the response from the Office of the Public Defender refuted Sims’
allegation that it possessed the documents which Sims is entitled to have,1
the trial court was within its authority to deny the motion. We therefore affirm
without prejudice to Sims seeking to obtain the requested documents from
other agencies that may possess them, i.e., the clerk’s office or the State
Attorney’s Office. See Brown v. State, 152 So. 3d 739, 741 (Fla. 4th DCA
2014) (“We reverse because the response of the Office of the Public
Defender did not refute Brown’s allegation that his attorneys possessed the
documents . . . As it stands, this is not a case where there is no contested
issue of fact. On remand, if the Office of the Public Defender produces
evidence that it does not in fact possess the documents which Brown is
1
“Transcripts or record documents that were prepared at public expense on
behalf of an indigent defendant must be provided to the defendant without
charge for copying.” Brown v. State, 93 So. 3d 1194, 1196 (Fla. 4th DCA
2012).
2
entitled to have, the petition should be denied without prejudice to Brown
seeking to obtain them from other agencies that may possess them, i.e., the
clerk’s office or state attorney’s office.”).
Affirmed.
3