Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed December 8, 2021.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D21-2096
Lower Tribunal No. M20-2474
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Stephen Johnson,
Petitioner,
vs.
The State of Florida,
Respondent.
A Writ of Certiorari to the County Court for Miami-Dade County,
Christine Bandin, Judge.
Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender, and Deborah Prager, Assistant
Public Defender, for petitioner.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Christina L. Dominguez,
Assistant Attorney General, for respondent.
Before EMAS, MILLER and LOBREE, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Stephen Johnson petitions this court for a writ of certiorari quashing
the trial court’s order denying his motion to dismiss filed pursuant to Florida’s
Stand Your Ground law, section 776.032, Florida Statutes (2020). The trial
court denied the motion to dismiss without reaching the merits because it
was not sworn to by a person with personal knowledge or otherwise
supported by evidence to establish the facts as alleged in the motion.
Johnson filed the instant petition and, while this petition was pending,
this court issued its opinion in Casanova v. State, 46 Fla. L. Weekly D2326
(Fla. 3d DCA October 27, 2021) which is identical in all relevant respects to,
and dispositive of the issue presented in, the instant case. In Casanova, we
held
a defendant's motion to dismiss under Florida's Stand Your
Ground law can establish a prima facie claim of self-defense
immunity from criminal prosecution even though the motion to
dismiss is not sworn to by someone with personal knowledge or
supported by evidence or testimony establishing the facts in the
motion to dismiss.
Id. at * 1.
Accordingly, and as we did in Casanova, we grant the petition for writ
of certiorari, quash the order under review, and remand for consideration of
the merits of Johnson’s motion to dismiss.
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