PCAs.

Both the Florida Supreme Court justices and the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission know which "judicial tool" is often abused by DCA judges to render potentially final rulings that do not comply with the law and prevent the Florida Supreme Court from reviewing these final rulings. This tool is the "per curiam affirmed" or PCA that permits the appellate court to uphold the trial court's decision without issuing a written opinion of facts or law. Under current appellate procedure and law, the Florida Supreme Court cannot review that PCA ruling once it becomes final. Generally, PCAs operate to deprive appellants of a review by the Florida Supreme Court, unless the appellant timely files a motion for rehearing and that DCA grants the motion and issues a written opinion, which is certainly not the norm.

What happens when a DCA issues a PCA and the Florida Supreme Court later decides the same issue in favor of the appellant? This is precisely the question in a case to watch currently pending before the First District Court of Appeal in Luster v. State, Appeal No. 1D14-5271. At appellant's second trial, on several occasions the defendant's attorney objected and moved for mistrial when the prosecutor repeatedly introduced evidence that the defendant had requested to speak to a lawyer and...