Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed February 20, 2019.
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No. 3D18-0147
Lower Tribunal No. 02-18680
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Antwann Rogers,
Appellant,
vs.
The State of Florida,
Appellee.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Michael
Hanzman, Judge.
Antwann Rogers, in proper person.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Sandra Lipman, Assistant Attorney
General, for appellee.
Before SALTER, LINDSEY, and MILLER, JJ.
MILLER, J.
Antwann L. Rogers appeals the summary denial of his petition for writ of
mandamus which sought to compel the State’s public records specialist to provide
him with various documents.1 As the State properly concedes, the record is devoid
of claimed exemptions to disclosure, and there remains a disputed factual issue as to
whether the State possesses the requested records. Thus, we reverse and remand for
an evidentiary hearing. See DeGregorio v. State, 205 So. 3d 841 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016)
(reversing a denial of petition upon unsworn pleadings and remanding for an
evidentiary hearing to determine whether the respondent had furnished all records);
Perez v. State, 980 So. 2d 1205, 1206 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (“If the petition and
response raise disputed factual issues, the trial court should resolve them upon
proper evidence, which may include undisputed affidavits.”); Radford v. Brock, 914
So. 2d 1066 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005) (reversing a dismissal of petition in the absence of
sworn evidence and remanding for further proceedings).
Reversed and remanded.
1
The State does not challenge the legal sufficiency of the petition. See generally
Clay Cty. Educ. Ass’n v. Clay Cty. Sch. Bd., 144 So. 3d 708, 709 (Fla. 1st DCA
2014) (citing Polley v. Gardner, 98 So. 3d 648, 649 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012)).
2