Requirements & Information

Requirements & Information

Standards of Professionalism

Judge Doyle expects all attorneys who appear to know and adhere to the Twelfth Judicial Circuit’s Standards of Professionalism, also available on the websites of the Manatee County Bar Association and the Sarasota County Bar Association.

Arraignments, trials, evidentiary hearings, open pleas, and non-evidentiary hearings expected to last longer than fifteen minutes will take place live in the courtroom and shall be noticed as such absent a court order permitting an appearance by Zoom. Requests to appear by Zoom for these types of proceedings will be granted upon the Court’s finding of good cause and if such request is otherwise in compliance with Rule 2.530 of the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration.

Pretrial conferences, plea hearings for negotiated pleas, docket sounding hearings, violations of probation, and other non-evidentiary matters expected to last 15 minutes or less may be noticed as a Zoom hearing without prior permission from the Court. If such a hearing is set during a prior court hearing, no notice of hearing is necessary, and the attorneys and defendants can appear by Zoom.

• Visit Judge Doyle’s Zoom page for meeting information.

Please note that those individuals appearing live will be heard prior to those appearing by Zoom except for Private Attorney/ORC Pre-Trial Conference Hearings which will be done pursuant to a staggered schedule with the time slot given to the attorneys in advance of the proceeding.

If appearing remotely, please adhere to the following rules in place for all Manatee County Court Judges. Failure to follow these rules may result in the termination of your court appearance and/or revocation of the privilege to appear remotely at future hearings:

• All participants must have their audio and video (if applicable) working and know how to mute/unmute and turn their camera on and off before the appearance begins.
• If Zooming in with audio and video capability, the participant should name themselves using their true legal first and last name. Failure to be properly named will result in the Court not allowing you into the courtroom.
• When in the Zoom courtroom, the participant should remain muted with their video camera off until their case is called.
• Participants must be present in a building, with minimal background noise. Participants must not be moving from room to room.
• Participants cannot be outdoors, or in a vehicle, even if the vehicle is stopped. Participants cannot be in motion in any way.
• When a case is called, the participant shall then enable their microphone and unmute themselves in a timely fashion.
• Any documents that would normally be filed with the clerk shall be filed with the clerk 3 business days in advance of the hearing. This includes, but is not limited to, plea in absentia forms, acknowledgment and waiver of rights forms, exhibits, etc. Please do not send any documents to the judicial assistant by email or hardcopy that you would normally file with the clerk had your appearance been in person. Please contact the clerk’s office for further instruction on the number of days in advance documents must be filed with the clerk for them to be “seen” by the judge electronically.
• Appearing remotely on Zoom carries with it the same requirements for professionalism, decorum, and civility to all participants and the court as if physically present. All participants shall be wearing attire as if they were physically in the courtroom. As in any courtroom, there is to be no eating, drinking, gum chewing, smoking, or engaging in any activity other than participation in the court appearance.
• Failure to comply with these requirements may result in the revocation of zoom appearance privileges.
• Please Note: If a lawyer has a client who violates these rules, it will be treated as if the lawyer violated the rules, and the lawyer can have their privileges revoked.
• These rules will be strictly enforced.

Pleas by Zoom

If a defendant is pleading by Zoom, please submit and e-file the plea form prior to the plea. If the charge to which the defendant is entering a plea is one that requires fingerprints (ex. DWLS, Battery, Violation of an Injunction, Petit Theft and DUI) and the defendant is unable to obtain those fingerprints prior to the plea then an additional condition of probation will be for the defendant to procure fingerprints and file them with the Clerk of Court. If the defendant is not entering a plea to regular probation, the Court will not accept the plea via Zoom or in absentia if fingerprints are required. Should a plea via Zoom occur, the State shall, if applicable, ensure that the victim has notice of the hearing and the ability to participate in the hearing.

Filed Motion Required

All motions must be filed prior to reserving hearing time. Failure to file a motion but noticing an issue for hearing may result in the cancellation of hearing time.

Types of Hearings and How to Schedule

Judge Doyle has different kinds of hearing time, each with its own requirements for scheduling. All dates and times for these hearings are listed on the Court’s calendar, which is posted on the Criminal Division page and regularly updated. Below is the information on each court appearance and how to schedule:

1. Out-of-Custody Pleas and Motions

These are for hearings where your client is (a) out of custody or in custody and you waive your client’s presence, and (b) the length of the hearing is 30 minutes or less. This hearing can be scheduled either in Court or through the JACS. Hearings should not be scheduled last minute and JACS will not permit it online. All parties should be given at least two days’ notice before a hearing is set absent exceptional circumstances.

2. In-Custody Pleas and Motions

This hearing time is for when your client is (a) in custody and (2) you wish for your client to be present via video feed from the jail. This hearing can be scheduled either in Court or through the JACS, under the hearing time specific for jail hearings. Hearings should not be scheduled last minute and JACS will not permit it online. All parties should be given at least two days’ notice before a hearing is set absent exceptional circumstances.

3. Special-Set Pleas and Motions

This hearing time is for hearings (1) more than 30 minutes in length and/or (2) clients who are in jail and need to be transported to the courtroom for hearings. You must contact the judicial assistant to obtain a time slot for this court appearance. The moving party must first confer with opposing counsel to ensure all witnesses are available for the designated time slot. You may not use JACS to schedule this court appearance.

4. Court-Scheduled Hearings

This hearing time is for hearings that both parties wish to schedule due to a time sensitive issue or a scheduling issue. The hearing can be of any length. The moving party must first get the agreement of opposing counsel for the date and time, then contact the judicial assistant to schedule. If the parties wish for an inmate Defendant to be present on video, the Court will make its best efforts to accommodate.

Please read if you do not have an attorney The Judge must apply the same rules to all parties, regardless of whether you have an attorney. The Judge may not talk to you about your case outside of the courtroom, so please do not call to speak with the Judge. The Judicial Assistant may not help you with your case or send information to the other party or attorney for you. The Judicial Assistant may not “give the Judge a message.” Please do not ask the Judicial Assistant for the outcome of a hearing or verify that an order has been signed; you may review the Manatee County Clerk website for details about your case. Please remember that whenever you file something with the Clerk or provide the Judge a copy, you must send a copy to all the attorneys or parties at the same time.

Judicial Assistant

Lila Mercurio

Telephone

(941) 749–3607

Please email Lila Mercurio at:

LMercurio@jud12.flcourts.org

Mailing Address

P.O. Box 3000, Bradenton, FL 34206

Fax

941-749-3677; The fax is to be used for emergencies only.

All proposed orders should be emailed in word format to CoDivision3@jud12.flcourts.org. The division email address is to be used solely for the submission of documents, not for communication with the Judge’s office.

Any emails sent for communication purposes should be sent to the judicial assistant. Please include the case number and case name in the subject line of the email.

Courtesy Copies are only requested for Notice of Cancellations, all other Notices/Motions are not needed as long as they are in the Court’s file.

Any motion requesting emergency hearing time must explain the emergency, the anticipated time needed, and, where appropriate, good faith efforts to resolve the matter without Court intervention. The attorney or party filing the motion must (1) phone Judge Doyle’s Judicial Assistant about the motion, and (2) hand deliver or email a copy to the Judge Doyle’s Judicial Assistant. Judge Doyle will determine how to handle the request.

The vast percentage of evidentiary hearings will be held in person, and as such, exhibits will be pre-marked and entered in evidence in open court.

In the rare circumstance where a party is appearing remotely and has an exhibit to enter into evidence, due to the unknown nature of the exhibit, the party is encouraged to contact the Court’s Judicial Assistant.

Pretrial Conference Continuance Form

Criminal pretrial conferences can be continued twice without the need for defense counsel to appear, provided the defense attorney has filed the pretrial conference continuance request form prior to the scheduled pretrial conference. Forms are available on the Criminal Division page.

If you have continued the case twice before, you cannot continue it a third time without filing a Stipulation to Continue which sets forth the reason for the continuance. The Court will review the stipulation and indicate whether it is granted or denied, in which case the parties may schedule a Motion to Continue for hearing.

Should you file a continuance form, and the case has been continued numerous times, at the discretion of the Court, the case may be set for trial.

The Court will accept pleas at pretrial conference. The plea can be in person or on Zoom.

Preliminary trial scheduling occurs at Docket Sounding. Defendants must appear at docket sounding. The appearance can be by Zoom or in person unless otherwise ordered. No motions of any kind, including motions to continue, will be heard at docket sounding. The purpose of docket sounding is to enter a plea or announce ready for trial. If the case is ready for trial the attorneys shall be prepared to advise the Court as to how many days the trial will last, the number of witnesses to be called and any witness scheduling conflicts. The case will be scheduled for a trial period. Parties should be ready to go to trial any day during the trial period. Typically, the specific date for trial is scheduled the first Monday of the trial period.

Forms are available on the Criminal Division page.

Plea Procedures

Please refer to the Judge’s calendars as to when the plea cut-off is for each trial period. Thereafter, all pleas will be open pleas to the Court unless there has been a significant change with the case.

Plea Procedure: The Defense attorney is to schedule the plea and do a Notice of Hearing indicating the format the plea will be done (i.e., plea in absentia). The Court will accept pleas on any scheduled court date. There is no need to do a Notice of Hearing if your case is already scheduled for a court date.

Pleading by Zoom

Please file the plea form with the Clerk three business days in advance of the hearing. Please do not email or send the plea form to the judicial assistant.

Pleas in Absentia

If pleading in absentia, please file the appropriate forms with the Clerk three business days in advance of the hearing. Please do not email or send the Plea in Absentia documents to the judicial assistant.

Fingerprints

If the charge to which the defendant is entering a plea is one that requires fingerprints, and the defendant is unable to obtain those fingerprints prior to the plea then an additional condition of probation will be for the defendant to procure fingerprints and file them with the Clerk of Court.

Case Law and Other Legal Authority

For any hearing, the party wishing the Court to consider legal authority shall submit their authority in hard copy format to Chambers at least three days prior to the hearing. A copy of the same shall be given to the opposing counsel within the same time frame. Parties may also submit hard copies of legal authority in person at the hearing.

Interpreters

If an interpreter is needed, you must arrange for the interpreter. The Twelfth Judicial Circuit provides interpreters for all court events, if requested properly in advance. Please see the Court Interpreter page for further guidance.

Traffic Infraction (TR cases; defendant’s last name A-K and O)

Judges Steele and Inman preside over all in–court traffic appearances. However, Judge Doyle handles all written orders and written requests from parties, including Motions to Consolidate infractions with County Criminal cases, for Defendants whose last name begins with the following initials: A-K and O.