Melkonian v. Goldman

Kyle Melkonian’s (plaintiff) driver’s license was suspended by the Dade County division of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, a state administrative agency. Melkonian sought review of the suspension by filing a petition for certiorari with the Appellate Division of the Dade County Circuit Court. Dade County is part of Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit. Under the local rules for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, as approved by the Florida Supreme Court, petitions for certiorari filed with a local circuit court’s appellate division must be heard by a three-judge panel. However, in accordance with the Dade County Circuit Court’s own administrative rules, an individual judge was permitted to review a petition for certiorari to determine whether it stated a prima facie case, meaning that it stated sufficient facts to support the claimant’s cause-of-action. If the individual judge found the petition stated a prima facie case, then the petition would be reviewed by the full three-judge panel. Melkonian’s petition for certiorari was assigned to Judge Murray Goldman (defendant) for review. Judge Goldman found that Melkonian failed to state a prima facie case and denied Melkonian’s petition. Melkonian appealed the denial to the intermediate appellate court with jurisdiction over Dade County, arguing that the Dade County Appellate Division’s administrative rule allowing a single judge to review a petition for certiorari violated the controlling Eleventh Judicial Circuit local rule that required a three-judge panel to review petitions for certiorari filed with a circuit court’s appellate division.