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.

Many types of hearings can take place remotely by Zoom. Zoom is a platform by which people can appear by telephone or by video. More information about the platform is available on Zoom's website and at Court Hearings on Zoom page. Visit Judge Doyle’s Zoom page for meeting information.

Zoom and In-person Appearances in Small Claims Cases

• The Court’s notice of hearing will dictate whether a hearing will be in person or on Zoom. Motions to appear either in person or on Zoom may be granted upon motion and in accordance with Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. Rule 2.530.
• Small Claims Pretrial Conferences shall be in person, unless the Court enters an order referring the case to mediation in lieu of a Pretrial Conference, which will only be done upon a motion and showing of good cause.

Zoom and In-person Appearances in Criminal Cases

• Arraignments, trials, evidentiary hearings, open pleas, and violation of probation hearings 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 Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin.
• All other court appearances may be on Zoom or in person, and the party does not need to ask permission for the appearance.

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 participating 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.

1. Criminal Hearings

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. Pleas and Motions
   • Any pleas or motion 30-minutes or less can be scheduled either in court or through the Criminal JACS. Please note: Judge Doyle has two separate JACS systems – one for small claims cases and one for criminal cases. Please ensure you are using the Criminal JACS calendar. Failure to schedule a criminal court appearance on Criminal JACS will result in cancellation of hearing without notice.
   • 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. When you schedule a plea in the JACS system, the time slots automatically default to five-minute increments. You are permitted to use the 5-minute time slot for anything from 5-30 minutes in length.
   • Inmateswill be added to any docket the Court has available. If the docket is in the morning, all inmates will be addressed via video from the jail at 10:30 AM. If the docket is in the afternoon, all inmates will be addressed via video from the jail at 3:00 PM.
2. 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.

2. Small Claims Hearings

• All motions must be filed prior to or simultaneously with reserving hearing time. Hearings may be scheduled using the Court’s CVIL JACS. Please note: Judge Doyle has two separate JACS systems – one for small claims cases and one for criminal cases, please ensure you are using the Small Claims JACS calendar. Failure to schedule a small claims court appearance on the Small Claims JACS will result in cancellation of hearing without notice.
• If you find there is insufficient hearing time available or you have to wait more than two weeks to obtain hearing time, please contact the Judicial Assistant. Hearings are limited to the time reserved. The parties opposing the motion are entitled to equal time. Accordingly, the party reserving and scheduling the hearing should either determine how much hearing time is necessary and then at least double it to account for response time, or preferably, confer with opposing counsel and agree to the time required. Cross-noticing is not permitted unless agreed upon by all parties.
• If you are requesting 45 minutes or more, please contact the Judicial Assistant to specially set it at CoDivision5@jud12.flcourts.org. Do not email the Judicial Assistant until you have conferred with opposing party on how much time is needed for the hearing.

3. Self Represented Litigants

• Self-represented litigants should contact the Judicial Assistant via email at CoDivision5@jud12.flcourts.org, whenever possible, to schedule a motion or other hearing. The opposing party should be copied on the email, and you should advise what motion or hearing you are attempting to schedule and the time you believe will be needed for the hearing/motion, considering how much time you will need and how much time you estimate the opposing party will need.

4. 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.

5. Technology Services

• All technology service requests must be made prior to trial. If presentation equipment or assistance is needed, please review the Technology Services page for more information. It is the attorney/party’s responsibility to obtain all requests or equipment needed for trial. Information about the IT department can be found on the Technology Services page.

6. Case Law and Other Legal Authority

• For any hearing, the party wishing the Court to consider legal authority shall submit their authority via email to CoDivision5@jud12.flcourts.org 3 days prior to the hearing. The email shall include the case number, caption and date of hearing. Please provide opposing counsel with the same authority prior to the hearing. Parties may also submit third copies of the legal authority in-person at the hearing.

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:

CoDivision5@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 shall be submitted to the statewide Portal as is described in Administrative Order 2022-1.2, as it will result in the quickest turnaround time by the Court. The Portal maintains many “how-to” videos.
• Please do not email or send Acknowledgement and Waiver of Rights forms and Pleas in Absentia to the judicial assistant. Instead, file these documents with the clerk in advance of the hearing.
• The Court expects that you will only submit a proposed order when all attorneys or parties agree on its form. If there is a disagreement on the form, or an attorney does not respond within a reasonable time, you may then send the proposed order with a concise statement identifying the disagreement and the specific steps you took. The opposing attorney may submit at the same time an alternate proposed order through the Portal.

• The Court reviews motions and responses directly from the electronic Court file, and for that reason, the Court routinely does not need a courtesy copy. For hearings involving a high number of pages or documents, the Court encourages text searchable electronic copies of the notice of hearing, motion(s), supporting material, and any directly relevant cases, which must be delivered no later than three days prior to the hearing. Please give opposing counsel—and the Court—the opportunity to be prepared to address your motion.

• 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 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 in evidence, please file all paper documents with the clerk at least 3 days prior to the scheduled hearing.
• If you intend to offer any video, or other material that is stored in a cell phone or other electronic device, you must confer with the IT department prior to the trial. Information about the IT department can be found on the Technology Services page. Any such evidence must be presented in a format that, once received into evidence, will remain with the Court.

Criminal Pretrial Conferences

• 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.
• The Pretrial Conference Continuance Form should not be sent to the judicial assistant but rather filed with the Clerk three business days in advance of the hearing.
• 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.

Small Claims Pretrial Conferences

• Appearance in person is required at Small Claims Pretrials. If a plaintiff has not been able to serve all of the defendants in the case, the Court will leave the case open without the necessity of the plaintiff appearing upon request from the plaintiff. It will be the responsibility of the plaintiff to obtain another summons in order to schedule another court date. Zoom is not permitted for Small Claims Pretrials.

Criminal Trials

• 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.

Small Claims Trials

• Small Claims cases will be set for trial at Small Claims Pretrial Conference or by separate order of the Court.

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.

Please do not email or send Acknowledgement and Waiver of Rights forms and Pleas in Absentia to the judicial assistant. Instead, file these documents with the clerk in advance of the hearing.

• 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.

Calendars

• You can obtain monthly court calendars under the Manatee County tab on the Criminal Division page. Please note, calendars are subject to change. Please check back for possible amended calendars.