Requirements & Information

Requirements & Information

Standards of Professionalism

Judge Brewer 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.

All proceedings in front of Judge Brewer are held in person in Courtroom 5B. (See Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, updated January 1, 2017, amended effective July 1, 2024.) This Court permits Zoom expert witness testimony upon agreement of the parties and the submission of an agreed Order. See the Technology Services page to request a Zoom presentation cart.

• All motions must be filed prior to requesting or reserving hearing time.
• All hearings one hour or less in length are to be scheduled through Judicial Automated Calendaring System (JACS). Attorneys are not permitted to schedule back-to-back hearings to acquire a longer block of hearing time.
• All requests for hearing time over one hour must be scheduled with the Judicial Assistant.
• Plea and motion dates are assigned to a specific Assistant State Attorney. The scheduling party must determine which Assistant State Attorney is assigned to a case and schedule his/her plea or motion accordingly. Please consult the judge’s monthly master calendars for assigned days before setting a case for hearing. Any hearing set on a day not assigned to the specific Assistant State Attorney will be canceled.
• The Court is aware it may be necessary to set pleas and motions on dates other than those designated to a specific Assistant State Attorney. However, on such occasions, the scheduling party must contact the assigned Assistant State Attorney for availability to clear the date and time on JACS.
• All hearings are limited to the time reserved. The party opposing the motion is entitled to equal time; therefore, the party reserving and scheduling the hearing must confer with opposing counsel and agree regarding the total amount of time required.
• Once a motion is scheduled, subsequent motions may not be added or cross-noticed without prior approval by opposing counsel and the Court.
• Once a motion is scheduled, another motion shall not be substituted in the event the original motion is canceled or resolved absent prior approval by opposing counsel and the Court.
• The scheduling attorney must submit a copy of the notice of hearing, the motion to be heard, and any relevant supporting documents to which the parties may refer during the hearing. Both parties shall submit any supporting case law prior to the hearing.
• JACS should be used to cancel hearings whenever possible as soon as the scheduling attorney is aware the need for the time no longer exists. However, JACS will block a cancellation when it results in short notice to the parties, usually less than three days’ notice.

Cancellation of Hearings

If a hearing is to be cancelled, the cancelling party should immediately:

• log into JACS and cancel the hearing;
• file a Notice of Cancellation with the Clerk of Court; and
• send a copy of the Notice to the Court, all parties, and affected non-parties.

If JACS will not authorize a cancellation, the party should immediately:

• contact the judicial assistant by telephone or email;
• file a Notice of Cancellation with the Clerk; and
• send a copy of the Notice to the Court, all parties, and affected non-parties.

Please do not call and leave a voicemail of a cancellation, instead email the Judicial Assistant a courtesy copy of the filed Notice of Cancellation and copy all parties.

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. Judge Brewer’s Judicial Assistant can help you schedule a hearing. 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 Sarasota County Clerk’s 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.

Emails are not motions: The Court will not consider an email to be a motion. If any party wants Judge Brewer to take action, the party must file a motion.

Email is strictly a method of communicating basic information and sending documents and is not a medium to state a position, make an argument, or attempt to persuade the Court on a substantive or procedural matter. Emails to the judicial assistant should be devoid of information or statements that are unnecessary, superfluous, irrelevant, or adversarial. Arguments should be confined to letters, motions, memoranda, and legal documents attached to the email. The Judicial Assistant’s email should not be copied with scheduling emails between attorneys and parties.

Mandatory use of the Portal: The Florida Courts E-Filing Authority maintains a single, statewide access point to file court documents known as the E-Filing Portal. Most self-represented litigants (pro se litigants) as well as attorneys must register with the Portal to send and receive court documents as required by Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.516. The Portal maintains many “how-to” videos.

Proposed orders must be submitted through the Portal:

All proposed orders must be submitted through the Portal and submitted in Word format only. If the document is to be recorded (e.g., judgment), there must be a blank space measuring 3 inches by 3 inches at the top right for Clerk’s recording stamp.

All proposed orders must be accompanied by a cover letter in PDF/A format. The submitting attorney must ensure all parties/attorneys receive a courtesy copy of both the proposed Order and cover letter. Further, any proposed attachment to a proposed order must simultaneously be submitted through the Portal in PDF/A format. To recap:

• Proposed orders: Word format only
• Cover letters: PDF/A format only
• Attachments to orders: PDF/A format only

The Portal maintains a number of “how-to” videos, including how to submit a proposed order.

• Access the e-Filing Portal’s “how-to” videos

Judge Brewer 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, you may email the proposed order, in red-line form, to the Judicial Assistant. If opposing counsel does not respond within a reasonable time, you may email the proposed order with a concise statement identifying the specific steps you took to obtain an agreement to the Judicial Assistant. Please do not include a directive such as “hold this proposed order for x days for an objection to be lodged.” The Court will reject proposed orders seeking to put this burden on the Court or the Court's staff.

In the alternative you can mail in the Proposed Order with courtesy copies and stamped envelopes or drop off the Proposed Order on the 8th floor to Court Administration at the Silvertooth Courthouse.

Capias: Please contact the JA for delivery.

The Court only has access to the Clerk’s electronic docket at hearings. If the relevant documents have been filed in the Court’s file at least three business days prior to the hearing, the Court does NOT require courtesy copies. If relevant documents and case law have not been filed in the Court’s file, they are to be provided to the Court no later than three business days prior to the scheduled hearing. Please do not email the Court these materials.

After conferring with opposing counsel on amount of time needed for emergency hearing time, an email and a copy of the motion should be emailed to the JA with a courtesy call. Once received, the Judge will review the motion to determine whether it is an emergency. The JA will notify parties of available hearing times.

Motions/Orders for Release of Uncharged Defendants

Motions to release uncharged defendants must be emailed to the Court and the assigned Assistant State Attorney. The State will have until 4:30 pm of the day a motion was received to respond regarding the State’s intention to file an Information, a Notice of Case Action or no objection to an ROR Order. If the motion is received in the afternoon, the State shall respond by the following business day by 12:00 pm. If the JA does not receive a response from the State Attorney by the specified deadline, a hearing will be set on the next available hearing date.

The Clerk’s office requires evidence admitted during an evidentiary hearing to be in paper format without leave of court. Unless the Court instructs you otherwise, please provide the Court’s Judicial Assistant two paper sets of all evidence at least two business days before the hearing/trial. One set will become the official exhibits Judge Brewer delivers to the Clerk. The other set will be for Judge Brewer’s use. Unless the Court directs otherwise, the State should mark their exhibits ahead of time as “State 1, 2, 3, etc.,” and the Defense/Defendant should mark their exhibits ahead of time as “Defense A, B, C, etc.”

Electronic Evidence & Technology

There are two basic considerations you should keep in mind when planning on using electronic evidence. First, whether the Court has the electronic capability to review the electronic evidence in the Courtroom. Second, how the Clerk will “receive” the electronic evidence. Wherever possible, please convert your electronic evidence into paper format and introduce the paper copy. For instance, electronic pictures, text messages, and the like can be printed out and introduced into evidence. If you have electronic evidence that cannot be converted into paper format — e.g., video files — please place all such files onto a single thumb drive when possible. You are still responsible to broadcasting the electronic evidence within the Courtroom. If you have concerns or requests on the Court's electronic capabilities, please visit  the Technology Services page.

Case management hearings are held at 9:30 am on Thursday’s (check monthly calendars for judicial conferences/vacation schedule). Attorneys and Defendants are expected to appear “in person” in the courtroom. The presence of defendants at Case Management is mandatory unless excused by the Court or Defendant has personally signed a Waiver of Appearance at case management per the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure and case law.

The Court considers CMCs to be significant, meaningful proceedings. The Court expects the State to have provided the Defense with a Discovery Response, the Criminal Punishment Code Scoresheet and plea offer with sufficient time for review prior to the CMC so that Defense counsel may review the Discovery, confer with the client and convey the plea offer.

If the parties stipulate to a trial date, they must use the approved Stipulation for Trial Date. Stipulation forms are also available in the courtroom. The stipulation must be completely filled out and contain the Defendant’s signature. If the parties cannot agree on a trial date, the Court will select one. Stipulations for trial may be completed and submitted to the Court in advance of Case Management.

Docket Sounding

Docket Sounding is held two weeks before the trial period. No motions of any kind (oral or written), 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 a case is ready for trial the attorneys shall be prepared to advise the Court as to how many days the trial will last (including jury selection), whether speedy trial is an issue, and any potential calendar conflicts. Counsel must comply with trial deadlines and have motions heard prior to trial. Contact the JA if hearing time is unavailable on JACS.

Pleas

Counsel are encouraged to discuss and to agree on pleas that may be entered by a defendant. However, ultimate responsibility for sentence determination rests with the trial judge. Negotiated pleas are subject to the court’s approval.

Plea Cut-Off Date

The negotiated plea cut-off date for all cases on a trial docket is the Friday of the docket sounding week. The Court may extend the negotiated plea cut-off date due to extenuating circumstances.

Score Sheets

Score sheets must be completed in full (or to the extent possible on an open plea) so that, at most, only the judge’s signature will be required.

To access preferred forms, visit the Criminal Division page.

Court Interpreter

It is counsel’s responsibility to notify the Court Interpreters Office of the need for a foreign language interpreter for court proceedings. Due to the limited number of on-site and contractual court interpreters, attorneys must request and schedule interpreter services at least five business days in advance. See the Court Interpreters page.