Request for Public Records After the Death Warrant Has Been Signed

In Sims v. State, 753 So. 2d 66 (Fla. 2000), the court addressed the issue of public records where the request is made after the death warrant has been signed: The language of section 119.19 and of rule 3.852 clearly provides for the production of public records after the governor has signed a death warrant. However, it is equally clear that this discovery tool is not intended to be a procedure authorizing a fishing expedition for records unrelated to a colorable claim for postconviction relief. . . . . . . Rule 3.852 is not intended for use by defendants as, in the words of the trial court, "nothing more than an eleventh hour attempt to delay the execution rather than a focused investigation into some legitimate area of inquiry." Id. at 70. Thus, a defendant must show how the requested records relate to a colorable claim for postconviction relief and good cause as to why the public records request was not made until after the death warrant was signed. See Glock, 776 So. 2d at 254; Bryan v. State, 748 So. 2d 1003, 1006 (Fla. 1999).