Michael T. Rivera v. State of Florida

Summary

The court affirmed the denial of Rivera’s second successive motion for postconviction relief. It held that the trial court acted within its discretion in enforcing the page limit, that the failure to conduct a case-management hearing was harmless because the motion was meritless, and that Rivera was not entitled to retroactive relief under the later capital-sentencing decisions because his judgment became final before the relevant constitutional decision. The court also held that Rivera’s renewed DNA claim was procedurally barred and meritless, and that his inadequately developed Eighth Amendment claim failed on the merits.