Florida District Courts of Appeal, 2025

Timothy Nelson Butler v. State of Florida

Timothy Nelson Butler v. State of Florida
Florida District Courts of Appeal · Decided December 3, 2025

Timothy Nelson Butler v. State of Florida

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida Opinion filed December 3, 2025.

Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________ No. 3D25-2281 Lower Tribunal No. F00-36825 ________________

Timothy Nelson Butler, Petitioner, vs. State of Florida, Respondent.

A Case of Original Jurisdiction – Habeas Corpus.

Timothy Nelson Butler, in proper person.

James Uthmeier, Attorney General, for respondent.

Before FERNANDEZ, MILLER, and GOODEN, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Timothy Nelson Butler petitions this Court for a writ of habeas corpus attacking his 2005 conviction for attempted armed robbery and attempted felony murder based upon manifest injustice. See Baker v. State, 878 So. 2d 1236, 1246 (Fla. 2004) (Anstead, C.J, specially concurring) (“That writ is enshrined in our Constitution to be used as a means to correct manifest injustices and its availability for use when all other remedies have been exhausted has served our society well over many centuries. This Court will, of course, remain alert to claims of manifest injustice, as will all Florida courts.”); Lightner v. State, 306 So. 3d 1019, 1021 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020) (“Under Florida law, appellate courts have the authority to correct a manifest injustice by way of habeas corpus.”). “Nevertheless, this exception only applies to a narrow category of cases.” Leach v. State, 406 So. 3d 272 (Fla. 3d DCA 2025). But the “mere incantation of the words ‘manifest injustice’ does not make it so.” Beiro v. State, 289 So. 3d 511, 511 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019). Finding this case does not fall within this narrow exception and no manifest injustice occurred, we deny the petition.

Petition denied.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.