Gotowala v. State

We reverse the trial court’s denial of defendant’s petition to seal his criminal record and remand for further proceedings. Here, the trial court summarily denied the petition despite the fact that defendant complied with all of the requirements of section 943.059(1), Florida Statutes (2013) and Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.692, and the State filed a written response of no objection. While the trial court has broad discretion under section 943.059 to deny a petition to seal criminal records, this discretion is not unlimited.1 Here, the trial court’s summary denial of the petition…