State v. Stettin

The defendant, Carl J. Germaine, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in the Dade *96County Court in 1975 and was sentenced to pay a fine, which was paid. In 1978 he filed a petition for a writ of error coram nobis in the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit and the circuit court entered a rule nisi directed to the State. Thereafter, the State sought a writ of prohibition in this court, contending that the circuit court, not being the original trial court, could not issue a writ of coram nobis. We issued a rule nisi in prohibition and upon a return consider the cause on the merits.

We…