Fiduciary duties, contempt, marital liabilities, and coffee-garlic marinated bison with grilled fennel and rosemary

Contracts -- Real property -- Escrow agent -- Fiduciary duty -- Action against defendant escrow agent alleging that defendant breached fiduciary duty owed to plaintiff by distributing escrow funds to third-party developer for purposes not authorized in purchase agreement between developer and plaintiff, but which were authorized in escrow agreement between developer and defendant -- No error in granting summary judgment in favor of defendant -- There was no genuine issue of material fact about whether plaintiff's counsel negotiated, or had authority to negotiate, the escrow agreement -- Counsel's authority to negotiate terms of escrow agreement was immaterial to plaintiff's claims because defendant owed no duty to plaintiff who was not a party to the escrow agreement -- No genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether defendant had authority to disburse the escrow funds -- Fact that escrow agreement had not been fully executed when funds were transferred did not alter defendant's obligations as escrow agent because defendant's execution of the escrow agreement was not a condition precedent to implementing the terms of the agreement. CARTER DEVELOPMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS, LLC, Appellant, v. G. ALAN HOWARD and MILAM HOWARD NICANDRI DEES & GILLAM, P.A., Appellees. 1st District.


Dissolution of marriage -- Contempt -- Trial court erred by holding former husband in contempt for failure to pay alimony and child support pursuant to a marital settlement agreement entered into by parties in a dissolution action five years earlier which had been dismissed without the court having approved or adopted the agreement -- Trial court's conclusion that doctrine of laches has been abolished in Florida is legally incorrect -- Terms of settlement agreement may not be enforced nunc pro tunc five years later via contempt, as opposed to enforcement in an ordinary civil money judgment for the months of non-compliance prior to filing of current dissolution action. VINCENT J. THILLOY, Appellant, v. ANN M. CICCONE-CAPRI, Appellee. 3rd District.


Dissolution of marriage -- Equitable distribution -- Marital liabilities -- Loans -- Trial court erred in ruling that former wife had no obligations as to a loan given to the parties by former husband's mother during the marriage -- Trial court must treat the debt as a marital liability and order distribution of it accordingly where trial court made no finding of misconduct, failed to consider the factors listed in section 61.075(1), and failed to articulate a sufficient justification to allocate the loan solely to former husband -- On remand, trial court need not make any determinations as to the true value of the promissory note securing the loan where issue was not previously put before the trial court. DENNIS K. BURNS, Former Husband, Appellant, v. CYNTHIA S. COLE, Former Wife, Appellee. 1st District.


Dissolution of marriage -- Judgment -- Trial court, under facts of case, did not abuse discretion in adopting wife's proposed final judgment where both parties were represented by counsel, husband was given a copy of wife's proposed final judgment, trial court signed wife's proposed final judgment two-and-a-half months after receiving competing orders, husband raised no objections to proposed judgment, and trial court's hand-written notations on judgment before signing it implicate court's independent evaluation of submitted findings -- Record supports conclusion that trial court exercised independent decision-making where court actively participated in final hearing -- Moreover, husband, who failed to raise an objection to wife's proposed final judgment on rehearing, cannot for first time on appeal raise an objection to proposed final judgment based upon court's “virtually verbatim” adoption of proposed judgment -- Child custody -- Trial court abused discretion in awarding sole parental responsibility to wife where wife did not request sole parental responsibility and there is no “logical or reasonable justification” for award that would support conclusion that shared parental responsibility was detrimental to minor children -- On remand, trial court is instructed to amend final judgment to award shared parental responsibility, and to remove all findings and inflammatory remarks related to issue of parental responsibility -- Domestic violence injunction -- To extent final judgment grants wife what amounts to a de facto domestic violence injunction against husband, trial court acted without proper statutory authority where record is devoid of any facts showing wife had standing to file petition for domestic violence or showing husband was provided notice and hearing before entry of injunction -- Life insurance -- Trial court erred in requiring husband, who is receiving child support, to name wife as beneficiary to his existing life insurance, absent appropriate circumstances requiring him to maintain such policy -- Husband's advanced age of seventy with two minor children does not qualify as a special or appropriate circumstance. BENJAMIN A. MUSGRAVE, Appellant, v. LYNN M. MUSGRAVE, Appellee. 2nd District.


Dissolution of marriage -- Property settlement agreement -- Enforcement -- Jurisdiction -- Scope of family court's continuing jurisdiction -- Family court judge erred in awarding money damages for husband's breach of parties' settlement agreement where the agreement did not specify the damages sought by former wife and awarded by the court -- Award of damages for husband's delayed delivery of stock and failure to deliver accurate tax information, together with injunction intended to secure the payment of those damages, reversed. TODD KOZEL, Appellant, v. ASHLEY D. KOZEL, Appellee. 2nd District.


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Contempt, limitation of actions, indemnity, and beef medallions with portobello mushroom-fresh rosemary sauce on a bed of cauliflower mash

Adoption -- Circuit court erred in entering order requiring adoption agency to conduct a diligent search for putative father of child placed with agency for adoption -- Adoption agency is not required to serve a notice of intended adoption plan on a putative father unless the mother has first identified a known and locatable unmarried biological father by the date the mother signs her consent for adoption -- Agency is not required to conduct a diligent search for the putative father unless the mother has identified a potential father by the time she signs the consent for adoption -- Court's sua sponte questioning of mother as to identity of potential father five months after she had consented to termination of parental rights and adoption was a violation of mother's privacy rights

CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF FLORIDA, Appellant, v. V. D., IN RE: THE MATTER OF TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS FOR THE PROPOSED ADOPTION OF A MINOR CHILD, Appellee. 1st District.

Appeals -- Belated appeal of order dismissing petition for writ of mandamus -- Court has no authority to grant belated appeal in civil proceeding

MORRIS FAIN, Petitioner, v. FLORIDA COMMISSION ON OFFENDER REVIEW, Respondent. 1st District.

Civil procedure -- Relief from judgment -- Motion for relief from judgment on basis of fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct was untimely where it was brought more than one year after entry of judgment -- Motion for relief from judgment on basis that judgment was void fails where judgment was not void -- So long as court has jurisdiction over the subject matter and over defendant, a procedural defect occurring before entry of judgment does not render the judgment void

LIDIA E. CONTRERAS, Appellant, vs. NELSON E. MENDEZ, Appellee. 3rd District.

Civil procedure -- Summary judgment -- Notice of summary judgment evidence on which adverse party intends to rely -- Trial court properly interpreted rule 1.510 as requiring adverse party to file notice in response to a motion for summary judgment even if the evidence upon which it seeks to rely is already in the record -- Insurance -- Personal injury protection -- Coverage -- Medical expenses -- Reasonable, related and necessary treatment -- Trial court did not err in finding that insurer did not satisfy rule 1.510(c) by filing, during discovery, a doctor's affidavit stating affiant's conclusion that portions of treatment were not reasonable, related, or medically necessary, which was accompanied by notice stating insurer's intent to rely upon the affidavit “for any purpose permitted pursuant to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and Florida Evidence Code” -- Circuit court acting in its appellate capacity did not depart from essential requirements of law by affirming county court ruling

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Petitioner, v. FIGLER FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC, P.A., A/A/O LINDA MANNERS, Respondent. 4th District.

Contracts -- Asset purchase agreement -- Sale of insurance agency -- Unjust enrichment -- Conversion -- Trial court should have directed verdict on seller's claim for unjust enrichment against buyers where there was express agreement between seller and buyers -- Individual defendant could not be held personally liable for breach of agreement by buyers' agency where evidence did not establish that she personally benefitted beyond the amount awarded for buyers' agency's breach of contract or that she benefitted separate and apart from the agency -- Trial court should have granted defendants' motion for judgment notwithstanding verdict on conversion claim where jury awarded finite amount of damages for defendants' breach of contract, and there was no evidence that seller sustained any additional damages as result of conversion of other assets

VALERIE FULTON, FULTON INSURANCE AGENCY, INC., and DEAN C. FULTON, Appellants, v. JUDITH BRANCATO, Appellee. 4th District.

Contracts -- Settlement agreement -- Where, in plaintiff's action against bank for breach of employment agreement, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and declaratory and injunctive relief, parties reached settlement agreement for certain payments to be made to plaintiff, with proposed payments to be submitted to federal regulatory entities for approval of payment terms within six months, the payment terms of the agreement were not enforceable when regulatory approval was not received within six months -- Trial court erred in granting defendants' motion to enforce settlement agreement upon finding that the six-month period in the agreement referred to a period of non-litigation rather than an expiration date of the agreement

DANIEL T. HESTER, an individual, Appellant, v. FLORIDA CAPITAL GROUP, INC., a Florida corporation; CHARLES E. HUGHES, an individual; and J. MALCOLM JONES, JR., an individual, Appellees. 2nd District.

Creditors' rights -- Fraudulent transfers -- Limitation of actions -- For purpose of Florida Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act's provision that a claim of fraudulent transfer is extinguished unless brought within 4 years after the transfer was made or, if later, within 1 year after the transfer was or could reasonably have been discovered, the one-year savings clause is triggered by a creditor's discovery of the transfer rather than by the creditor's discovery of the facts showing the transfer to have been fraudulent -- Statute is a statute of repose which is not subject to an assertion of equitable estoppel

NATIONAL AUTO SERVICE CENTERS, INC., a Florida corporation; NATIONAL AUTO PROPERTIES, INC., a Florida corporation; LEONARD D. LEVIN, individually; CAROL LEVIN, individually; DURANT HOLDINGS, LLC; and BEDFORD INVESTMENTS, LLC, Appellants, v. F/R 550, LLC, a Florida limited liability company; and F/R 3329, LLC, a Florida limited liability company, Appellees. 2nd District.

Criminal law -- Contempt -- Jurors -- Competent substantial evidence supports convictions for contempt by juror who, during voir dire, concealed and failed to disclose his ex-wife's DUI arrest and, against the instructions of the trial court that jurors not conduct their own investigations, conducted a drinking experiment on himself to test the impairment effects of alcohol

DENNIS DeMARTIN, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. 4th District.

Criminal law -- Discovery -- Appeals -- Certiorari -- Where defense had issued subpoenas duces tecum to various third parties without permission of trial court and without notifying state of its intent to issue the subpoenas, and state, upon discovering that the subpoenas had been issued, filed a motion to compel production of all evidence produced pursuant to the illegal subpoenas, state is not entitled to writ of certiorari to have appellate court quash trial court order finding that state was not entitled to copies of all documents provided pursuant to the subpoenas, but only to those documents which were intended to be used at any hearing or trial -- State is not entitled to issuance of writ of certiorari because state has failed to demonstrate irreparable harm

THE STATE OF FLORIDA, Petitioner, vs. WESLEY FOLEY, Respondent. 3rd District.

Criminal law -- First degree murder -- Evidence -- Hearsay -- Trial court erred when it admitted into evidence an audio recording of statement made to police by person who implicated defendant in crime -- Admission of testimony violated right to confrontation of witnesses where statement was testimonial in nature and witness was not available or subject to prior cross-examination -- Trial court was within its discretion in finding that witness's refusal to testify rendered him an unavailable witness -- Fact that defendant had opportunity to cross-examine witness during pretrial discovery deposition does not satisfy cross-examination requirement of Crawford v. Washington -- Error not harmless

HECTOR JOSUE VAZQUEZ PADILLA, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. 2nd District.

Criminal law -- Meritless pro se filings -- Clerk of Court directed to reject any future pleadings or other requests for relief submitted by defendant unless such filings are signed by a member in good standing of The Florida Bar -- Clerk of Court directed to forward certified copy of opinion to Department of Corrections institution or facility where defendant is incarcerated

OTIS D. BLAXTON, Petitioner, vs. STATE OF FLORIDA, Respondent. Supreme Court of Florida.

Dissolution of marriage -- Child custody -- Although trial court's factual findings supported provision that husband would have sole parental responsibility for decisions relating to children's education and medical care, final judgment failed to include specific finding that shared parental responsibility would be detrimental to children

DENISE COLLINS, Appellant, v. DWAYNE COLLINS, SR., Appellee. 5th District.

Dissolution of marriage -- Child support -- Trial court erred in ordering that parties be equally responsible for payment of all non-covered medical expenses for children where this allocation conflicts with allocation of parties' relative financial responsibility for child support -- As general rule, if non-covered medical expenses are ordered to be separately paid, absent some logically established rationale in the final judgment to the contrary, they must be allocated in the same percentage as the child support allocation

KELLY M. DEMMI, Former Wife, Appellant, v. MARK S. DEMMI, Former Husband, Appellee. 1st District.

Dissolution of marriage -- Equitable distribution -- Marital/non-marital assets -- Prenuptial agreement -- Error to include as marital asset in equitable distribution scheme the portion of value of former husband's premarital home attributable to appreciation and contribution of marital funds to pay down home equity line of credit and mortgage where prenuptial agreement provided that husband would be entitled to any and all equity in premarital home and that wife would not be entitled to any interest in home unless granted such interest in a formal written instrument -- Child custody -- Parenting plan -- Error to fail to incorporate into amended final judgment the amended parenting plan that trial court ordered on rehearing from original final judgment -- Interrelated issue of attorney's fees may be revisited on remand

ANTHONY FELICE, Appellant, v. MELISSA FELICE, Appellee. 2nd District.

Dissolution of marriage -- Modification of parenting plan -- Service of process -- Error to deny motion to quash service of process and to set aside order granting former wife's motion to modify timesharing and child support on the basis that former husband's counsel's general appearance constituted a waiver of service -- Attorney's filing of general notice of appearance in order to conduct a review of trial court files in case did not constitute a waiver of service of process -- An after-the-fact general appearance does not waive a defect in the service of process related to a supplemental modification petition

MANUEL E. SALINAS, Appellant, vs. KRISTIN N. PASCARIELLO, Appellee. 3rd District.

Employer-employee relations -- Civil rights -- Claims alleging wrongful retaliatory termination of employment under Florida Whistleblower Act and Florida Civil Rights Act -- Trial court properly entered summary judgment for defendant upon determining that plaintiff cannot establish that the grounds for his termination were causally linked to protected activity, and that employer evidenced a pretextual reason for his termination

ELADIO GONZALEZ, Appellant, vs. NORTHWINGS ACCESSORIES CORP., etc., Appellee. 3rd District.

Injunctions -- Dating violence -- Error to enter injunction against dating violence where there was insufficient evidence of reasonable cause to believe that petitioner was in imminent danger of another act of dating violence

VICTOR NUILA, Appellant, v. CRYSTAL STOLP, Appellee. 5th District.

Insurance -- Personal injury protection -- Coverage -- Medical expenses -- Statutory fee schedules -- Clear and unambiguous notice to insured of insurer's intent to determine reasonableness by reference to Medicare fee schedules -- Language of policy endorsement stating that amounts payable “shall be subject to any and all limitations, authorized by section 627.736, or any other provisions of the Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law, as enacted, amended or otherwise contained in the law, including but not limited to, all fee schedules” gave insureds and their respective medical care providers legally sufficient notice of insured's election to use Medicare fee schedules

ALLSTATE INDEMNITY COMPANY, Appellant, v. MARKLEY CHIROPRACTIC & ACUPUNCTURE, LLC, as assignee of Ilene Chavez, Appellee. 2nd District.

Insurance -- Sinkhole claims -- Multi-building condominium property -- Insured prevailing in action against insurer -- Costs -- Trial court abused its discretion in including reimbursement for public adjuster and property management fees in taxable costs, as property management fees and public adjuster fees were not litigation costs -- Trial court erred in awarding as taxable cost various expenses and fees incurred in appraisal process where policy required insured to pay its own appraiser and bear equal share of umpire and other appraisal expenses -- Attorney's fees -- Multiplier -- Error to apply contingency risk multiplier where fee agreement guaranteed payment at a lesser hourly rate, which mitigated the risk of nonpayment, and evidence showed that attorney had been paid under the contract -- Trial court erred by limiting recovery of attorney's fees and prejudgment interest to only one building where suit encompassed other buildings in condominium complex

CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE CORP., Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. RIVER OAKS CONDOMINIUM II ASSOCIATION, INC., a/k/a RIVER OAKS II CONDO ASSOCIATION, INC., Appellee/Cross-Appellant. 2nd District.

Torts -- Indemnity -- Indemnity provision in agreement between automobile distributor and carrier of automobiles, which included the words “in whole or in part,” did not contain clear and unequivocal terms providing that carrier would indemnify distributor for distributor's own acts of negligence where parties were held jointly liable for the underlying personal injury -- Trial court erred in granting summary judgment finding that language in agreement was sufficiently unequivocal to require carrier to indemnify distributor for distributor's own negligence

ATC LOGISTICS CORPORATION, A/K/A ATC LOGISTICS, INC., Appellant, v. SOUTHEAST TOYOTA DISTRIBUTORS, LLC, et al. Appellees. 1st District.

Wrongful death -- Medical malpractice -- Limitation of actions -- No error in dismissing complaint as time-barred where plaintiff alleged in her presuit notice of intent to initiate litigation that the family and estate of decedent discovered defendants' negligence on the date of decedent's death, a date which was more than two years prior to date complaint was filed -- Plaintiff was bound by statement in notice of intent -- No merit to plaintiff's contention that complaint was timely filed because she not only served her first notice of intent one day prior to expiration of limitations period, but also petitioned for extensions of the limitations period -- Ninety-day period during which statute of limitations is tolled following service of notice of intent commences on date notice is received, rather than date notice is mailed -- Because none of defendants received notice of intent until after statute of limitations expired, plaintiff could not revive it by filing petition for extension of limitations period

GINA MARIE BOVE, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Anthony Bove, deceased, Appellant, v. NAPLES HMA, LLC, d/b/a PHYSICIANS REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER-PINE RI

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Child support, imputed income, attorney fees, and grilled grassfed sirlion, rosemary, garlic, and brussel sprouts sauteed in walnut oil

Child support -- Modification -- Administrative support order -- Trial court fundamentally erred when it reduced father's monthly child support obligations without notice or hearing

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, o/b/o Loretta Sermon, Cherral Smith, and Yata Frichelle Canty, Appellant, v. GEORGE BAKER, Appellee. 2nd District.

Civil procedure -- Discovery -- Attorney-client privilege -- Trial court departed from essential requirements of law in compelling production of attorney-client privileged documents on basis that documents were relevant and contained information that could not reasonably be obtained from another source -- Unlike the work product doctrine, attorney-client privilege is not defeated by an opponent's showing of relevance and necessity
FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, Petitioner, v. MARK W. HICKS, Respondent. 4th District.

Contracts -- Attorneys -- Fees -- Dispute between trial attorneys and appellate attorneys regarding amount of fees due to appellate attorneys pursuant to “trial support agreement” for appellate attorneys to help trial attorneys steer clear of reversible error during course of trial -- Under contract provision which entitled appellate attorneys to two and one-half percent of gross recovery if case was settled after appellate attorneys were requested to take any action in preparation of a response to or drafting a motion for new trial, appellate attorneys were entitled to two and one-half percent of the gross recovery where judgment against defendants in case was appealed, appellate court affirmed judgment with the exception of a setoff amount that should have been deducted from judgment, and defendants then agreed to pay the judgment minus the setoff and obtain a satisfaction of the judgment -- In ruling that the fee belonged to trial attorneys, trial court erroneously reasoned that the word “settled” means voluntary resolution of the dispute between the parties via a settlement agreement, and that a trial and its attendant verdict and judgment does not equate to a settlement agreement -- Within context of entire agreement, the word “settled” means the resolution of the lawsuit by final decision or payment or satisfaction of the judgment previously rendered -- Trial court also erred in finding that appellate attorneys materially breached the agreement by advancing an interpretation that differed from trial attorneys' interpretation

BURLINGTON & ROCKENBACH, P.A., ETC., Appellant, v. LAW OFFICES OF E. CLAY PARKER, ETC., ET AL., Appellees. 5th District.

Contracts -- Lease of commercial property -- Action by landlord against tenant after tenant terminated lease and vacated property because of an allegedly illegal drainage of storm water from property -- Trial court properly entered judgment for landlord after court made no finding that there were any illegal conditions on property -- Tenant is not entitled to terminate lease based on theory of constructive eviction unless premises are unsafe, unfit, or unsuitable for occupancy for purposes for which they were leased -- Damages -- Damages were not subject to limitation pursuant to early termination clause in addendum to lease where tenant did not give notice of its intention to vacate property within period specified by clause -- Where landlord leased property to another tenant at a lower rate after tenant's vacation of property, tenant is liable for rent plus sales and property taxes and insurance not paid by the new tenant for remaining term of the lease

GRIFFIN INDUSTRIES, LLC, a foreign limited liability company, Appellant, v. DIXIE SOUTHLAND CORPORATION, a Florida corporation, Appellee. 4th District.

Contracts -- Profit participation agreements -- Dispute arising out of agreements whereby parties purchased commercial shopping center properties and subsequently entered into preliminary profit participation agreements to establish rights and responsibilities for the completion of the purchase, and post-closing profit participation agreements which provided that each participant would receive portion of net cash flow and net proceeds, after reimbursement of owner's outstanding capital, including compounded return on investment -- Fraud -- Plaintiffs' action against defendants for fraud and breach of contract based on defendants' having misrepresented, in preliminary PPAs, that they would not receive portion of brokerage commission was not extinguished by merger clause in subsequent PPAs -- Existence of merger clause does not prevent cause of action for fraud -- Moreover, merger clause was limited to those representations relating to participation interests and did not cover representations with respect to commissions paid at closing of sales of property -- Further, preliminary PPAs stated that they were controlling instruments until closing, and once closing took place, there was no reason to include representation of “no commission” in PPAs -- Accounting -- Declaratory judgment -- No error in concluding that counterclaimants were entitled to accounting to determine net cash flow and whether distributions were owing from respective shopping centers -- Trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining that counterclaim-defendants were not responsible for further accounting at their expense but that, instead, were to furnish financial records on properties to counterclaimants at their request to complete an updated accounting, should they so desire -- No abuse of discretion in requiring that accounting of net proceeds be made upon refinancing or sale of property -- Trial court did not err in concluding that there was no obligation, either express or implied, on part of counterclaim-defendant to furnish financial information to counterclaimants for purpose of determining whether counterclaimants would make an offer to purchase property -- Moreover, trial court properly found that claim to an accounting to enable counterclaimants to create an advantageous offer to purchase properties based on 1995 prices was not raised in pleadings

HARRY HAHAMOVITCH, HHH DEVELOPMENT GROUP, INC., HHH FINANCIAL CORPORATION, INC., SOUTH SQUARE DEVELOPMENT, INC. and PLAZA LA MER, INC., Appellants, v. DELRAY PROPERTY INVESTMENTS, INC., SOSQ PROPERTY INVESTMENTS, INC., HATIM HASHWANI and ROBERT GEISERMAN, Appellees. 4th District.

Costs -- Defendant was denied due process when costs were assessed against it without a written motion for costs and without providing defendant an opportunity to be heard

MEDICAL SPECIALISTS OF TAMPA BAY, LLC, Appellant, v. DAVID KELLY, Appellee. 2nd District.

Creditors' rights -- Garnishment -- Service of process on garnishee LLC was defective where writ of garnishment was served on an hourly employee who is not an officer or manager, who does not supervise other personnel, who does not have any direct client contact, and who is not the registered agent for service of process -- There is no merit to contention that employee was a business agent authorized to accept service of process -- Trial court erred in denying motion to quash service of process

MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY, LLC, Appellant, v. GIBRALTAR PRIVATE BANK & TRUST CO., Appellee. 3rd District.

Dissolution of marriage -- Imputed income -- Evidence supported finding that husband was voluntarily unemployed -- Amount of income imputed to husband was unsupported by specific findings regarding husband's occupational qualifications and prevailing earning levels for similar positions within relevant community -- Child support -- No error in failing to decrease amount of child support proportionately as each child reaches majority -- Child support guidelines do not require that reduction be made on proportionate basis -- Error to require husband to maintain life insurance as security for child support without making findings of fact regarding necessity, cost, and availability of life insurance -- Equitable distribution plan to be corrected to eliminate improper double-counting of 529 College Savings Plan, which was added to husband's assets as an independent asset and also included in another account awarded to husband

GLENN ROBERT BROGA, Appellant, v. LINDA MARIE BROGA, Appellee. 1st District.

Dissolution of marriage -- Income -- Attorney's fees -- Trial court abused discretion by imputing income equal to minimum wage for a forty-hour workweek to former wife, without considering her pay from Army Reserves, while including in husband's income his pension and disability benefits in addition to a full-time imputed minimum wage -- It was improper to consider former husband's secondary sources of income while ignoring former wife's -- It was error to award former wife attorney's fees where no evidence supported the reasonableness of the fee award -- On remand, trial court to conduct evidentiary hearing on reasonableness of fees
ROGER HARRIS, Appellant, v. MARY L. HARRIS, Appellee. 5th District.


Injunctions -- Repeat violence -- Modification -- Where respondent was incarcerated and properly brought to trial court's attention his desire to appear telephonically for hearing, and trial court noted that respondent was to appear telephonically but failed to issue order directed to Department of Corrections requiring respondent to appear telephonically at specified time and date, trial court erred in denying motion for modification of injunction when respondent failed to appear telephonically on date of hearing -- Remand for further proceedings
JERRY W. HAVENNER, Appellant, v. DEBORA HUTCHINSON, Appellee. 1st District.

Injunctions -- Stalking -- Cyberstalking -- Error to enter final judgment of injunction for protection against stalking where evidence did not establish two incidents of stalking -- Single blog posting disclosing petitioner's involvement in affair with respondent's husband not sufficient to support injunction

MELISSA LEACH, Appellant, v. TARA MICHELLE KERSEY, Appellee. 2nd District.

Mandamus -- Criminal law -- Parole -- Challenge to continued suspension of presumptive parole release date by Commission on Offender Review -- Permitting sentencing court to raise objections to petitioner's release on parole pursuant to section 947.1745(6) did not violate ex post facto clauses of state and federal constitutions, although statute was not in existence at time petitioner was convicted
WILLIAM INMON, Petitioner, v. FLORIDA COMMISSION ON OFFENDER REVIEW, Respondent. 1st District.


Name change -- Petition for name change was facially insufficient where petitioner, a state prisoner, admitted that his civil rights were suspended -- Claim that denial of petition substantially burdens exercise of religion, in violation of federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, is without merit -- RLUIPA does not apply to claim brought under state statute that applies to all persons petitioning for name change, not merely those incarcerated within correctional institution
JESSE C. HARRELL a/k/a JESSE CLEVELAND HUNTER, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. 4th District.


Torts -- Automobile accident -- Attorney's fees -- Proposal for settlement -- Proposal for settlement by one plaintiff which would resolve loss of consortium claim of offering plaintiff's husband in addition to claim of offering plaintiff was a joint proposal, and was invalid because it did not apportion the amount between the plaintiffs
VALERIE AUDIFFRED, Petitioner, v. THOMAS B. ARNOLD, Respondent. Supreme Court of Florida.


Torts -- Automobile accident -- Rear-end collision -- Damages -- Mental anguish and financial hardship -- Trial court erred in allowing evidence regarding mental anguish plaintiff suffered from defendant's desire to leave accident scene, a minor auto collision, defendant's failure to apologize to plaintiff, and defendant's delay in admitting negligence until just prior to trial and in admitting evidence of plaintiff's financial problems following accident -- Error cannot be considered harmless under new standard announced by supreme court in Special v. West Boca Medical Center where plaintiff cannot prove that there is no reasonable possibility that error complained of contributed to verdict in which jury awarded over $1 million in damages to plaintiff whom testimony revealed had pre-existing symptoms similar to those he claimed in instant case -- Damages -- Set-off -- Collateral source -- Unemployment compensation benefits are not specifically listed in collateral source statute and cannot be interpreted as a collateral source under any of its provisions -- Trial court erred in setting off those benefits from final judgment
YEINSON TORRES HURTADO and VIVIANA HURTADO ESCOBAR, Appellants, v. NIGEL DESOUZA, Appellee. 4th District.


Torts -- Dismissal -- Appeal from written order denying motion to dismiss without differentiating between grounds for dismissal asserted in motion, which sought dismissal for failure to state cause of action and for lack of personal jurisdiction -- Error to deny motion to dismiss without affording parties opportunity for full hearing on merits of defendant's jurisdictional objection
BLOGWIRE HUNGARY SZELLEMI ALKOTáST HASZNOSíTó, KFT, a/k/a GAWKER MEDIA, Appellant, v. TERRY GENE BOLLEA, p/k/a HULK HOGAN; HEATHER CLEM; GAWKER MEDIA, LLC, a/k/a GAWKER MEDIA; NICK DENTON; A.J. DAULERIO; and GAWKER MEDIA GROUP, INC., a/k/a GAWKER MEDIA, Appellees. 2nd District.


Torts -- Negligent hiring and retention -- Attorney's fees -- Proposal for settlement -- Joint proposal for settlement by two defendants was invalid where it did not apportion the amount attributable to each offeror -- It was error to award attorney's fees to defendant pursuant to offer of judgment statute
ANCEL PRATT, JR., Petitioner, v. MICHAEL C. WEISS, D.O., et al., Respondents. Supreme Court of Florida.

Torts -- Workers' compensation immunity -- Action by subcontractor's employee against defendant that rented scissor lifts to other subcontractors on project -- Because defendant was not a subcontractor, it was error to grant summary judgment for defendant on the basis of horizontal immunity under workers' compensation law
WILSON CICERON and ROSIE CICERON, his wife, Appellants, v. SUNBELT RENTALS, INC., Appellee. 4th District.


Trusts -- Reformation of revocable trust -- Trust is subject to reformation to correct draftsman's error in failing to include schedule of beneficial interests -- Trial court erred in finding that trust was never created and was void ab initio because there were no definite beneficiaries of the purported trust -- Trust was valid and subject to reformation where it clearly designated settlor as beneficiary during her lifetime -- Although, in absence of reformation, failure of trust to designate any remainder beneficiaries would result in merger so that successor trustee would hold trust assets upon a resulting trust for the benefit of decedent's estate, that does not mean that reformation to supply names of remainder beneficiaries is unavailable -- Reformation of a trust is available to avoid what would otherwise result in a merger
DENISE L. MEGIEL-ROLLO, Individually and as Trustee of the P.M. REVOCABLE TRUST dated July 29, 1997, Appellant, v. SHARON J. MEGIEL, ROBERT MICHAEL MEGIEL, DANIEL MEGIEL, and ANDREA MEGIEL, Appellees. 2nd District.



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