7 results for 'judge:"Boatwright"'.
J. Boatwright finds the trial court improperly granted summary judgment to the homeowner in the lawn services company employee's slip-and-fall lawsuit claiming he stepped on dark-colored algae on the homeowner's deck and fell while at the home to apply herbicide and fertilizer. There are genuine disputes of fact over whether the homeowner properly maintained his deck and warned others of its condition, as well as whether the employee was technically injured while performing his contracted work, so summary judgment was inappropriate and the case is remanded for further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Boatwright, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 23-0324, Categories: Premises Liability
J. Boatwright finds the trial court improperly dismissed the property owner's civil complaint alleging assault, battery and other charges against his ex-girlfriend connected to an incident in which her cousin attacked the owner after they broke into a condo in Belize the ex-girlfriend and the owner had previously shared during their relationship. Despite the fact that the owner initially filed his complaint in Belize, he subsequently filed it in Brevard County, Florida, and in part because both he and the ex-girlfriend have acknowledged that Florida is a more convenient venue for litigation than Belize, the trial court was wrong to dismiss the complaint based on a finding of inconvenient forum without weighing all the factors and evidence involved. The case is remanded for further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Boatwright, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 23-2000, Categories: Venue, Assault
J. Boatwright finds the trial court properly dismissed the beneficiaries' amended complaint in their lawsuit seeking reimbursement of funds paid from a deceased grantor's trust to pay off a $988,867 debt from a loan the grantor and his wife took out, most of which was used to improve and maintain their home. The trial court correctly determined that the beneficiaries do not have standing to bring their claims, as it would have to be the trust's successor trustee itself to sue for the damages the beneficiaries seek from the disputed transaction, and the beneficiaries have brought no common law exception that would allow them to sue on behalf of the trust. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Boatwright, Filed On: October 20, 2023, Case #: 22-1114, Categories: Trusts, Damages, Contract
J. Boatwright finds the trial court improperly awarded attorney fees to the real estate brokerage company in the lawsuit it faced from the property investments firm. Florida's First District Court of Appeals' prior rulings denying the company attorney fees established "the law of the case" before the company sought trial court attorney fees based on the same legal arguments, so the trial court should not have granted any fees. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Boatwright, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 23-0371, Categories: Real Estate, Attorney Fees
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J. Boatwright finds the trial court improperly denied two grounds of defendant’s nine-ground motion for postconviction relief subsequent to an evidentiary hearing in his case. The portions of the trial court’s order denying grounds two and eight, which respectively claim defendant’s counsel was ineffective for failing to object to an allegedly vindictive sentence and advise him of the maximum sentence he faced for rejecting the state’s plea offer, are reversed, as they were not adequately addressed at the evidentiary hearing and there are no attached records supporting the trial court’s summary denial of both. The case is remanded for the trial court to either attach those supporting records or hold another evidentiary hearing. Affirmed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Boatwright, Filed On: August 11, 2023, Case #: 22-1463, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Ineffective Assistance
J. Boatwright finds the trial court wrongfully denied defendant's motion for a hearing over violations of criminal discovery rules by the state in his case in part alleging aggravated assault and battery of a law enforcement officer in a dispute over defendant driving and parking his car on a Nassau County beach. The state's counsel violated criminal rules of procedure during cross-examination when, before the jury, it presented documents with statements defendant allegedly made to impeach defendant's credibility without first turning them over to defense counsel and formally entering them into evidence during discovery. The error was not harmless and it prejudiced defendant, so his sentence and the judgment against him are overturned, and the case is remanded for a new trial. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Boatwright, Filed On: May 19, 2023, Case #: 23-0125, Categories: Assault, Battery, Discovery