27 results for 'judge:"Bokor"'.
J. Bokor finds the trial court partially erred in its judgments in the doctor's lawsuit against the university claiming fraud in the inducement and breach of contract relating to the doctor's arrangements to work for the university's hospital after the hospital was temporarily closed and reorganized. The trial court correctly granted a directed verdict in the the university's favor on the doctor's fraud claim, but since the doctor failed to bring evidence of a valid and enforceable contact in the university's bylaws and rules, the university should have prevailed on his breach of contract claim as well. The trial court's ruling on the breach of contract claim is reversed, and the case is remanded for it to grant the university a directed verdict on that claim. Affirmed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 22-1898, Categories: Fraud, Contract
J. Bokor finds the trial court improperly denied defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal in his case alleging that, in his role as a police officer, he knowingly falsified an arrest affidavit and offense incident report and battered the person he was arresting. The evidence, including body camera footage from multiple officers, shows that defendant's description of the arrest in the documents in question is not "patently false or inaccurate" such that it constitutes a crime. The trial court erred in denying defendant's two motions for judgment of acquittal, and the case is remanded for defendant to be acquitted on both his official misconduct and battery charges. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 22-1276, Categories: Evidence, Battery
J. Bokor finds that the trial court partially erred in judgments it entered modifying parental responsibility and time-sharing in the ex-wife and ex-husband's case. The ex-wife, proceeding pro se, was given proper notice before a default judgment was entered against her for not filing an answer to the ex-husband's petition to modify, but under court rules and case law the trial court failed to give proper notice of the final hearing where the ex-husband's motion would be heard, as the notice of hearing was filed only eight days before what was originally scheduled to be a case management conference. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 21-2182, Categories: Family Law
J. Bokor finds the trial court improperly dismissed defendant's misdemeanor DUI charge because a report a state's witness prepared was not provided to defense counsel before the trial. Seeing as how "dismissal is an extreme sanction," the trial court abused its discretion by dismissing the charge based on a report that was inadvertently not provided to the defense and contained neither evidence to exonerate defendant nor hardly any evidence that was not already in a different witness' report. The case is remanded for further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 23-0464, Categories: Dui, Discovery
J. Bokor finds the trial court erred in allowing "harmful hearsay statements" in the son's lawsuit alleging Philip Morris fraudulently concealed the dangers of the cigarettes that caused his mother to die from lung cancer. Philip Morris correctly argues that testimony the mother's sons gave at trial regarding her expressions of anger at the tobacco companies following her cancer diagnosis, specifically that the companies represented that filtered cigarettes were safer, was "backward-looking" and did not properly speak to her state of mind at the time. Because it cannot be proved that this inadmissible hearsay did not contribute to the $43 million verdict in the son's favor, the trial court's final judgment is reversed and the case is remanded for a new trial. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 21-2214, Categories: Fraud, Product Liability
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J. Bokor finds the trial court partially erred in denying the wife's motion for contempt and establishing alimony payments in her and her husband's divorce proceedings. The trial court's "thorough and well-reasoned" order is affirmed in all but one respect, as part of its order holding that $2,000 in arrears be paid from the husband's 401(k) account relied on an order from a predecessor judge that was subsequently reversed. The case is remanded for the trial court to enter a new order. Affirmed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 22-1418, Categories: Family Law
J. Bokor finds the trial court partially erred by vacating a default judgment in the citizen's favor and denying the real estate company owner's cross-appeal of the denial of his motion to quash service of process. The portion of the trial court's order regarding the owner's challenge to service stands, as he has not brought evidence countering the record's showing that a process server personally served him at his company's Miami address. However, there is no support for the trial court's finding of excusable neglect regarding the owner's failure to timely respond to the lawsuit, so that portion of the trial court's order is reversed. The case is remanded for the trial court to re-enter the default judgment. Affirmed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: February 21, 2024, Case #: 23-1026, Categories: Civil Procedure, Real Estate
J. Bokor finds the trial court properly dismissed without prejudice the insureds' breach of contract lawsuit against the insurance company on procedural grounds because the insureds failed to file a pre-suit notice of their intent to sue with the Division of Financial Services. The statute under which the trial court dismissed the insureds lawsuit applies retroactively to their policy issued before the statute became effective, so the trial court's actions were correct. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 22-0917, Categories: Civil Procedure, Insurance
J. Bokor finds the trial court properly denied defendant a new trial after he was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder. The record supports the trial court's finding that the newly discovered evidence defendant claimed in his motion, which involved an eyewitness saying defendant was not at the scene of the crime, was unreliable in part due to the witness' cocaine addiction and would not have resulted in reasonable doubt of defendant's guilt. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: January 31, 2024, Case #: 22-1173, Categories: Evidence, Murder
J. Bokor finds the circuit court improperly entered a final default judgment ordering the client to pay the law firm $20,000 in unpaid retainer fees for representation in multiple domestic violence cases. The client correctly argues that the circuit court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over the case because the amount of money in controversy was not more than $30,000, so the default judgment is vacated and the case is remanded for further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: January 31, 2024, Case #: 23-0798, Categories: Attorney Fees, Contract
J. Bokor finds the trial court properly convicted defendant of sexual battery in his case involving sexual acts committed with a woman he met at the bar after giving her cocaine and to whom he offered money. The trial court did not err in excluding some of the victim's cell phone records defendant claims would have shown inconsistent statements and impeached her testimony, although it should have allowed some verbatim text messages in which the victim admitted to using cocaine to impeach her testimony that she did not remember using cocaine with defendant. Because the exclusion of most of the records was harmless, defendant's conviction stands. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: January 31, 2024, Case #: 22-1244, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender
J. Bokor finds the trial court properly struck the citizen's pleadings as a sanction in her lawsuit alleging the club's security guard caused her to trip and fall over a railing while negligently handling her. Though striking pleadings is a severe sanction, the citizen's repeated failure to comply with discovery deadlines and other court orders calls for such action, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: January 24, 2024, Case #: 22-2016, Categories: Sanctions, Negligence, Discovery
[Consolidated] J. Bokor finds the trial court partially erred in its decision against the condo developer in a dispute from a management company alleging the developer failed to complete construction of five condo units by the end of 2017, which the developer claims was delayed in part due to hurricanes. The trial court properly rejected fraud claims against the developer, but it wrongfully found the developer breached its contract because the agreement between the developer and the company did not explicitly state a "date certain" for the units to be constructed or put in any other such time constraints. Affirmed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 21-1365, Categories: Construction, Contract
J. Bokor finds the trial court properly granted summary judgment to the insureds in a dispute with their insurance company over coverage of damages to their home, including an "allegedly unusable bathroom." The facts in the record support the jury's conclusions in favor of the insureds, in part because no fact-finder could determine based on the evidence that the insureds' collapsed bathroom without a working shower or toilet could be used for its intended purpose. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 22-1564, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Bokor finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for release after he was arrested when a search of his car during a traffic stop turned up a semi-automatic rifle, ammunition and several bags of suspected MDMA and oxycodone. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by finding that although defendant had been in jail for 33 days without a formal information or indictment, the state made a good-cause showing that the delay was caused by backlogging at the lab tasked with testing the substances, and the state also filed an information two days after the good-cause hearing, meeting the trial court's requirement that it be filed by the 40th day of defendant's incarceration. Defendant's habeas corpus petition is denied.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: December 13, 2023, Case #: 23-2092, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, Habeas
J. Bokor finds the trial court properly found in favor of the candidate in a lawsuit from the city claiming that, under the city charter and city codes, he did not qualify to run for city commissioner because he did not meet certain residency requirements, in part due to changes in the electoral maps in June 2023 from a federal lawsuit over unconstitutional gerrymandering. The trial court correctly held that the plain language of the city charter controls, and under that plain language, without reading any extra words into it, the candidate qualifies to run because he lived in his district for more than 20 years before the maps changed months ahead of the election, satisfying the charter's requirements that candidates "shall have resided" within their district for at least one year before qualifying as a candidate. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: November 20, 2023, Case #: 23-1776, Categories: Elections, Municipal Law
J. Bokor finds the trial court improperly compelled the finance firm to arbitrate its claims against the tropical foods distributor because it is an assignee of a company with which the distributor had an arbitration agreement. Because there are key factual disputes about whether this third-party agreement applies to the firm, the trial court's order is overturned and the matter is remanded for an evidentiary hearing. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: September 20, 2023, Case #: 22-1029, Categories: Arbitration, Contract
J. Bokor finds the trial court improperly granted the citizen's request for further disclosure of the bathroom and kitchen design company's financial information, including details about checking and savings accounts, as part of an ex parte prejudgment writ of garnishment he requested. Nothing in the rules of financial discovery allowed the citizen to seek bank statements and other further financial disclosures from the company's bank after the bank had already identified two accounts and garnished $25,526 in response to his other requests. Therefore, the company's petition for writ of certiorari is granted and the trial court's order is quashed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 23-1235, Categories: Discovery, Banking / Lending
J. Bokor finds the trial court properly ruled against the wife in her lawsuit arguing for the removal of her deceased husband's four children from a previous marriage as beneficiaries of his estate under the terms of the husband's marital settlement agreement with his ex-wife. Interpreting the marital settlement agreement as a contract, the plain language of the agreement states that 50% of the husband's estate must be equally divided between the children, so the trial court's summary judgment order in favor of the children stands. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 21-2180, Categories: Wills / Probate, Contract
J. Bokor finds for the insurance company in its appeal of a final judgment entered in favor of its insured after a jury trial in a lawsuit over payment of the insured's claim for damages caused by vandalism at his Miami property. The trial court erred when it denied the insurance company's motion for a directed verdict defining the term "reside" for the jury based on Florida appeals court precedent, and the trial court should have found as a matter of law that coverage was unavailable to the insured because he did not reside in the Miami property at the time of loss. The trial court's final judgment is overturned, and the case is remanded with instructions to apply the directed verdict. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: July 19, 2023, Case #: 21-1899, Categories: Insurance, Jury, Contract
J. Bokor finds the medical providers are entitled to a writ of mandamus compelling the trial court to enter a final judgment in an action from the Medicaid payer reimbursement firm seeking a pure bill of discovery for information about beneficiaries implanted with the providers' pelvic mesh products. In part because the trial court entered summary judgment against the providers on the sole issue in the case, it was legally required to timely enter a final judgment which the providers could appeal even though they have not yet provided the pure bill of discovery germane to the summary judgment order, and the providers petition for a writ of mandamus is granted.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: July 5, 2023, Case #: 23-0384, Categories: Medicaid, Discovery
J. Bokor finds the trial court should have dismissed a lawsuit the New York-based promotional company faced in a dispute with a Hong Kong-based firm over alleged breaches of contract related to product manufacturing. Because the two foreign parties do not conduct business in Florida or have any physical presence there, the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that New York is proper forum for their lawsuit, so the trial court should have dismissed the case due to Florida being an inconvenient forum. Affirmed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: 23-0020, Categories: Venue, Contract
J. Bokor finds the trial court erred in part in its summary judgment ruling in a lawsuit between the owners of two neighboring properties over one of them building and maintaining a public roadway on the neighbor's property, prompting the neighbor's suit. Because ambiguities exist in the agreement between the two properties, which is one of several agreements involved with parties developing the marina and waterfront area abutting the properties, the lower court's summary judgment order is reversed as to the suing property owner's fraud defenses but is upheld regarding their other affirmative defenses. Affirmed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: 21-0806, Categories: Fraud, Property, Contract
J. Bokor finds the trial court improperly determined the city did not have sovereign immunity shielding it from a negligence lawsuit from a motorist who was in a car accident with a city-owned vehicle. Due to the nature of the accident, including that the driver of the city-owned vehicle was technically off duty at the time of the accident, and the fact that the city's sovereign immunity defense was not waived for summary judgment purposes even though the court struck it as part of the city's affirmative defenses, the lower court's summary judgment finding for the motorist is overturned and the case is remanded for more proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: 22-0972, Categories: Vehicle, Immunity, Negligence
J. Bokor finds in favor of the insurance company in the property manager's lawsuit over delayed coverage for damages its condo complex suffered from Hurricane Irma in 2017. The re-hearing the property manager requests so it can pursue more pre-judgment interest in addition to the summary judgment motion it was granted affirming an appraisal award, as well as attorney fees and other costs it has already won, must be denied, as the terms of its policy do not support the idea that the insurance company violated the policy by failing to respond to its proofs of loss within 30 days. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: 22-0102, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Bokor finds in favor of the university in a class action lawsuit from students claiming breach of contract because they were unable benefit from paying certain mandatory fees to the university while its campus was temporarily closed due to Covid-19 pandemic protocols. Though the students provide documents like invoices and portions of the student handbook as evidence of a contract to provide services in exchange for fees, they fail to point to an "express, written contract" that showing the university waived its sovereign immunity by temporarily ceasing on-campus or in-person services during the pandemic, so the trial court should have granted the university's motion to dismiss. The case is remanded to dismiss the students' lawsuit and vacate class certification. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: May 17, 2023, Case #: 22-0072, Categories: Education, Covid-19, Contract