CRIMINAL LAW: EVIDENCE: HEARSAY: EXCEPTION: PAST RECOLLECTION RECORDED: DECLARANT’S FAILURE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT STATEMENT WAS ACCURATE WHEN MADE

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McNeal v. State, ___ So. 3d ___, 38 Fla. L. Weekly D479 (Fla. 1st DCA February 28, 2013)

The State decided to prosecute the defendant for domestic violence although the victim tried to drop the charges before trial.  Tape recordings of jailhouse telephone conversations revealed that the defendant was pressuring the victim to drop the charges and refuse to … Click To Read Full Case Law Review...

CIVIL PROCEDURE: TRIAL: CLOSING ARGUMENT: OPINING THAT TREATING DOCTOR ALLOWED PLAINTIFF’S COUNSEL TO SCRIPT HIS TESTIMONY BECAUSE HE WAS FRIENDS WITH A PARTNER IN THE LAW FIRM AND WAS TREATING THE PLAINTIFF UNDER A LETTER OF PROTECTION WAS HIGHLY IMPROPER BUT DID NOT RISE TO LEVEL OF FUNDAMENTAL ERROR

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Carnival Corporation v. Jimenez, ___ So. 3d ___, 38 Fla. L. Weekly D455 (Fla. 2d DCA February 27, 2013)

The appellate court reversed an order granting the plaintiff’s motion for new trial based upon the misconduct of defense counsel, who argued that the treating doctor allowed the plaintiff’s lawyer to script his testimony because the doctor was friends with a … Click To Read Full Case Law Review...

CRIMINAL LAW: EVIDENCE: HEARSAY: EXCEPTIONS: STATEMENT OF IDENTIFICATION

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Jenkins v. State,  ___ So. 3d ___, 38 Fla. L. Weekly D463 (Fla. 1st DCA February 27, 2013)

The victim testified that the defendant robbed her at gunpoint after she let him in her home to use the telephone.  After the event, she called a friend, and he told her he just saw the defendant riding his bike in … Click To Read Full Case Law Review...

REAL ESTATE: MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE: STANDING; CIVIL PROCEDURE: SUMMARY JUDGMENT: AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE OF LACK OF STANDING IS NOT WAIVED BY FAILING TO RAISE IT IN A MOTION TO DISMISS

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Lindsey v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., ___ So. 3d ___, 38 Fla. L. Weekly D464 (Fla. 1st DCA February 27, 2013)

The appellate court reversed final summary judgment of foreclosure for the plaintiff because the plaintiff failed to establish that it possessed standing and failed to refute the affirmative defense of lack of standing.  The original note named an … Click To Read Full Case Law Review...

ATTORNEYS: DISQUALIFICATION OF COUNSEL BECAUSE HE IS A MATERIAL WITNESS SHOULD BE LIMITED TO DISQUALIFICATION AS TRIAL COUNSEL; APPEALS: CERTIORARI

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KMS Restaurant Corp. v. Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart & Shipley P.A., ___ So. 3d ___, 38 Fla. L. Weekly D475 (Fla. 4th DCA February 27, 2013)

The trial court disqualified a lawyer because he was a material witness, but the appellate granted the client’s petition for certiorari because the order was “not limited to disqualifying counsel from representing [the … Click To Read Full Case Law Review...