CHARLES L. STEVENS, INDIVIDUALLY, AND AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF NICHALENE C. STEVENS, DECEASED, PETITIONER,
v.
PULLMAN, INC., ET AL., RESPONDENTS
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A Florida resident sued for injuries and wrongful death from a tractor-trailer accident in Alabama, seeking to apply Florida's wrongful death statute instead of Alabama's. The court denied his petition for certiorari challenging the trial court's application of the lex loci delicti rule, finding that adequate appellate remedy exists after final judgment.
The court denied the petition for certiorari because adequate and complete appellate remedy is available after final judgment. Interlocutory appellate review is not warranted where a full remedy exists on appeal from final judgment, and the lex loci delicti rule remains applicable absent Supreme Court direction otherwise.
[1] A petition for writ of common law certiorari will be denied when there is no showing that a full, adequate, and complete remedy would not be available on appeal after fin…
[2] Alleged interlocutory errors that can be fully remedied on appeal from a final judgment are not a basis for the issuance of a writ of common law certiorari.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“under the rule of lex loci delicti, the Alabama law would apply”
Establishes the choice-of-law rule applied by the trial court that plaintiff challenged
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePlaintiff Charles Stevens and his wife Nichalene were injured and killed, respectively, when a tractor-trailer rig Stevens was operating left the high…
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ORFINGER, Judge.
Plaintiff was injured and his wife was killed when a tractor-trailer rig he was operating and in which his wife was riding as a passenger, left the highway and struck an embankment while travelling through the state of Alabama. Plaintiff, a Florida resident, individually and as personal representative of his wife’s estate, filed this action for damages.
Asserting that the Alabama wrongful death statute did not measure up to the standards of its Florida counterpart and that it was contrary to the public policy of Florida, plaintiff filed a motion asking the trial court to declare that the Florida wrongful death action would apply.
The trial court declined to apply the Florida law and held that under the rule of lex loci delicti, the Alabama law would apply, citing Hopkins v. Lockheed Aircraft Corp., 201 So. 2d 743 (Fla.1967).
Plaintiff has filed a petition for writ of common law certiorari, alleging that if he is required to rely on Alabama law, the true measure of damages will not be presented to the jury because the Alabama statute is punitive while the Florida statute is remedial and that he will therefore be prejudiced throughout the trial. The petition for certiorari is denied because there is no showing that a full, adequate and complete remedy would not be available on appeal after final judgment. Vanco Construction, Inc. v. Nucor Corp., 378 So. 2d 116 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980).
In Simpson v. Broward County, 241 So. 2d 193 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970), it was similarly argued that the order of the trial court would deny defendants the opportunity of presenting to the jury the true elements of damages they would suffer in the eminent domain proceeding, but it was held that this was not the basis for the issuance of the writ since a full and complete remedy was available on appeal after final judgment. We cannot entertain petitions based on alleged interlocutory errors where a full remedy is available on appeal from a final judgment because “. . . one can hardly envision a case wherein the loser on an interlocutory motion would not feel an immediate appellate determination of the issue would facilitate the handling of the remainder of the case, and save time, effort and expense.” Siegel v. Abramowitz, 309 So. 2d 234, 235 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975).
Sometime before trial, plaintiff may be able to persuade the trial judge to his point of view, or at trial, plaintiff may not prevail on liability. In either such event, the question now before us would be moot. Our sister court recently followed the lex loci delicti rule as espoused in Hopkins, supra, on appeal from a final judgment, and has certified to the Supreme Court the question of its continued applicability in certain situations. Bishop v. Florida Specialty Paint Co., 377 So. 2d 767 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979).
This court has also certified an analogous question to the Supreme Court. Olsen v. State Farm Automobile Insurance Co., etc., 386 So. 2d 600 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980).
Perhaps those questions will be answered prior to the conclusion of the proceedings below.
This denial is without prejudice to the right of either party to present this question on appeal following final judgment.
Petition DENIED.
COBB and SHARP, JJ., concur.
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Authorities Cited
- Humphrey v. Seminole Cnty. Court, 309 So. 2d 234 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975)
- Hopkins v. Lockheed Aircraft Corp., 201 So. 2d 743 (Fla. 1967)
- Vanco Constr., Inc. v. Nucor Corp., 378 So. 2d 116 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980)
- Simpson v. Broward Cnty., 241 So. 2d 193 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970)
- Olsen v. State Farm Auto. Ins. Co., 386 So. 2d 600 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980)
- Althea G. Bishop and William J. Bishop, Sr. v. Fla. Specialty Paint Co., 377 So. 2d 767 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)