PAUL M. LENNERTZ AND RICHARD B. DWYER, APPELLANTS,
v.
DENNIS DORSEY AND CITY OF LAKE WORTH, APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1982-11-17
No. 81-1659
Beranek, J., Hersey, J., Dell, J.
421 So. 2d 820 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1982) Positive Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

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Synopsis

Summary judgment for defendants in slander action was properly affirmed because the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to consider affidavits filed late with a motion for rehearing.


Holding

A trial judge does not abuse discretion in refusing to consider affidavits filed with a motion for rehearing when no compelling reasons or exigent circumstances excuse the tardiness.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court does not abuse its discretion by refusing to consider affidavits filed with a motion for rehearing absent compelling reasons or exigent circumstances excusi…

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Facts & Procedural History

Plaintiffs sued defendants for slander. The trial court granted summary judgment for defendants, and plaintiffs appealed, filing a motion for rehearin…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiffs appeal from the final summary judgment entered in favor of defendants in a slander action. We conclude that the motion for summary judgment was properly granted under the state of the record when the motion was initially presented to the trial judge. Thereafter, a motion for rehearing was filed by plaintiffs and certain factual affidavits were attached. The trial court relied upon Coffman Realty, Inc. v. Tosohatchee Game Preserve, Inc., 381 So. 2d 1164 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980), and refused to consider these late affidavits. A somewhat contrary rationale is espoused in Hatmaker v. Advanced Mortgage Corp., 351 So. 2d 728 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977), cert. denied, 362 So. 2d 1050 (Fla.1978), which held it an abuse of discretion for a trial judge to refuse to admit affidavits filed with a motion for rehearing. In its recent decision in Coffman Realty, Inc. v. Tosohatchee Game Preserve, Inc., 413 So. 2d 1 (Fla.1982), the Supreme Court has resolved all doubts by holding that a trial judge does not abuse his discretion in refusing to consider late affidavits filed with a motion for rehearing. In the instant case, the trial court found an absence of any compelling reasons or exigent circumstances which might excuse the tardiness of the affidavits. The court acted properly and the summary judgment is affirmed,

AFFIRMED

BERANEK, HERSEY and DELL, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Pangilinan v. Broward Cnty., 914 So. 2d 1094 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)
    …ings, and not attempt to negate the nonexistence of a material issue of fact until rehearing. Such a procedure certainly is not sanctioned by the rules and is not conducive to the orderly administration of justice. Id.; see also Lennertz v. Dorsey, 421 So. 2d 820 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982) (applying Coff-man and upholding the trial court’s refusal to consider affidavits filed at the rehearing stage, where the trial court found an absence of any compelling reasons or exigent circumstances which might excuse the tard…
  • Rooker v. Ford Motor Co., 100 So. 3d 1229 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012)
    …e, the issue of the negligent design of the seat belt remains at issue. . We acknowledge that the trial court could appropriately disregard the affidavit submitted by Rooker after the motion for summary judgment was granted. See Lennertz v. Dorsey, 421 So. 2d 820, 821 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982) ("[A] trial judge does not abuse his discretion in refusing to consider late affidavits filed with a motion for rehearing.”).…
  • Jarrett v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc., 609 So. 2d 154 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992)
    …the summary judgment and insisting the trial court consider the later affidavit at that hearing. See Coffman Realty Inc. v. Tosohatchee Game Preserve, Inc., 381 So. 2d 1164 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980), approved, 413 So. 2d 1 (Fla.1982); Lennertz v. Dorsey, 421 So. 2d 820 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). See also, James A. Cummings, Inc. v. Larson, 588 So. 2d 1066 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991).…

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