JOSE PIMENTEL, APPELLANT,
v.
NORMA ALAMO, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1990-01-09
No. 88-2787
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and HUBBART and GERSTEN, JJ.
555 So. 2d 895 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1990) Positive Treatment
Cited by 1 case

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

In this ejectment and trespass case, the Florida appellate court reversed a judgment against defendant Pimentel, holding that the trial court committed reversible error by excluding a quitclaim deed allegedly executed by plaintiff Alamo in favor of the defendant or his son. The exclusion was improper because objections to the deed's authenticity went to weight of evidence, not admissibility.


Holding

The quitclaim deed was admissible because objections regarding the plaintiff's knowledge or understanding go to the evidentiary weight of the deed, not its admissibility. The omission of the authenticating witness from the pretrial catalog did not justify exclusion of the deed where the plaintiff had knowledge and possession of it and suffered no substantial prejudice.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court commits reversible error by refusing to admit a quitclaim deed into evidence when objections to the deed go to its weight, not its admissibility.

[2] Objections to a publicly recorded deed that raise questions about the grantor's knowledge or intent at the time of signing go to the evidentiary weight of the deed, not i…

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Key Quotes

“the various objections to this publicly recorded deed go to the evidentiary weight to be given to the deed, but do not preclude the admissibility of the deed”

Establishes the core holding that challenges to the deed's authenticity relate to weight, not admissibility

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Facts & Procedural History

Plaintiff Norma Alamo and defendant Jose Pimentel disputed ownership of real estate. At trial, Alamo conceded she had signed a quitclaim deed transfer…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal by the defendant Jose Pimentel from a final judgment entered upon an adverse jury verdict in an action sounding in ejectment, trespass, slander of title, and other counts arising out of a dispute over the ownership of certain real estate. We reverse the final judgment under review and remand the cause for a new trial upon a holding that the trial court committed reversible error in refusing to admit in evidence a quitclaim deed on the subject real estate given by the plaintiff Norma Alamo to either the defendant or the defendant’s son and testimony from an authenticating witness to such deed.

The plaintiff conceded at trial that she had signed the quitclaim deed, but claimed she did not know what she was signing.

We conclude that the various objections to this publicly recorded deed go to the evidentiary weight to be given to the deed, but do not preclude the admissibility of the deed. See Pritchett v. Brevard Naval Stores Co., 126 Fla. 156, 170 So. 610 (1936); Yates v. Bass Ranch, Inc., 379 So. 2d 710, 711 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980); Windle v. Sebold, 241 So. 2d 165, 167 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970); cf. Brown v. Sims, 538 So. 2d 901, 906 (Fla. 3d DCA) (factual questions arising from contents of offered record go to weight, not admissibility), jurisdiction accepted, 547 So. 2d 635 (Fla.1989); Holliday v. State, 389 So. 2d 679, 681 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980) (remoteness of time between making of the proffered medical report and crime went to weight not admissibility).

See generally §§ 90.803(14), 90.902(4), 695.-09, Fla.Stat. (1987); 1 Fla.Jur.2d Acknowl edgments § 14 (1977) (mode of acknowledgment; placing witnesses under oath not required).

Moreover, the fact that the authenticating witness was not listed on the defendant's pretrial catalog, although troubling, cannot dictate a different result given the plaintiff's knowledge and possession of the quitclaim deed in question; plainly, the plaintiff was not substantially prejudiced by the omission of the authenticating witness from the pretrial catalog. See Binger v. King Pest Control, 401 So. 2d 1310, 1313 (Fla.1981); Lugo v. Florida East Coast Ry., 487 So. 2d 321, 323-25 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986); In re Estate of Lochhead, 443 So. 2d 283 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); see also Gray Truck Line Co. v. Robbins, 476 So. 2d 1378 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985) (grant of continuance alleviated any prejudice); Green v. Shoop, 240 So. 2d 85, 86-87 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970) (dicta; prejudice to objecting party should guide trial judge’s discretion).

Finally, the issue of the ownership of the subject real estate went to the very heart of this lawsuit and tended to show that the plaintiff had no property interest in the real estate — so that the erroneous exclusion of the aforesaid quitclaim deed was enormously prejudicial to the defendant. See Pritchett, 126 Fla. at 169, 170 So. at 615; Lea Indus. v. Raelyn Int’l, Inc., 363 So. 2d 49, 52 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978); Dionise v. Keyes Co., 319 So. 2d 614, 616 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975).

The final judgment under review is reversed, and the cause is remanded to the trial court with directions to grant a new trial to be conducted in accord with this opinion.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Crecelius v. Rizzitano, 2026 WL 555031 (Fla. 6th DCA 2026)
    …2d 649 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001) 9. Westerly v. King, 782 So. 2d 997 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001) 10. Cedar Hammock Fire Dep't v. Bonami, 672 So. 2d 892 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996) [*26] 11. Walters v. Keebler Co., 652 So. 2d 976 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995) 12. Pimentel v. Alamo, 555 So. 2d 895 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990) 13. Lugo v. Fla. E. Coast Ry. Co., 487 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986) 14. Haines v. Haines, 417 So. 2d 819 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982) 15. Gray Truck Line Co. v. Robbins, 476 So. 2d 1378 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985) 16. Melrose Nursery, Inc. v. Hun…

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