PATRICE CHRISTIAN, INDIVIDUALLY AND, AS NATURAL MOTHER AND GUARDIAN FOR LAMARKIUS WARD AND VICTORIA WHITE, MINORS, APPELLANTS,
v.
OVERSTREET PAVING COMPANY, A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE
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Patrice Christian sought damages for injuries her minor children sustained in an accident involving a stolen company truck. The trial court granted summary judgment for Overstreet Paving Company, but the appellate court reversed, finding genuine issues of material fact regarding the truck's location when stolen and foreseeability that precluded summary judgment.
The court reversed the summary judgment, holding that summary judgment was improper because Overstreet Paving Company did not meet its burden of demonstrating conclusively that the non-moving party could not prevail. Material factual issues remained, including the location of the truck when stolen and the question of foreseeability, which must be determined by the trier of fact.
[1] Summary judgment is improper if the record reflects the existence of any genuine issue of material fact, or the possibility of an issue, or if the record raises even the…
[2] The burden is on the party moving for summary judgment to demonstrate conclusively that the nonmoving party cannot prevail.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A motion for summary judgment may be granted only if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
Establishes the legal standard for granting summary judgment under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510(e)
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAn employee of Overstreet Paving Company left the keys in the ignition of a company truck and went inside a dwelling to pick up his son. A person stol…
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SCHOONOVER, Acting Chief Judge.
The appellant, Patrice Christian, individually and as natural mother and guardian of Lamarkius Ward and Victoria White, her minor children, challenges a summary judgment entered in favor of the appellee, Over-street Paving Company, a Florida corporation. We reverse.
The appellant filed a negligence action seeking damages from the appellee for injuries her minor children sustained as the result of an accident involving a motor vehicle owned by the appellee. At the time of the accident, the vehicle, a truck, was being driven by a person who had stolen it just a few minutes before the accident. The appellant claimed that the appellee was liable because one of its employees had left the keys in the truck’s ignition when the employee left the vehicle and went inside a dwelling to pick up his son. The trial court granted the appel-lee’s motion for summary judgment, and the appellant filed a timely notice of appeal from the final judgment.
A motion for summary judgment may be granted only if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.510(e). The burden is on the movant to demonstrate conclusively that the nonmoving party cannot prevail. Gomes v. Stevens, 548 So. 2d 1163 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989); Snyder v. Cheezem Dev. Corp., 373 So. 2d 719 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979). If the record reflects the existence of any genuine issue of material fact, or the possibility of an issue, or if the record raises even the slightest doubt that an issue might exist, summary judgment is improper. Gomes; Snyder. In this case, summary judgment was improperly granted because the appellee did not meet this burden. Under the facts developed to date in this case, several issues of material fact, including the location of the truck when it was stolen and the question of foreseeability, remain to be determined by the trier of fact. See Vining v. Avis Rent-A-Car Systems, Inc., 354 So. 2d 54 (Fla.1977). See also Eaton Constr. Co. v. Edwards, 617 So. 2d 858 (Fla. 5th DCA), rev. denied, 626 So. 2d 205 (Fla.1993).
We, accordingly, reverse the final summary judgment and remand for proceedings consistent herewith.
Reversed and remanded.
PARKER and WHATLEY, JJ., concur.
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Thomas v. Tampa BAY Downs, Inc., 761 So. 2d 401 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)…ion for rehearing was denied and this appeal followed. We first note that the movant for summary judgment, Appellees here, must conclusively demonstrate that Appellant, as the nonmoving party, cannot prevail. See Christian v. Overstreet Paving Co., 679 So. 2d 839 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). Thus, if there exists the possibility of any issue or even “the slightest doubt that an issue may exist,” Pep Boys v. New World Communications of Tampa, Inc., 711 So. 2d 1325, 1328 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998), a motion for summary judgmen…
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Loida Coral v. Garrard Crane Serv., Inc., 62 So. 3d 1270 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011)…f the record reflects the existence of any genuine issue of material fact, or the possibility of an issue, or if the record raises even the slightest doubt that an issue might exist, summary judgment is improper.” Christian v. Overstreet Paving Co., 679 So. 2d 839, 840 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996) (citing Gomes v. Stevens, 548 So. 2d 1163, 1164 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989)). III. Analysis After reviewing the voluminous record, we find there are unresolved issues that render summary judgment premature. First, this case is diffi…
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Smyth v. Infrastructure Corp. OF Am. & Dep't of Transp., 113 So. 3d 904 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013)…our review of this unusually limited record, DOT and ICA clearly have not established the absence of a question of fact as to the negligence of the operator of the tractor or his causal role in this accident. See Christian v. Overstreet Paving Co., 679 So. 2d 839, 840 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); Snyder v. Cheezem Dev. Corp., 373 So. 2d 719, 720 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979) (“If the record reflects the existence of any genuine issue of material fact, or the possibility of any issue, or if the record raises even the slightest d…
Previewing 3 of 7 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Vining v. AVIS Rent-A-Car Sys., Inc., 354 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 1977)
- Gomes v. Stevens, 548 So. 2d 1163 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989)
- Watkins DRY Wall, Inc. v. Drummond Court Corp., 373 So. 2d 719 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)
- Snyder v. Cheezem Dev. Corp., 373 So. 2d 719 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979)
- Eaton Constr. Co. v. Edwards, 617 So. 2d 858 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)