CECILIA DAVIS, ETC., APPELLANT,
v.
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, ETC., ET AL., APPELLEES
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The court reversed summary judgment for Orange County in a wrongful death action because Orange County failed to establish the absence of material facts in dispute regarding its alleged contractual duty to trim vegetation that allegedly obstructed the accident site.
A party seeking summary judgment must make a proper record showing the absence of material facts in dispute and entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, and cannot rely on admissions obtained from a different party's failure to timely respond.
[1] A party cannot rely on admissions obtained from another party's failure to timely respond to requests for admission when that party has timely answered the requesting par…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCecilia Davis, as personal representative of her deceased daughter's estate, sued Orange County for wrongful death arising from a motor vehicle accide…
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GRIFFIN, J.
Cecilia Davis [“Davis”], as personal representative of the estate of her deceased daughter, appeals a summary final judgment rendered in favor of the Orange County Board of Commissioners [“Orange County”] in a wrongful death action she filed against Orange County and others arising out of a motor vehicle accident. Davis alleged that Orange County had undertaken by contract to trim certain bushes and overgrowth on a parcel of privately owned property adjacent to the intersection where the accident occurred and that Orange County’s failure to properly maintain the bushes had created a visual obstruction that caused the accident.
We reverse because Orange County has not made the required showing that there are no material facts in dispute and that Orange County was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Orange County contends that there is no contract but has made no such record showing. The record reflects that the trial court was led into erroneously granting the summary judgment based on the plaintiffs failure to timely answer certain requests for admission filed by another party. Commendably, Orange County does not rely on the admission on appeal. This admission was not applicable to the plaintiffs claim against Orange County because its requests for admission were timely answered and its request that Davis admit a lack of duty on the part of Orange County was denied.
We reverse the summary final judgment and remand for further proceedings.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
PALMER, J., and BARLOW, T.M., Associate Judge, concur.
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Williams v. Davis, 974 So. 2d 1052 (Fla. 2007)…ainst Orange County predicated upon the county's alleged breach of a contract with the landowner requiring the county to keep the landowner's property free of obstructions by foliage at the intersection. Davis v. Orange County Bd. of County Comm’rs, 852 So. 2d 370, 370-71 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003). The district court utilized the contract between Williams and the county as an additional basis for finding a duty voluntarily assumed by Williams in this case. Davis v. Dollar Rent A Car Sys., Inc., 909 So. 2d 297, 304…
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Davis v. Dollar Rent A CAR Sys., Inc., 909 So. 2d 297 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)…her proceedings on the issue whether Orange County had entered into a contract with Williams to clear the overgrown foliage on Williams’ property adjacent to the intersection where the accident occurred. Davis v. Orange County Bd. of County Comm’rs, 852 So. 2d 370 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003). This contractual issue could be significant to the instant case because the existence of such a contract may be evidence that Williams voluntarily undertook a duty to clear the obstructing foliage to reduce the danger to those…