TORRES
v.
GOMEZ

Fla. 5th DCA | 2018-08-31
No. Case No. 5D18-2501
Booth, Smith, Wentworth
251 So. 3d 361 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2018)

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

The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal granted a petition for a writ of prohibition, quashing an order that denied a motion to disqualify a judge. The court found the motion legally sufficient, establishing a well-founded fear of an unfair hearing.


Holding

Yes, the motion to disqualify was legally sufficient. The facts alleged, presumed true for the purpose of the motion, would reasonably cause Torres to have a well-founded fear of not receiving a fair hearing before Judge Tennis.


Headnotes

[1] A motion to disqualify a judge is legally sufficient when the facts alleged, presumed true, would reasonably cause the moving party to have a well-founded fear that she w…

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Key Quotes

“We grant the petition and quash the order because the disqualification motion was legally sufficient since the facts alleged, which must be presumed true, would reasonably cause Torres to have a well-founded fear that she would not receive a fair hearing before Judge Tennis.”

Establishes the court's holding and reasoning for granting the writ of prohibition.

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Facts & Procedural History

Cynthia Torres sought to disqualify Judge Diana Michelle Tennis from her domestic relations case. Torres filed a motion to disqualify, alleging facts …

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Opinion of the Court

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA

FIFTH DISTRICT

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED CYNTHIA TORRES, Petitioner, v. Case No. 5D18-2501 JUAN O. GOMEZ, Respondent. ________________________________/ Opinion filed August 31, 2018 Petition for Writ of Prohibition, Diana Michelle Tennis, Respondent Judge.

Stephen Brown, of Brown & Rice, P. A., Orlando, for Petitioner.

Natalie D. Hall, Orlando for Respondent.

PER CURIAM.

Cynthia Torres petitions this court for a writ of prohibition to review the denial of her motion to disqualify the Honorable Diana Michelle Tennis from presiding over her domestic relations matter. We grant the petition and quash the order because the disqualification motion was legally sufficient since the facts alleged, which must be presumed true, would reasonably cause Torres to have a well-founded fear that she would not receive a fair hearing before Judge Tennis. See Minaya v. State, 118 So. 3d

926 (Fla. 5th DCA 2013); Ennis v. Ennis, 855 So. 2d 229 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003).

Accordingly, we grant the petition, quash the order denying the disqualification motion and remand for assignment to a different judge.

PETITION GRANTED; ORDER QUASHED; CAUSE REMANDED.

PALMER, EVANDER, and LAMBERT, JJ., concur.


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