A. P. PERKINS, APPELLANT,
v.
ZACK A. SALEM, APPELLEE
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Appellant Perkins seeks review of a default judgment entered against him in an assumpsit action for merchandise sold in 1968-1969, and of two post-judgment orders denying relief. The court affirms the trial court's denial of a second successive motion for relief from judgment, finding that all grounds asserted had been previously raised or could have been raised in the first motion, and are therefore barred by res judicata.
Yes. The trial court properly denied the second successive motion for relief because all grounds asserted therein were either identical to those in the first motion or involved matters of evidence and procedure that, with due diligence, could have been included in the first motion. The court's denial of the initial motion was res judicata as to all grounds in the second motion.
[1] A second motion for relief from a judgment is barred by res judicata when its grounds are identical to those raised, or could have been raised, in a prior motion for reli…
[2] A party who fails to appeal a denial of a motion for relief from judgment is precluded from raising the same issues in a subsequent, successive motion for relief.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the conclusiveness of the prior adjudication extends not only to matters which were actually determined, but also to all other matters which could properly have been determined in the prior action, whether they were, or were in fact, not considered.”
Establishes the broad scope of res judicata doctrine, extending to matters that could have been raised in the prior action
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellee Salem sued appellant Perkins in assumpsit on an account stated for merchandise sold during 1968-1969. Perkins failed to appear or defend, and…
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Appellant, who was defendant in the trial court, seeks review of an adverse final judgment rendered against him and two separate post-judgment orders denying him relief against the final judgment of which he complains.
Appellee sued appellant in an assumpsit action on an account stated for merchandise sold to appellant during the years 1968 and 1969. Appellant failed to appear or defend the action, and final judgment was rendered against him in the amount sued for on February 12, 1970. No appeal from the final judgment was taken.
On June 10, 1970, appellant filed in the trial court his motion pursuant to Rule *4671.540, Rules of Civil Procedure, 31 F.S.A., seeking relief from the final judgment rendered against him, assigning as grounds (1) that the court lacked jurisdiction over the person of defendant; and (2) that he had a good and legal defense to the cause of action sued upon. After taking testimony and hearing argument of counsel, the trial court rendered its order on July 23, 1970, denying appellant’s motion. No appeal from this order of denial was taken, and it therefore became final as to all issues raised by the motion and all issues which might properly have been included therein as grounds for the relief prayed.
On August 19, 1970, appellant filed his second and successive motion for relief from the judgment of February 12, 1970. The grounds of this motion are that (1) the court lacked jurisdiction over the person of the defendant; (2) the judgment is void because appellant was not given notice of the final hearing held for the purpose of determining the damages suffered by appellee as alleged in his complaint; (3) no evidence was adduced before the court to prove the debt alleged in the complaint; and (4) appellant has a legal defense to the cause of action sued upon. After final hearing the trial court rendered its order finding that the last motion filed by appellant on August 19, 1970, contained no grounds which had not theretofore been alleged, or could have been alleged, as grounds for the relief prayed for in the first motion of June 10, 1970, all of which grounds had theretofore been disposed of by the court in denying the earlier motion for relief. Based upon those findings the court denied the second motion for relief and refused to vacate and set aside the original judgment of February 12, 1970.
Since no timely' appeal was taken by appellant from the final judgment of February 12, 1970, or from the first order denying appellant’s motion for relief from judgment rendered on July 23, 1970, this appeal with respect to those judicial acts was dismissed. We now consider only the order of denial rendered by the trial court on September 14, 1970, from which this appeal was timely taken.
Upon a consideration of the grounds for the second and successive motion for relief as set forth therein, it is apparent that each of such grounds is identical with those incorporated in the first motion for relief filed by appellant, or relate to matters of evidence and procedure which with due diligence could have been included in such motion as grounds for the relief prayed. The court’s denial of the initial motion for relief was therefore res judica-ta as to all the grounds assigned as a basis for relief in the second and successive motion.1 The trial court was eminently correct in denying the relief prayed for, and the order denying such relief is therefore affirmed.
WIGGINTON, Acting C. J., and RAWLS, J., and MELVIN, WOODROW M., Associate Judge, concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (21 total)
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State v. Bailey, 603 So. 2d 1384 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)…rty is generally precluded from bringing a successive motion which merely alleges matters which were or could have been alleged in the initial motion for postjudgment relief. Streater v. Stamper, 466 So. 2d 397 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985); Perkins v. Salem, 249 So. 2d 466 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971). Initially, we note that the trial court’s award of prejudgment interest was clearly erroneous under Section 768.28(5). While we are at a loss to understand why DOT failed to take a direct appeal of the judgment, DOT was nonethe…
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Crocker Invs., Inc. v. Statesman Life Ins. Co., 515 So. 2d 1305 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)…er. Ordinarily, a trial court is without jurisdiction to entertain a second motion for relief from judgment under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540, which attempts to relitigate matters settled by a prior order denying relief. Perkins v. Salem, 249 So. 2d 466 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971); [*1307] Atlas v. City of Pembroke Pines, 441 So. 2d 652 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); Purcell v. Deli Man, Inc., 411 So. 2d 378 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982); Malicoat v. LaChappelle, 390 So. 2d 481 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980). If a party is dissatisfied…1 / 2
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Intercoastal Marina Towers, Inc. v. Suburban Bank, Robert G. Curie, AIA, P.A., 506 So. 2d 1177 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987)…remedy was by appeal, not be filing successive motions to vacate containing the same general grounds or even new ones, which could have been raised in the first motion. Purcell v. Deli Man, Inc., 411 So. 2d 378 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982); Perkins v. Salem, 249 So. 2d 466 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971). Finally, appellants contend that the trial court erred in entering its orders taxing attorney’s fees against appellants because the trial court was without jurisdiction in the matter at the time due to this appeal. While genera…
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