CITY OF NORTH MIAMI BEACH, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, IN DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, EX REL. J. TOM WATSON, ATTORNEY GENERAL, ET AL.
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The Florida Supreme Court reversed a judgment of ouster, holding that a demurrer to an amended answer was improper when the answer denied material allegations and presented issues requiring a trial. The court relied on prior precedent establishing that judgment on the pleadings is inappropriate if the answer raises factual disputes.
No, the judgment of ouster was not proper. A demurrer to an amended answer should not be sustained when that answer denies material allegations and presents issues that necessitate a trial.
“judgment on the pleadings will not be given for relator when the answer alleges facts presenting an issue necessitating a trial.”
This quote establishes the legal principle that a trial is required if the answer raises factual disputes, making a judgment on the pleadings improper.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe relator filed an information, and the respondent filed an amended answer that denied material allegations and presented an affirmative defense. Th…
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The sole question before us is whether the judgment of ouster entered on demurrer to the amended answer of respondent was proper.
The amended answer denied material allegations of the information and also included much other matter set up by way of an affirmative defense.
The judgment of the lower court must be reversed on authority of our opinion in The City of Ormond, v. State of Florida, ex rel., J. Tom Watson, Attorney General, 12 So. (2nd) 114, filed February 19, 1943, and not yet appearing in the bound volume of the Florida Reports. In that opinion the Court, speaking through Mr. Justice ADAMS, held that “judgment on the pleadings will not be given for relator when the answer alleges facts presenting an issue necessitating a trial. Watson v. Phipps, 99 Fla. 568, 126 So. 778; City of Coral Gables v. State, 148 Fla. 671, 5 So. (2nd) 241.”
The judgment is reversed for further proceedings in conformance with law.
It is so ordered.
TERRELL, BROWN, THOMAS and ADAMS, JJ., concur.
BUFORD, C. J., and CHAPMAN, J., dissent.
dissenting:
I do not find in the amended answer when considered in its entirety allegations sufficient to constitute a defense or sufficient to constitute a basis for affirmative relief. There is no showing in the pleadings except those which lead to the conclusion that the area sought to be ousted was never legally included in the municipality. It never has (according to the pleadings) received municipal benefits and in its present physical condition is not fit to be the recipient of municipal benefits.
Therefore the judgment of ouster should be affirmed.
[*479] BUFORD, C. J.,
dissenting:
I do not find in the amended answer when considered in its entirety allegations sufficient to constitute a defense or sufficient to constitute a basis for affirmative relief. There is no showing in the pleadings except those which lead to the conclusion that the area sought to be ousted was never legally included in the municipality. It never has (according to the pleadings) received municipal benefits and in its present physical condition is not fit to be the recipient of municipal benefits.
Therefore the judgment of ouster should be affirmed.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Town OF N. Miami v. State, 156 Fla. 340 (Fla. 1945)…e relator to prove those material allegations which were so denied. • Therefore, the judgment should be reversed on authority of our opinion and judgment in the case of City of North Miami Beach v. State ex rel. Watson, as Attorney General, et al., 152 Fla. 478, 12 So. (2nd) 167, and cases there cited. It is so ordered. CHAPMAN, C. J., TERRELL and ADAMS, JJ., concur.…
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City OF N. Miami Beach v. State, 153 Fla. 816 (Fla. 1943)
Authorities Cited
- City of Coral Gables v. State, 148 Fla. 671 (Fla. 1941)
- Watson v. Phipps, 99 Fla. 568 (Fla. 1930)
- THE City OF Ormond v. State, 152 Fla. 419 (Fla. 1943)