MONICA KURIA, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF FREDDIE SMITH, III, APPELLANT,
v.
BMLRW, LLLP, A FLORIDA LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, FLAGSHIP PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, AND BMLRW MANAGER, INC, A CORPORATION, APPELLEES

Fla. 1st DCA | 2012-12-05
No. 1D12-0592
VAN NORTWICK and CLARK, JJ., concur.
101 So. 3d 425 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2012) Caution
Cited by 6 cases

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 First District Court of Appeal affirmed a summary judgment dismissing a negligence action brought by the estate of a man killed while committing felonies at an apartment complex, holding that section 768.075(4), Florida Statute, shields property owners from liability for injuries to persons committing felonies on the property regardless of whether the felony caused the injury.


Holding

Section 768.075(4) provides blanket immunity to property owners for negligence resulting in injury to or death of any person attempting or engaged in committing a felony on the property, without requiring any causal nexus between the felony and the injury. The plain language of the statute does not contain a causation requirement.


Headnotes

[1] A property owner is not liable for negligence resulting in the death, injury, or damage to a person committing a felony on the property, regardless of whether the injury…

[2] The plain language of a statute, if unambiguous, is not subject to judicial construction that would infer legislative intent contrary to its express terms.

Previewing 2 of 4 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

Key Quotes

“A person or organization owning or controlling an interest in real property, or an agent of such person or organization, shall not be held liable for negligence that results in the death of, injury to, or damage to a person who is attempting to commit a felony or who is engaged in the commission of a felony on the property.”

The statutory text establishing the immunity provision that the court interpreted

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

On January 4, 2008, Freddie Smith, III was fatally shot at an apartment complex owned by the appellees while engaged in operating a chop shop and deal…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
WOLF, J.

*426WOLF, J.

In this appeal of a final summary judgment order, appellant (Personal Representative of the Estate of Freddie Smith, III) challenges the trial court’s finding that section 768.075(4), Florida Statute (2007), shields property owners from liability in a negligence action for injury to a person who is committing a felony on the property without requiring any “causal nexus” between the felony and the injury. Based on the plain language of the statute, we affirm.1

On January 4, 2008, Freddie Smith, III, while at an apartment complex owned and operated by the Appellees, was engaged in the commission of operating a “chop shop” in violation of section 812.16, Florida Statutes, and dealing in stolen property in violation of section 812.019, Florida Statutes, both felonies. Mr. Smith was fatally shot at the apartment complex. His estate subsequently brought a negligence action alleging that the Appellees failed to provide adequate security measures and that those failures were a direct and proximate cause of Mr. Smith’s death.

After a hearing, the trial court granted Appellees’ motion for summary judgment and dismissed the action on the basis of section 768.075(4), Florida Statutes, which provides:

A person or organization owning or controlling an interest in real property, or an agent of such person or organization, shall not be held liable for negligence that results in the death of, injury to, or damage to a person who is attempting to commit a felony or who is engaged in the commission of a felony on the property.

Appellant challenges the trial court’s order, arguing that the Legislature intended to provide liability protection only in those cases where the person’s injury arose out of the commission of the felony despite the plain language of the statute itself. For support, Appellant points to the title of the enacting general law which describes the provision in relevant part as “amending s. 768.075, F.S.; ... providing immunity from certain liability arising out of the attempt to commit or the commission of a felony.” Ch. 99-225, Laws of Fla.

The standard of review on an order granting summary judgment is de novo. Volusia County v. Aberdeen at Ormond Beach, L.P., 760 So.2d 126, 130 (Fla.2000). Statutory interpretation is a question of law and also subject to de novo review. GTC, Inc. v. Edgar, 967 So.2d 781, 785 (Fla.2007).

Appellant asks this court to look beyond the face of the statute and infer a legislative intent contrary to the plain language of the statute despite the fact that it “is a settled rule of statutory construction that unambiguous language is not subject to judicial construction.” State v. Jett, 626 So.2d 691, 693 (Fla.1993).

Appellant points to Vildibill v. Johnson, 492 So.2d 1047, 1049 (Fla.1986), which in turn relies on State v. Webb, 398 So.2d 820 (Fla.1981), for the proposition that “legislative intent is the polestar by which the court must be guided, and this intent must be given effect even though it may contradict the strict letter of the statute.” Webb, 398 So.2d at 824. Both of those cases involved statutes where a strict literal construction led to absurd or unreasonable unconstitutional results.

*427Appellant has not argued, and we have been unable to articulate, any ambiguity, absurdity, or unreasonableness on the face of the statute. The plain language of the statute bars recovery for any person who commits a felony on the property, not just a person whose injury arises out of the commission of a felony. We decline to read a “causal nexus” requirement into the statute.

The trial court’s order is AFFIRMED.

VAN NORTWICK and CLARK, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • City OF Jacksonville v. Smith, 159 So. 3d 888 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015)
    …ct if that owner has not had a law, regulation, or ordinance applied which restricts or limits the use of the owner’s property. [*889] Because the issue involves pure statutory interpretation, our standard of review is de novo. Kuria v. BMLRW, LLLP, 101 So. 3d 425 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012). We determine the Act simply does not apply where, as here, the Smiths’ property was not itself subject to any governmental regulatory action. The Act contains no language to indicate that it intends to create a whole new class o…
  • Kelly v. Duggan, 282 So. 3d 969 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019)
    …t. This appeal followed. II. Legal Analysis Because the question of whether condominium assessments fall within the purview of the FCCPA as a consumer debt is one of statutory interpretation, we review the issue de novo. See Kuria v. BMLRW, LLLP, 101 So. 3d 425, 426 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012). The question of whether the complaint stated a cause of action is one of law, which is also reviewed de novo. Doe v. Baptist Primary Care, Inc., 177 So. 3d 669, 674 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015) (quoting Locker v. United Pharm. Grp…
  • N. Broward Hosp. Dist. v. State (Fla. 1st DCA 2024)

Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw