CONTINENTAL MOTORS, INC.
v.
CARLY JOHNSON, ETC.

Fla. 3d DCA | 2021-04-21
No. 19-1232
Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2021)

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Holding

A fine for failure to comply with a discovery order must be predicated upon a finding of contempt, and cannot be imposed when the court finds the non-compliance was not willful, deliberate, and contumacious.


Headnotes

[1] A fine imposed as a sanction for failure to comply with a discovery order must be predicated upon a finding of contempt, requiring proof that the non-compliance was willf…

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Key Quotes

“The assessment of a fine for failure to comply with an order compelling discovery 'must be predicated upon a finding of contempt.'”

Court's statement of the governing legal standard for imposing discovery sanctions

Facts & Procedural History

Continental Motors appealed a sanctions order from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County imposing a fine for failure to comply with a discovery orde…

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Opinion of the Court

Podhurst Orseck, P.A., and Joel D. Eaton, Ricardo M. Martinez-Cid and Lea P. Bucciero, for appellee. Before LOGUE, LINDSEY and LOBREE, JJ. PER CURIAM.

The assessment of a fine for failure to comply with an order compelling discovery “must be predicated upon a finding of contempt.” Channel Components, Inc. v. Am. II Elecs., Inc., 915 So. 2d 1278, 1283 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). Because the sanctions order in this case explicitly finds that the attorneys’ failure to comply “was not willful, deliberate and contumacious,” we reverse the portion of the order imposing the fine. As to all other issues on appeal, we affirm without further discussion. Affirmed, in part, and reversed, in part.


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