L POWERS
v.
MAYOR DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA

Fla. 3d DCA | 2025-01-02
No. 3D2024-0539
2025 FL 53 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2025)

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Synopsis

L Powers appealed a circuit court's dismissal of his complaint against Miami-Dade County officials. The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the dismissal, relying on established precedent regarding when dismissals with prejudice are appropriate and the circumstances under which plaintiffs must be given opportunity to amend defective pleadings.


Holding

The court affirmed the dismissal, indicating that the circuit court properly dismissed the complaint either because Powers was given an opportunity to amend and the amended complaint still failed to state a cause of action, or because it was clear that the pleading could not be amended to state a viable cause of action.


Headnotes

[1] A dismissal with prejudice of an amended complaint is appropriate when the pleading fails to allege the ultimate facts necessary to permit defendants to frame an answer a…

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Key Quotes

“a trial court must generally give a plaintiff at least one attempt to amend a complaint to assert a cause of action "unless it is clear that a plaintiff cannot in good faith allege a set of circumstances sufficient to state a cause of action"”

Establishes the general rule that plaintiffs receive amendment opportunities unless amendment is futile

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Facts & Procedural History

L Powers filed a complaint against Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and other county officials in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court. The circuit court dismiss…

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Opinion of the Court

Opinion filed January 2, 2025. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D24-0539 Lower Tribunal No. 23-15262-CA-01 ________________

L Powers,

Appellant,

vs.

Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, et al., Appellees.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Vivianne del Rio, Judge. L Powers, in proper person. Geraldine Bonzon-Keenan, Miami-Dade County Attorney and Richard Schevis, Assistant County Attorney; Greenspoon Marder LLP, and Joseph S. Geller (Fort Lauderdale), for appellees. Before LOGUE, C.J., and EMAS and BOKOR, JJ. PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See Grove Isle Ass’n v. Grove Isle Assocs., 137 So. 3d 1081, 1095 (Fla 3d DCA 2014) (explaining that a trial court must generally give a plaintiff at least one attempt to amend a complaint to assert a cause of action “unless it is clear that a plaintiff cannot in good faith allege a set of circumstances sufficient to state a cause of action” (quoting Lambrix v. Dugger, 547 So. 2d 1265, 1265 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989))); Rios v. McDermott, Will & Emery, 613 So. 2d 544, 545 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993) (explaining that dismissal with prejudice of an amended complaint was proper where plaintiff failed to allege any “‘ultimate facts’ necessary to permit appellees to frame an answer” and the facts as pled failed to state a cause of action); Kairalla v. John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Found., 534 So. 2d 774, 775 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988) (“[A] dismissal with prejudice should not be ordered without giving the plaintiff an opportunity to amend the defective pleading, unless it is apparent that the pleading cannot be amended to state a cause of action.”).


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