Plain Language Interpretation

53 Florida cases classified under this topic · sorted by citation count · see the citation graph · browse and sort

• Kasischke v. State
  991 So. 2d 803· Fla.· 2008-07-10 ·cited 184×
  The Florida Supreme Court resolved a conflict between district courts regarding the interpretation of a statute requiring judges to impose conditions on sexual offenders on probation or community control. The Court held that a prohibition on possessing pornographic material appli
• Saia Motor Freight Line, Inc. v. Reid
  930 So. 2d 598· Fla.· 2006-05-11 ·cited 124×
  The Florida Supreme Court resolved a conflict among the district courts regarding whether Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.525's 30-day deadline for motions to tax costs applies when a final judgment reserves jurisdiction over the issue. The Court held that the bright-line 30-da
• Tal-Mason v. State
  515 So. 2d 738· Fla.· 1987-11-12 ·cited 103×
  The Florida Supreme Court held that a defendant committed to a state mental institution for evaluation of competence to stand trial must receive jail-time credit under section 921.161(1) for the period of pretrial detention, rejecting the distinction between county jails and ment
• Campbell v. Clivens Goldman
  959 So. 2d 223· Fla.· 2007-06-14 ·cited 86×
  A settlement offer under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442 and section 768.79 must cite the applicable statute to be valid. The failure to cite section 768.79, even when the offer references Rule 1.442, constitutes a material non-compliance with mandatory statutory and rule r
• Brown v. State
  715 So. 2d 241· Fla.· 1998-05-14 ·cited 63×
  The Florida Supreme Court held that a trial court may grant an exceptional circumstance extension under Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191(i) even when the extension is requested during the 5/10-day recapture window, provided the window has not yet expired. The decision resolves a
• State v. Ramsey
  475 So. 2d 671· Fla.· 1985-07-11 ·cited 61×
  The Florida Supreme Court held that a person placed under arrest is a "prisoner" subject to the escape statute immediately upon arrest, even before being handcuffed or placed in a vehicle, and that fleeing from an arresting officer constitutes escape under Florida Statutes § 944.
• Cris D'Angelo v. Conagra Foods, Inc.
  422 F.3d 1220· 11th Cir.· 2005-08-30 ·cited 51×
  Cris D'Angelo, who suffered from vertigo triggered by staring at moving conveyor belts, sued ConAgra Foods for disability discrimination under Title I of the ADA after being terminated from her product transporter position. The district court granted summary judgment for ConAgra
• Alethia Jones v. State
  813 So. 2d 22· Fla.· 2002-01-24 ·cited 36×
  The Florida Supreme Court resolved a conflict between district courts on whether section 948.01(13), which authorizes drug offender probation for chronic substance abusers charged with drug crimes, provides an alternative sentencing scheme outside the sentencing guidelines. The C
• State v. Miller
  227 So. 3d 562· Fla.· 2017-09-28 ·cited 20×
  The Florida Supreme Court held that possession of a valid Florida driver license is a prerequisite element for conviction under section 322.34(5), which criminalizes driving with a revoked license as a habitual traffic offender. The Court resolved a conflict among District Courts
• Leftwich v. Fla. Dep't OF Corr.
  148 So. 3d 79· Fla.· 2014-09-18 ·cited 17×
  The Florida Supreme Court resolved a conflict between district courts regarding whether an inmate sentenced as a habitual offender after receiving non-habitual offender sentences remains eligible for provisional credits on those earlier sentences. The Court held that under the pl
• Zoltan Barati v. State
  198 So. 3d 69· Fla. 1st DCA· 2016-02-23 ·cited 15×
  A Florida appellate court held that the Attorney General possesses plenary authority to unilaterally dismiss a qui tam action under the Florida False Claims Act, regardless of whether the State previously declined to intervene in the litigation. This decision of first impression
• Israel v. DeSantis
  269 So. 3d 491· Fla.· 2019-04-23 ·cited 13×
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's dismissal of a Sheriff's petition challenging his suspension. The court held that the Governor's executive order suspending the Sheriff for neglect of duty and incompetence contained sufficient factual allegations to meet the con
• State v. Johann S. Warren
  755 So. 2d 145· Fla. 1st DCA· 2000-02-28 ·cited 12×
  Section 784.03(2), Florida Statutes requires two prior convictions for battery as defined in section 784.03(1)—meaning misdemeanor battery—to support a felony battery charge, not prior convictions for aggravated battery or a mixture of both.
• Stewart-Warner Corp. v. City OF Pontiac
  767 F.2d 1563· Fed. Cir.· 1985-07-18 ·cited 12×
  The dissenting judge would hold the patent invalid based on a plain language interpretation of its preamble.
• Taffe v. State
  232 So. 3d 431· Fla. 4th DCA· 2017-12-13 ·cited 10×
  Richard Taffe appeals the trial court's revocation of his probation and sentencing as a Habitual Felony Offender. The appellate court affirmed the probation revocation but remanded to remove the armed kidnapping finding, which was not alleged in the charging affidavit, while upho
• Mony Sec. Corp. v. Bornstein
  390 F.3d 1340· 11th Cir.· 2004-11-18 ·cited 9×
  MONY Securities Corp., an NASD member, sought declaratory and injunctive relief to avoid arbitration of claims brought by the Bornsteins, who had invested in viatical settlement contracts after being advised by Lawrence Keller, an associated person of MONY. The Eleventh Circuit a
• COX v. Mid-America Dairymen, Inc.
  965 F.2d 569· 8th Cir.· 1992-05-11 ·cited 8×
• Navarro-Ayala v. Hernandez-Colon
  951 F.2d 1325· 1st Cir.· 1991-12-18 ·cited 8×
  The district court properly interpreted the consent decree to include collateral mental health facilities involved in the decentralization of services from Rio Piedras.
• Harris v. State
  48 So. 3d 922· Fla. 5th DCA· 2010-11-19 ·cited 7×
  Brandon Allen Harris was convicted of burglary of a dwelling under Florida's 'remaining in' burglary statute. The appellate court reversed his conviction, holding that the State failed to present evidence that Harris was licensed or invited to enter the premises, which is a requi
• CBS Broad., Inc. v. Echostar Commc'ns Corp.
  532 F.3d 1294· 11th Cir.· 2008-07-07 ·cited 7×
  The Eleventh Circuit affirmed that EchoStar Communications did not violate a permanent nationwide injunction under the Satellite Home Viewer Act (SHVA) by leasing its satellite transponder to National Programming Service (NPS) to retransmit distant network programming to eligible
• Wolf v. Progressive Am. Ins. Co.
  34 So. 3d 81· Fla. 1st DCA· 2010-03-31 ·cited 6×
  The court affirmed a summary judgment denying uninsured motorist benefits to an insured who had rejected UM coverage and died in a motorcycle accident caused by an uninsured driver. The court held that Florida Statute 627.727(1) requires insurers to provide notice of UM coverage
• Fettler v. State
  885 So. 2d 411· Fla. 1st DCA· 2004-10-15 ·cited 6×
  Jonathan Fettler appeals his probation revocation sentence, arguing he was entitled to jail credit for all time previously served in prison, not just time served in boot camp. The court reversed and remanded, holding that under Florida's youthful offender statutes, defendants are
• Harry Lewis and the Portland Gray Panthers v. Hegstrom
  767 F.2d 1371· 9th Cir.· 1985-08-08 ·cited 6×
  The court held that Oregon's administrative rule calculating the period of Medicaid ineligibility for home transfers is consistent with federal law, despite the district court's contrary finding.
• DE LA Mora v. Andonie
  51 So. 3d 517· Fla. 3d DCA· 2010-12-15 ·cited 4×
  Foreign nationals with temporary U.S. visas sought a homestead tax exemption for their Miami-Dade County property based on their three U.S.-citizen minor children's permanent residence there. The court affirmed the exemption, holding that Florida's constitutional homestead provis
• Crosby v. State
  757 So. 2d 584· Fla. 2d DCA· 2000-05-10 ·cited 4×
  Karl Crosby appeals his conviction for 68 counts of simple possession of child pornography, challenging the propriety of multiple counts based on duplicate images. The Florida Second District Court of Appeal affirms, clarifying that under section 827.071(5), each separate possess
• State v. Cutwright
  41 So. 3d 389· Fla. 1st DCA· 2010-07-30 ·cited 3×
  A career offender under the Florida Career Offender Registration Act must report any change in residence, including abandoning a previous residence, within 2 working days under section 775.261(4)(d), regardless of whether the offender establishes a new permanent or temporary resi
• State v. Alecia
  692 So. 2d 263· Fla. 5th DCA· 1997-04-25 ·cited 2×
  The State of Florida appealed a trial court's judgment declaring section 843.08, Florida Statutes, unconstitutional as vague and overbroad. The statute prohibits falsely assuming or pretending to be a law enforcement officer and acting as such. The appellate court reversed, holdi
• Allen v. State
  654 So. 2d 1027· Fla. 1st DCA· 1995-05-16 ·cited 2×
  Court reversed habitual violent felony offender sentencing because the prior offense occurred while appellant was on community control, not probation, and § 775.084(2) requires probation status under plain language construction.
• United States v. Speach
  968 F.2d 795· 9th Cir.· 1992-03-20 ·cited 2×
  The court should follow precedent in Hoflin, which held that knowledge of a lack of a permit is not an element of the offense under a parallel statutory clause.
• Pine v. State
  331 So. 3d 304· Fla. 5th DCA· 2021-12-29 ·cited 1×
  Adam James Pine was convicted of showing obscene material to a minor and sentenced to five years in state prison. The Fifth District Court of Appeal affirms the conviction but reverses the sentence because the jury was incorrectly instructed to determine whether Pine himself pose
• Adom Branch v. Junior
  281 So. 3d 1280· Fla. 3d DCA· 2019-10-23 ·cited 1×
  The appellate court denied a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, affirming the trial court's decision to deny a defendant's request for release on his own recognizance (ROR). The court held that the defendant, who was on house arrest, did not meet the "physical custody" require
• Vann v. State
  99 So. 3d 633· Fla. 1st DCA· 2012-10-31 ·cited 1×
• State of Conn. v. Health NET, Inc.
  383 F.3d 1258· 11th Cir.· 2004-09-10 ·cited 1×
  Connecticut sought to assert ERISA claims on behalf of its citizens either as an assignee of individual rights or in its parens patriae capacity, but the Eleventh Circuit held that the state lacked both Article III constitutional standing as an assignee and statutory standing und
• Dombrowski v. Swiftships, Inc.
  864 F. Supp. 1242· S.D. Fla.· 1994-08-30 ·cited 1×
  The court held that the venue provision in Section 10 of the Federal Arbitration Act is permissive, not exclusive, allowing actions to be brought in districts other than where the award was made.
• Sec'y of the State of Fla. v. Tondee
  Fla. 2d DCA· 2025-11-21
  The circuit court's decision regarding the Department of Corrections' motion for a civil restitution lien is affirmed.
• Global Hookah Distribs., Inc. v. Dep't of Bus. & Prof'l Reg.
  Fla. 1st DCA· 2025-02-26
  Hookah tobacco products constitute "loose tobacco suitable for smoking" under Florida Statutes § 210.25(12) and are therefore subject to excise taxes and surcharges. The term "loose tobacco" encompasses shredded and chopped tobacco leaves that retain their fundamental character a
• State v. Arshadnia
  Fla. 3d DCA· 2023-12-20
  THC derived from cannabis plant flowers or stems does not constitute a synthetic cannabinoid under Florida Statutes §893.03(1)(c)190, and where the State cannot establish that THC was artificially produced, a trafficking in synthetic cannabinoids charge must be dismissed.
• Hollywood Park Apts. S., LLC v. City of Hollywood
  Fla. 4th DCA· 2023-04-19
  The appellate court affirmed the trial court's decision that the 2014 ordinance applied and was constitutional, but reversed and remanded the case because the city did not follow the plain language of the ordinance when calculating back-billed water usage. The court clarified tha
• Upright Open Mri, LLC v. Infinity Auto Ins. Co.
  Fla. 4th DCA· 2020-09-23
• Dakota Sterling Owens v. State
  Fla. 1st DCA· 2020-08-25
  The appellate court affirmed the trial court's decision to revoke probation and impose a prison sentence. The court held that even if the 2019 amendments to the probation statute applied, the probationer had to meet all four conditions listed in the statute to receive its benefit
• Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, P.A. v. Vinardell Power Sys., Inc.
  S.D. Fla.· 2020-03-19
  The court held that the maritime insurance policy provided stranding cover, not full cover, for goods loaded on deck in open-top containers due to an explicit exclusion in the policy's German General Rules of Marine Insurance.
• Tison v. Clairmont Condo. F Assoc., Inc.
  Fla. 4th DCA· 2019-11-06
  Victor Tison appeals the denial of his motion for attorney's fees and costs after prevailing against a condominium association's lawsuit for unpaid assessments. The trial court denied the fee award because Tison had sold his condominium unit during the pendency of the litigation.
• Dyck-O'Neal, Inc. v. Lanham
  264 So. 3d 1115· Fla. 1st DCA· 2019-02-18
  A party is not entitled to pursue a separate independent action for a deficiency judgment where the foreclosure complaint includes a prayer for a deficiency judgment and the foreclosure court reserves jurisdiction to enter a deficiency judgment.
• Mickael Jackson v. State
  180 So. 3d 226· Fla. 4th DCA· 2015-12-16
  The court held that the plain language of the 10-20-Life statute mandates consecutive sentences even when offenses arise from a single criminal episode involving one victim.
• R.A.J. v. State
  135 So. 3d 523· Fla. 5th DCA· 2014-03-28
  The court denied a juvenile's habeas corpus petition, holding that Florida Statutes section 985.439(4)(b) authorizes home detention with electronic monitoring as a probation violation sanction without the time limitations that apply to residential consequence units under subsecti
• Gulf Power Co. v. Coalsales II, L.L.C.
  661 F. Supp. 2d 1270· N.D. Fla.· 2009-09-30
  The court held that the contract was not a sole source agreement, and therefore, the closure of one mine did not excuse the defendant's obligation to supply coal from other approved sources.
• Town OF Lauderdale-By-The-Sea v. SEA Colony, Inc.
  958 So. 2d 568· Fla. 4th DCA· 2007-06-20
  The court affirmed that a town's resolution imposed a ministerial duty to process a development site plan, making mandamus an appropriate remedy to compel such processing.
• Mariscoe de Bahia v. State
  44 Fla. Supp. 51· Dade Cty. Cir. Ct.· 1976-04-23
  A defendant convicted of violating Florida's crawfish statute was acquitted on appeal because the statute prohibits only the act of stripping or molesting egg-bearing crawfish, not mere possession, and no evidence showed such stripping or molesting occurred in Florida.