Tag: florida 5th dca

  • Permanent Guardianship Reversal #2

    Permanent guardianships are hard. You have to give people notice, make all these findings, and order visitation and stuff. So annoying, right? This is the second permanent guardianship reversal out of the Fifth DCA this year. I guess they’re winning. Although the trial court’s decision is supported by competent, substantial evidence, the final order itself…

  • “Judicial Event Horizon” – Dual Maternity in Florida

    A lesbian couple has a baby (one supplies the eggs, one supplies the womb), raises it, and eventually separates. The birth mother runs to Australia. The biological mother seeks to assert parental rights. Our analysis reveals that there is nothing in chapter 742, and specifically section 742.14, that addresses the situation where the child has both…

  • A Small Pharmacy in Her Purse

    On appeal, the mother argues that drug tests showing the use of drugs prescribed to her cannot support the conclusion that she failed to substantially comply with her case plan. Certainly, the legitimate use of prescribed medications should not lead to a parent’s loss of parental rights, but that is not the situation here. On…

  • City of Orlando v. Pineiro: What not to Say in Closing Argument

    City of Orlando v. Pineiro — So.3d —-, 2011 WL 3359613 Fla.App. 5 Dist.,2011. August 05, 2011 (Approx. 7 pages) My honest thanks to the Fifth DCA for publishing a whole opinion on improper closing argument. My tongue-in-cheek thanks to anonymous counsel for making it possible. Improper arguments covered in the opinion include: golden rule…