From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Austin v. Liquid Distributors, Inc.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
May 17, 2006
928 So. 2d 521 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2006)

Summary

upholding dismissal of personal injury case in finding the plaintiff committed fraud on the court by deliberately misleading and deceiving the defendants

Summary of this case from Saewitz v. Saewitz

Opinion

No. 3D05-2106.

May 17, 2006.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Miami-Dade County, Michael A. Genden, J.

Stephens, Lynn, Klein and Marlene S. Reiss, Miami, for appellant.

Buckner, Shifrin, Rice Etter and Charles W. Rice, Miami, for appellees.

Before SHEPHERD and SUAREZ, JJ., and SCHWARTZ, Senior Judge.


This is an appeal from the dismissal of a personal injury case for fraud on the court. We affirm on the basis of the trial judge's order which correctly concludes as follows:

It is well-settled law that a party who has been guilty of fraud or misconduct in the prosecution or defense of a civil proceeding is not permitted to continue to employ the very institution she has subverted to achieve her ends. Hanono v. Murphy, 723 So.2d 892 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998). Where a plaintiff makes misrepresentations and omissions about her accident and medical history in interrogatories and in deposition, those misrepresentations and omissions go to the heart of her claim and subvert the integrity of her action. When the extensive nature of the plaintiff's past medical history belies her claim that she had forgotten or was confused, she thereby forfeits her right to proceed with her personal injury action. Metropolitan Dade County v. Martinsen, 736 So.2d 794 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999).

Since the record evidence in the case at hand clearly and convincingly demonstrates that Lucille Austin deliberately attempted to mislead and deceive the defendants about matters which strike at the very heart of her claim, i.e., her injuries stemming from the automobile accident of June 28, 2001, this court simply cannot condone Lucille Austin's lack of candor. "A system that depends on an adversary's ability to uncover falsehoods is doomed to failure, which is why this kind of conduct must be discouraged in the strongest possible way." Cox v. Burke, 706 So.2d 43, 47 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998).

Affirmed.


Summaries of

Austin v. Liquid Distributors, Inc.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
May 17, 2006
928 So. 2d 521 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2006)

upholding dismissal of personal injury case in finding the plaintiff committed fraud on the court by deliberately misleading and deceiving the defendants

Summary of this case from Saewitz v. Saewitz

reaffirming that "[w]here a plaintiff makes misrepresentations and omissions about accident and medical history ... in depositions, those misrepresentations and omissions go to the heart of claim and subvert the integrity of action"

Summary of this case from Pino v. CGH Hosp., Ltd.

reaffirming that when a plaintiff makes misrepresentations and omissions about her accident and medical history in interrogatories and in deposition, those misrepresentations and omissions go to the heart of her claim and subvert the integrity of her action

Summary of this case from Diaz v. Home Depot USA, Inc.
Case details for

Austin v. Liquid Distributors, Inc.

Case Details

Full title:Lucille AUSTIN, Appellant, v. LIQUID DISTRIBUTORS, INC., and Frank Cedeno…

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District

Date published: May 17, 2006

Citations

928 So. 2d 521 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2006)

Citing Cases

Saewitz v. Saewitz

In short, whatever lapse—legal or ethical—may be laid at the feet of defense counsel, it is true as well that…

Pino v. CGH Hosp., Ltd.

Cox v. Burke, 706 So. 2d 43, 47 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) ("The integrity of the civil litigation process depends…