Miami-Dade County Expressway Authority v. Electronic Transaction Consultants Corp. ( 2017 )

Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed February 15, 2017.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D16-2899
Lower Tribunal No. 12-46272
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Miami-Dade County Expressway Authority,
Petitioner,
vs.
Electronic Transaction Consultants Corporation,
Respondent.
A Case of Original Jurisdiction – Prohibition.
Holland & Knight LLP, and Rodolfo Sorondo, Jr. and Christopher N.
Bellows, for petitioner.
Vezina, Lawrence & Piscitelli, P.A., and Michael Piscitelli and Bradley S.
Copenhaver (Ft. Lauderdale), for respondent.
Before SUAREZ, C.J., and ROTHENBERG and SALTER, JJ.
ROTHENBERG, J.
Miami-Dade County Expressway Authority (“MDX”) seeks a writ of
prohibition disqualifying the trial judge and an order remanding the case to the
circuit court for the reassignment of the case to another judge. Because we
conclude that the motion to disqualify the trial judge filed below was both timely
and legally sufficient, disqualification is required. See Wolfson v. Wolfson, 159
So. 3d 394, 394 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015) (finding that disqualification is required
where the trial judge’s comments suggested that she had prejudged the case);
Wade v. Wade, 123 So. 3d 697, 698 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013) (holding that
disqualification is required where the trial court announced its ruling before
hearing all of the evidence); Cummings v. Montalvo, 135 So. 3d 389, 389 (Fla. 5th
DCA 2014) (finding that disqualification was required because the judge’s
statements reflected that she had prejudged a party’s credibility); Amato v. Winn
Dixie Stores/Sedgwick James, 810 So. 2d 979, 980-83 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)
(finding that disqualification was required where the trial court had issued an order
on the merits before all of the evidence had been submitted, even though the trial
court subsequently vacated the order). We, therefore, grant the petition and
remand for reassignment of the case to another judge.
Petition granted.
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