Opinion
Case No. 96-1635
Opinion filed June 4, 1997.
An appeal from the Circuit Court for Dade County, Rosemary Usher Jones, Judge.
Andrew C. Barnard, for appellant.
Herzfeld Rubin and Jeffrey M. Bell, for appellees.
Before SCHWARTZ, C. J., and NESBITT and COPE, JJ.
Pursuant to our mandate in Franchi v. Shapiro, 650 So.2d 161 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995), a successor judge held an evidentiary hearing at which defendant-appellant Domenic Franchi was given an opportunity to explain his actions. Ultimately, the lower court entered the order appealed which, once again, struck Franchi's pleadings and entered a default against him.
The relevant facts of this case are fully laid out in that opinion.
We reverse, as the record does not support the trial court's conclusion that Franchi wilfully and deliberately deceived the court into believing he was too ill to testify or travel to Dade County. See, e.g., K K World Enter., Inc. v. Union Spol, S.R.O., 22 Fla. L. Weekly D1118 (Fla. 3d DCA May 7, 1997).
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings.