Opinion
21-60980-CIV-SINGHAL/VALLE
10-17-2022
HOTELS OF DEERFIELD, LLC, an Indiana limited liability company, and MHG HOTELS, LLC, an Indiana limited liability company, Plaintiff, v. STUDIO 78, LLC, a Georgia limited liability company, SHAILESH KALYAN, an individual, PALMER ENGINEERING COMPANY, a Georgia company, BAKULESH M. PATEL, P.E., an individual, PROMUS, INC., a Georgia corporation, DARIN FRICK, P.E., an individual, Defendants.
ORDER
Raag Singhal, Judge.
THIS CAUSE is before the Court on Plaintiffs' Motion in Limine, filed on June 20, 2022 (the “Motion”) (DE [133]). Defendants Studio 78, LLC and Shailesh Kalyan (the “Defendants”) filed a Response on July 5, 2022 (DE [138]). The Motion is now ripe for this Court's consideration.
Plaintiffs seek to exclude any evidence or testimony offered by Defendants regarding discussion or application of Chapter 481, Fla. Stat. and Rule 61G1-18.002. In the interim period since the parties briefed this Motion, the Court ruled on Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment on Defendants' Affirmative Defense Concerning Subsequent Design Professionals (DE [147]). In that Order, this Court granted summary judgment in favor of Plaintiffs on Defendants' twenty-ninth affirmative defense, which sought to invoke Rule 61G1-18.002 of the Florida Administrative Code and Florida Statute Chapter 481, Part One to argue that a successor architect's adoption of Defendants' plans released Defendants of liability. The Court concluded these provisions did not provide Defendants a basis to assert an affirmative defense as a matter of law. By extension, the Court finds Defendants may not offer evidence or elicit testimony regarding these provisions because they are not relevant and risk juror confusion, misleading the jury, wasting time and resources, among other issues. Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Plaintiffs' Motion for (DE [133]) is GRANTED.
DONE AND ORDERED.