Florida Litigation
Dismissal for Fraud Upon the Court
The Florida Third District Court of Appeal in Sky Development Inc. v. Vistaview Development, Inc., 35 Fla. L. Weekly D1478a (Fla. 3DCA 2010), upheld a trial court’s mistrial and dismissal of a case with prejudice. The Florida appellate court held that a witness who received text messages while testifying during trial for the purpose of coaching the witness on how to testify was a blatant showing of fraud, pretense, and collusion which justified the harsh result of dismissal.
For the purposes of Florida litigation cases, the lesson to be learned from this recent case is that in this day and age of electronic communication, make sure that all parties at a deposition, hearing or trial, resist the urge to “help” a witness with text messaging or quick emails. If it would be impermissible to hand a note to a witness on how to testify, the same logic would apply to any other method of communication. The safest and perhaps best option is to leave all mobile devices at the office and not have them at hand during a deposition, hearing or trial. As such, it would certainly not hurt to address the issue of the receipt of text messages and emails during litigation proceedings. In fact, it could hurt you a lot more not to address this matter because if it happens, you could be looking at the end of your Florida legal case.
