SC01-1505 Ivan Martinez v. Florida Power & Light Co.

SUPREME COURT CASES

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State: Florida

Court: Supreme Court

Docket No: sc01-1505

Case Date: 12/18/2003

Plaintiff: SC01-1505 Ivan Martinez

Defendant: Florida Power & Light Co.

Preview:Supreme Court of Florida
No. SC01-1505
IVAN MARTINEZ, etc., et al.,
Petitioners,
vs.
FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY,
Respondent.
[December 18, 2003]
SHAW, Senior Justice.
We have for review Martinez v. Florida Power & Light Co., 785 So. 2d 1251
(Fla. 3d DCA 2001) (hereinafter "Martinez"), which expressly and directly conflicts
with Clay Electric Cooperative, Inc. v. Johnson, Nos. SC01-1955 & SC01-1956
(Fla. Dec. 18, 2003) (hereinafter "Clay Electric").   We have jurisdiction.   See art. V,
§ 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.
The pertinent facts as alleged in the complaint are as follows.   On November

4, 1996, a child named Albert Martinez was crossing a two-lane road during the
early evening darkness when he was struck and killed by a sports utility vehicle in
an area where a streetlight was inoperative.   The force of the impact threw the
child's body approximately one hundred feet from the site of the collision.   Albert's
parents, acting as personal representatives of his estate, filed a negligence claim
against, inter alia, the streetlight maintenance company, Florida Power and Light
Company. ("FP&L").
After filing its answer, FP&L moved for judgment on the pleadings, claiming
that "[the] failure to maintain a streetlight does not create a risk greater than the risk
created by the total absence of streetlights."   The circuit court granted the motion,
and the district court affirmed.   Albert's parents sought review based on conflict
with Johnson v. Lance, Inc., 790 So. 2d 1144 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001) (hereinafter
"Johnson"), and Lance, Inc. v. Johnson, 790 So. 2d 1163 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)
(hereinafter "Lance").   We granted review in Martinez, Johnson, and Lance,
consolidated Johnson and Lance, and reviewed Martinez separately.   We
subsequently approved both Johnson and Lance in Clay Electric, wherein we ruled
narrowly:
In the present cases, we conclude that the trial court erred in
granting Clay Electric's motion for summary judgment.   Viewing the
record, the undisputed facts, and all reasonable inferences therefrom in
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the light most favorable to the nonmoving parties, we hold that the
plaintiffs have adequately shown that Clay Electric assumed a specific,
legally recognized duty to the plaintiffs to act with due care in
maintaining the streetlights.
Clay Electric, slip op. at 8.
Because the district court below did not have the benefit of Clay Electric
when it rendered its decision in Martinez, we quash Martinez and remand for
proceedings consistent with Clay Electric.   On remand, the standard of review is de
novo1 and the criterion for analyzing the trial court's judgment on the pleadings is as
follows:
In passing on such motion made by defendant all well pleaded material
allegations of the complaint and all fair inferences to be drawn
therefrom must be taken as true and the inquiry is whether the plaintiff
has stated a cause of action by his complaint.   The test we apply in
this instance is the same as if defendant has made a motion to dismiss
the complaint for 'failure to state a cause of action' . . .                              .   The
allegations of the defendant's answer are of no avail to him at a hearing
on defendant's motion for decree on the pleadings.
Reinhard v. Bliss, 85 So. 2d 131, 133 (Fla. 1956).
It is so ordered.
ANSTEAD, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, and QUINCE, JJ., concur.
CANTERO, J., dissents with an opinion, in which WELLS, J., concurs.
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION, AND
1.   See generally Armstrong v. Harris, 773 So. 2d 7, 11 (Fla. 2000) ("[T]he
standard of review for a pure question of law is de novo.").
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IF FILED, DETERMINED.
CANTERO, J., dissenting.
For the reasons stated in my dissent in Clay Electric Cooperative, Inc. v.
Delores Johnson, et al. , SC01-1955, I dissent in this case as well.
WELLS, J., concurs.
Application for Review of the Decision of the District Court of Appeal - Direct
Conflict
Third District - Case No. 3D99-2795
(Dade County)
Stewart G. Greenberg, P.A., Miami, Florida; Elizabeth K. Russo of Russo
Appellate Firm, Miami, Florida; and Dennis R. Schutt of Schutt Humphries,
Jacksonville, Florida,
for Petitioners
Robert Boan, FPL Law Department, Miami, Florida; and Mark Hicks and Ralph O.
Anderson of Hicks, Anderson & Kneale, P.A., Miami, Florida,
for Respondent
Charles T. Wiggins and R. Andrew Kent of Beggs & Lane, LLP, Pensacola,
Florida,
for Gulf Power Company, Amicus Curiae
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Joel D. Eaton of Podhurst, Orseck, Josefsberg, Eaton, Meadow, Olin & Perwin,
P.A., Miami, Florida,
for the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, Amicus Curiae
Timothy C. Conley and David W. McCreadie of Lau, Lane, Pieper, Conley &
McCreadie, P.A., Tampa, Florida,
for Tampa Electric Companyand Edison Electric Institute, Amici Curiae
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