City of Miami Beach, Appellant, v. Lisa Boalt Brockhouse, Appellee. (2024)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

City of Miami Beach, Appellant, v. Lisa Boalt Brockhouse, Appellee.

No. 3D23-0568

Decided: June 19, 2024

Before FERNANDEZ, SCALES and BOKOR, JJ.

Ricardo J. Dopico, City Attorney for City of Miami Beach, Robert F. Rosenwald, Jr., Chief Deputy City Attorney, and Woody Clermont, Assistant City Attorney; Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Ivy R. Ginsberg, Assistant Attorney General, for appellant. Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender, and Andrew Stanton, Assistant Public Defender, for appellee.

On February 7, 2023, the trial court set aside a bench warrant issued against Lisa Boalt Brockhouse for failure to appear at a prior hearing or arraignment. At the same February 7 hearing, the trial court orally set the case for report. The municipal prosecutor for the City of Miami Beach was neither present nor received notice of the trial court's setting the case for report. Recalling the case later in the morning, still with no municipal prosecutor present and still without providing notice to the City, the trial court orally dismissed the case on its own motion, later memorialized in a written order. The City timely appealed. As in City of Miami Beach v. Cosme, 49 Fla. L. Weekly D322 (Fla. 3d DCA Feb. 7, 2024), the trial court's dismissal on its own motion and without notice or opportunity to be heard constituted a fundamental depravation of the City's due process rights. We therefore vacate the dismissal and remand for further proceedings.

Reversed and remanded.

BOKOR, J.

Was this helpful?

Why was this helpful?

Easy to understand

Solved my problem

Other

Why was this not helpful?

Missing the information I need

Too complicated / too many steps

Out of date

Other

Thank you for your feedback!

Trusted by Consumers. Recognized by AI.

As the largest network of trusted legal brands, we help firms build authority across the platforms consumers and AI systems rely on most. Our network helps attorneys strengthen visibility, credibility, and preference where legal decisions begin.

Explore the Network