Milagros Rodriguez v. Children's Home Society of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledFebruary 19, 2020
Docket3D19-2263
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed February 19, 2020.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D19-2263
Lower Tribunal No. 19-9791
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Milagros Rodriguez,
Appellant,
vs.
The Children’s Home Society of Florida,
Appellee.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Martin Zilber,
Judge.
Milagros Rodriguez, in proper person.
Klein Glasser Park & Lowe, P.L., and Kayla A. Riera-Gomez, for appellee.
Before SALTER, SCALES and MILLER, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Milagros Rodriguez, pro se, appeals from the dismissal with prejudice of her
third attempt to plead legally sufficient claims against The Children’s Home Society
of Florida for money damages following the allegedly negligent treatment of her
twin daughters. Before considering Ms. Rodriguez’s third attempt at a complaint,
the trial court dismissed her first amended complaint (second attempt) with a
directive “to hire counsel or to file a legally sufficient complaint, otherwise the case
will be dismissed with prejudice.”
The trial court allowed Ms. Rodriguez thirty days within which to hire counsel
or file a second amended complaint. Ms. Rodriguez then filed a sixty-one page pro
se document that failed once again to state any legally sufficient cause of action.
Although pro se litigants are often given leniency on certain
procedural technicalities in how they draft motions or request relief,
they are still subject to the rules of procedure. See Haines v. Kerner,
404 U.S. 519, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972). “Notwithstanding
the fundamental principle of allowing pro se litigants procedural
latitude, a practice effected to ensure access to the courts for all citizens,
pro se litigants are not immune from the rules of procedure.” Barrett v.
City of Margate, 743 So.2d 1160, 1162 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999).
Kidwell v. Kidwell, 181 So. 3d 1190, 1190 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015).
Affirmed.
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