Jessica Marlette v. Roxanne M. Carullo
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledNovember 30, 2022
Docket2D22-0947
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
JESSICA MARLETTE,
Appellant,
v.
ROXANNE M. CARULLO,
Appellee.
No. 2D22-947
November 30, 2022
Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P. 9.130 from the Circuit Court
for Hillsborough County; Paul L. Huey, Judge.
Sheila M. Lake of Lake Law Firm, P.A., St. Petersburg, for Appellant.
Roxanne M. Carullo, pro se.
ROTHSTEIN-YOUAKIM, Judge.
Jessica Marlette appeals the trial court's nonfinal order
denying her emergency motion to dissolve a temporary injunction.
We have jurisdiction. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.130(a)(3)(B). Because
Roxanne M. Carullo did not allege, let alone establish, the requisite
elements for a temporary injunction and because the court's order
imposing the injunction did not comply with Florida Rule of Civil
Procedure 1.610(b) and (c), we reverse and remand for vacatur of
the injunction.
Marlette and Carullo own adjacent properties in Odessa,
Florida. In 1997, the prior owner of Carullo's property granted a
perpetual easement that granted the use, operation, and
maintenance of a well and driveway to the prior owner of Marlette's
property. Marlette believed that this easement gave her exclusive
legal right over this well and driveway, and she sued Carullo,
seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.
Tensions between the parties grew as the suit progressed, and
in February 2022, Carullo filed an emergency motion for injunctive
relief. The trial court granted Carullo's motion without a hearing
and issued a temporary injunction. Notably, the court's only
findings in its order were that the court "has repeatedly stated its
position on this matter" and that "the Motion [was] factually
supported." The order did not require Carullo to post a bond.
Marlette subsequently filed an emergency motion to dissolve the
injunction, which the trial court denied by endorsed order and
without a hearing.
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We review for an abuse of discretion the denial of a motion to
dissolve a temporary injunction, see Cohen v. Zidon, 994 So. 2d
1163, 1164 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (citing Sea Tow Servs. Int'l, Inc. v.
Pontin, 973 So. 2d 531, 532 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007)), bearing in mind
that such a denial is "an abuse of discretion where a party can
demonstrate clear legal error or misapprehension of facts on the
part of the trial court" in entering the injunction in the first
instance, Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando, Inc. v. MMB
Props., 211 So. 3d 918, 925–26 (Fla. 2017).
Temporary injunctions "should be granted only sparingly and
only after the moving party has alleged and proved facts entitling it
to relief." Morgan v. Herff Jones, Inc., 883 So. 2d 309, 313 (Fla. 2d
DCA 2004). The moving party must establish a likelihood of
irreparable harm, the unavailability of an adequate legal remedy, a
substantial likelihood of success on the merits, and that
considerations of the public interest support the entry of the
injunction. See, e.g., Salazar v. Hometeam Pest Def., Inc., 230 So.
3d 619, 621 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017).
Moreover, temporary injunctions must strictly comply with
Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.610. Phelan v. Trifactor Sols., LLC,
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312 So. 3d 1036, 1038 (Fla. 2d DCA 2021) (citing Salazar, 230 So.
3d at 620-21). Rule 1.610(c) requires that "[e]very injunction . . .
specify the reasons for entry . . . ." And when issuing a temporary
injunction, the trial court must include in its order "clear, definite,
and unequivocally sufficient factual findings to support each of the
four elements." Salazar, 230 So. 3d at 621 (quoting Liberty Fin.
Mortg. Corp. v. Clampitt, 667 So. 2d 880, 881 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)
(alterations omitted)); McCue v. Heritage Farms Prop. Ass'n, 141 So.
3d 672, 673-74 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014) ("This court has long held that
[rule 1.610(c)] requires the injunction to include specific findings
regarding the likelihood of irreparable harm, unavailability of an
adequate remedy at law, substantial likelihood of success on the
merits, and considerations of public policy.").
Additionally, absent certain exceptions, "[a]n injunction is
defective if it does not require the movant to post a bond." Forrest
v. Citi Residential Lending, Inc., 73 So. 3d 269, 279 (Fla. 2d DCA
2011) (quoting Fla. High Sch. Activities Ass'n v. Mander, 932 So. 2d
314, 315–16 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006) (reversing temporary injunction in
part because order failed to require bond pursuant to rule
1.610(b))); see also Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.610(b) (providing that "[n]o
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temporary injunction shall be entered unless a bond is given by the
movant" but that no bond is required if petitioner is, e.g., a
municipality or the state or if the injunction is issued "solely to
prevent physical injury or abuse of a natural person"). The trial
court must hold an evidentiary hearing to address the appropriate
amount of a bond. Fla. Ga. Grove, LLP v. Collier County, 95 So. 3d
948, 949–50 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012).
Although Carullo averred that she was afraid of what Marlette
might do after Marlette allegedly had twice trespassed on Carullo's
property with yellow paint, Carullo failed to plead, let alone prove,
at least three of the four requisite elements. Moreover, the trial
court's February 15, 2022, order—in which it expressed that it had
"repeatedly stated its opinion," summarily deemed Carullo's motion
to be "factually supported," and entered the injunction without any
discussion of bond—wholly fails to comply with both subsections (b)
and (c) of rule 1.610 and constitutes "clear legal error." See Phelan,
312 So. 3d at 1039 ("A temporary injunction that does not include
specific findings on each of the required elements needed for
issuance of an injunction must be reversed." (citing Salazar, 230
So. 3d at 621-22)); Williams v. Victim Justice, P.C., 198 So. 3d 822,
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826 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016) (reversing trial court's issuance of a
temporary injunction after trial court failed to specify reasons for
entry and did not require a bond).
Accordingly, we reverse the order denying Marlette's
emergency motion to dissolve the temporary injunction and remand
for the trial court to vacate the temporary injunction.1
KHOUZAM and STARGEL, JJ., Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
1 Given this decision, we deny Marlette's alternative request for
mandamus relief compelling the trial court to hold a hearing on her
amended motion to dissolve the temporary injunction.
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