Andre P. Malek v. Marie Malek

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: June 25, 2025
• Docket: 3D2024-1247
• Status: Published

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed June 25, 2025. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

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No. 3D24-1247 Lower Tribunal No. 20-19054-FC-04 ________________

Andre P. Malek, Appellant,

vs.

Marie Malek, Appellee.

An Appeal from a non-final order from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Christina Marie DiRaimondo, Judge.

Mandel Law Group, P.A., and Roberta G. Mandel, for appellant.

No Appearance, for appellee.

Before EMAS, FERNANDEZ and GOODEN, JJ.

PER CURIAM. Appellant Andre Malek appeals a final judgment for paternity. He

challenges the time-sharing portion of the order, which limited his visitation

to every other weekend on Saturday from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm.

At the final hearing, the trial court heard testimony from four witnesses

and received evidence. Thereafter, it issued an order addressing the factors

set forth in section 61.13, Florida Statutes, and focused on the best interest

of the minor child. Because the trial court’s findings are supported by

competent, substantial evidence, we are constrained to affirm. See Shaw v.

Shaw, 334 So. 2d 13, 16 (Fla. 1976) (“It is not the function of the appellate

court to substitute its judgment for that of the trial court through re-evaluation

of the testimony and evidence from the record on appeal before it. The test

. . . is whether the judgment of the trial court is supported by competent

evidence.”); Florida Mining & Materials v. Mobley, 649 So. 2d 934, 934 (Fla.

1st DCA 1995) (“But the case may not be retried on appeal, and a ruling

which is supported by competent substantial evidence will be upheld even

though there may be some persuasive evidence to the contrary.”).

Affirmed.