Franchi v. Shapiro

694 So. 2d 164, 1997 Fla. App. LEXIS 6138, 1997 WL 295630

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Pursuant to our mandate in Franchi v. Shapiro, 650 So.2d 161 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995),¹ a successor judge held an evidentiary hearing at which defendant-appellant Domenic Franchi was given an opportunity to explain his actions. Ultimately, the lower court entered the order appealed which, once again, struck Franchi’s pleadings and entered a default against him.

We reverse, as the record does not support the trial court’s conclusion that Franchi wil-fully and deliberately deceived the court into believing he was too ill to testify or travel to Dade County. See, e.g., K & K World Enter., Inc. v. Union Spol, S.R.O., 692 So.2d 1000 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997).

Reversed and remanded for further proceedings.

1 . The relevant facts of this case are fully laid out in that opinion.