Torres v. Gomez

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: August 27, 2018
• Docket: 5D18-2501
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED CYNTHIA TORRES,

Petitioner,

v. Case No. 5D18-2501

JUAN O. GOMEZ,

Respondent. ________________________________/ Opinion filed August 31, 2018

Petition for Writ of Prohibition, Diana Michelle Tennis, Respondent Judge.

Stephen Brown, of Brown & Rice, P. A., Orlando, for Petitioner.

Natalie D. Hall, Orlando for Respondent.

PER CURIAM.

Cynthia Torres petitions this court for a writ of prohibition to review the denial of

her motion to disqualify the Honorable Diana Michelle Tennis from presiding over her

domestic relations matter. We grant the petition and quash the order because the

disqualification motion was legally sufficient since the facts alleged, which must be

presumed true, would reasonably cause Torres to have a well-founded fear that she

would not receive a fair hearing before Judge Tennis. See Minaya v. State, 118 So. 3d

926 (Fla. 5th DCA 2013); Ennis v. Ennis, 855 So. 2d 229 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003). Accordingly, we grant the petition, quash the order denying the disqualification motion

and remand for assignment to a different judge.

PETITION GRANTED; ORDER QUASHED; CAUSE REMANDED.

PALMER, EVANDER, and LAMBERT, JJ., concur.