Yehezkel "Jesse" Salman v. Elena Kendall

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed January 2, 2025. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D23-2194 Lower Tribunal No. 21-19091 ________________

Yehezkel "Jesse" Salman, Appellant,

vs.

Elena Kendall, Appellee.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Valerie R. Manno Schurr, Judge.

The Diener Firm, P.A., and Erik D. Diener (Davie), for appellant.

John C. Lukacs, P.A., and John C. Lukacs, Sr., for appellee.

Before LOGUE, C.J., and GORDO and LOBREE, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Affirmed. See Zuccarelli v. Barfield, 165 So. 3d 830, 831 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015) (“Under the doctrine of absolute immunity, a party is ‘exempted from

liability to an action for defamatory words published in the course of judicial

proceedings, regardless of how false or malicious the statements may be,

as long as the statements bear some relation to or connection with the

subject of inquiry.’” (quoting DelMonico v. Traynor, 116 So. 3d 1205, 1211

(Fla. 2013))); DelMonico, 116 So. 3d at 1219 (“The issue of whether a

statement is connected with or related to the subject of inquiry is a threshold

determination to be made by a judge, mindful that ‘much latitude must be

allowed to the judgment and discretion of those who maintain a cause in

court’ when ‘determining what is pertinent.’” (quoting Myers v. Hodges, 44

So. 357, 362 (Fla. 1907))); Applegate v. Barnett Bank of Tallahassee, 377

So. 2d 1150, 1152 (Fla. 1979) (“When there are issues of fact the appellant

necessarily asks the reviewing court to draw conclusions about the evidence.

Without a record of the trial proceedings, the appellate court can not properly

resolve the underlying factual issues so as to conclude that the trial court's

judgment is not supported by the evidence or by an alternative theory.”).