Locklear v. Sampson, BC-439
| Decision Date | 13 November 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. BC-439,BC-439 |
| Citation | 10 Fla. L. Weekly 2515,478 So.2d 1113 |
| Parties | 10 Fla. L. Weekly 2515, 10 Fla. L. Weekly 2597 James LOCKLEAR, Appellant, v. Beverly SAMPSON and Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Donald W. Matthews, Jacksonville, for appellant.
Joseph R. Boyd, Susan S. Thompson, and William H. Branch of Boyd, Thompson & Williams, P.A., Tallahassee, and Chriss Walker, Dept. of Health & Rehabilitative Services, Tallahassee, for appellee.
James Locklear appeals a final judgment of paternity entered against him as a result of a default order. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.
On March 8, 1983, Beverly Sampson, mother of a minor child, and the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services filed a complaint against appellant to determine paternity and to establish his obligation to pay past and future support of the child he allegedly fathered. Appellant answered with a general denial of paternity on March 25. On November 3, appellees filed a motion for compulsory blood testing; and on January 5, 1984, the court entered a consent order requiring the parties and the minor child to appear and submit to a blood test "at a date to be later set, without further order." The court did not thereafter set any particular date for the physical examination.
On June 28, 1984, appellees filed a motion for sanctions against appellant alleging that on February 9, 1984, appellees' attorney served appellant with a notice of scheduling of the HLA blood test for March 5, 1984, and that Sampson and her child appeared at the scheduled time for the blood test but that appellant failed to appear. Based on these limited allegations, the motion sought various sanctions, including the striking of appellant's answer and entry of a default order. On June 28 the court entered an order granting the motion for sanctions and striking appellant's answer because of his failure to appear for the blood test. The order was not conditional and did not provide for the filing of any further pleadings or defenses. The record reveals that no hearing was held on the motion for sanctions, that the court did not first require appellant to appear for the blood test at a time and place set by the court, and that the court did not otherwise afford appellant an opportunity to show cause why the motion for sanctions should not be granted. The motion was granted ex parte.
On July 9 Sampson filed a motion for default on the ground that appellant's answer had been stricken by the court and no subsequent pleadings had been filed by him. The record fails to show that this motion was served on appellant. Default was entered by the court on July 9, and apparently this order was not served on appellant. On July 23 a final hearing was held on Sampson's complaint to determine paternity. Appellant received notice of this hearing. An affidavit was filed by appellees showing appellant's current address and that he was not in the armed forces. A final judgment of paternity was then entered by the court adjudging appellant to be the father of Sampson's child. The record indicates that no evidence was received by the court to prove the allegations of paternity.
On August 6 appellant filed a motion for rehearing, motion to vacate and set aside the final judgment of paternity, and motion for entry of an order allowing defendant to submit to an HLA blood test and setting the time and place for same. Appellant alleged he was unaware that his inability to appear for the originally scheduled blood test would result in a final judgment of paternity against him. He also alleged he had attempted to appear at the final hearing on July 23 but that he mistakenly went to the wrong courtroom. 1
Critical rights and consequences result from a valid...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Tandra S. v. Tyrone W.
...e.g., Ex parte State ex rel. McKinney, 567 So.2d 366 (Ala.Civ.App.), mandamus denied, 575 So.2d 1024 (Ala.1990); Locklear v. Sampson, 478 So.2d 1113 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1985); Department of Human Resources v. Browning, 210 Ga.App. 546, 436 S.E.2d 742 (1993); Fairrow v. Fairrow, 559 N.E.2d 597 ......
-
Langston v. Riffe
...affects, inter alia, inheritance rights, citizenship, and the child's knowledge of his or her medical history. See Locklear v. Sampson, 478 So.2d 1113, 1115 (Fla.App.1985); Crowder v. Com. Ex. Rel. Gregory, 745 S.W.2d 149, 151 (Ky.Ct.App. 1988). Thus, accurate determinations of paternity ar......
-
State, Dept. of Revenue, Office of Child Support Enforcement on Behalf of D.J.N. v. Redding
...that a paternity action cannot be viewed as if it were simply ordinary litigation between private parties. Locklear v. Sampson, 478 So.2d 1113, 1115 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). Important considerations of public policy are involved as As this court stated in another paternity case presenting compa......
-
Hill v. Jackson, BM-71
...paternity, since now they establish "probability of paternity rather than merely exclude a person as the father." Locklear v. Sampson, 478 So.2d 1113 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985) (emphasis supplied); Bailey v. Richardson, 412 So.2d 69 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). Despite a better than 90% degree of accuracy......