Varnes v. Kirk, N--131
| Decision Date | 12 August 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. N--131,N--131 |
| Citation | 251 So.2d 324 |
| Parties | Cecil VARNES, Appellant, v. Claude R. KIRK, Jr., et al., Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Shuler & Shuler, Apalachicola, for appellant.
Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., and T. T. T. Turnbull, Asst. Atty. Gen., Philip S. Bennett, M. Howard Williams, Tallahassee, C. H. Bourke Floyd, Apalachicola, Jesse F. Warren, Jr., and Jack W. Pierce, Tallahassee, for appellees.
This is an appeal from a final order dismissing, with prejudice, the appellant's amended complaint, which complaint attempted to collaterally attack the final judgment of the Circuit Court of Leon County entered upon stipulation after remand of the case from the Florida Supreme Court in Bryant v. Lovett, 201 So.2d 720 (Fla.1967). The substantive nature of that case can be found by referring to the citation above mentioned, and it is unnecessary to the disposition of this cause to reiterate the facts herein.
As we perceive the law, the sole issue before this Court is whether or not the court below committed reversible error in dismissing the amended complaint with prejudice and holding that the final judgments were not subject to collateral attack and that the matter was res judicata.
It is fundamental that judgments and decrees are not subject to collateral attack where the court had jurisdiction of the subject matter and of the parties. 19 Fla.Jur., 'Judgments and Decrees', § 374. Appellant's attempt to circumvent this general rule by asserting that the judgment was void for various reasons is without merit. While adjudication of a court acting without authority is void, an order based on a matter within the issues raised by the pleadings is not void if the court as organized existed legally and had jurisdiction of the parties. 19 Fla.Jur., 'Judgments and Decrees', § 383.
At the hearing on the appellees' motion to dismiss the complaint herein, the trial judge stated:
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In re Guardianship of Schiavo
...the subject matter of the case or jurisdiction over the parties. See Curbelo v. Ullman, 571 So.2d 443, 445 (Fla.1990); Varnes v. Kirk, 251 So.2d 324 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971). See generally Bruce J. Berman, Florida Civil Procedure ¶ 540.5(d), at 668 (West Fla. Practice Series 2003 ed.). As the su......
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Palmer v. Palmer, 85-875
...Girteit v. Girteit, 400 So.2d 192 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); Waiswilos v. Feacher, 370 So.2d 1250 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979); Varnes v. Kirk, 251 So.2d 324 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971). The motion did not allege, nor do the facts support, the conclusion that the judgment in this case was void for lack of jurisdic......
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Weir v. State, 75--697
...to sustain since the sentencing court obviously had jurisdiction over the subject matter and the appellant. See Varnes v. Kirk, Fla.App.1st, 1971, 251 So.2d 324; But see Johnson v. Zerbst, 1938, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. Does this mean that appellant has no vehicle to attack his......
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Waiswilos v. Feacher, 78-2614
...raised by the pleadings is not void if the court as organized existed legally and had jurisdiction of the parties. Varnes v. Kirk, 251 So.2d 324 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971). Such was true here; the order of the court dismissing the action in 1972 was not void, but merely erroneous and relief was no......