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Hickmon v. Reese

FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA
Jul 16, 2019
275 So. 3d 841 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2019)

Opinion

No. 1D19-0171

07-16-2019

Levory W. HICKMON, Appellant, v. RACHEL BUSHEY REESE, P.A., Appellee.

Levory W. Hickmon, pro se, Appellant. Rachael E. Reese of O'Brien Hatfield, P.A., Tampa, for Appellee.


Levory W. Hickmon, pro se, Appellant.

Rachael E. Reese of O'Brien Hatfield, P.A., Tampa, for Appellee.

Per Curiam.

We treat Appellee's "notice of confession of error and request for remand" as Appellee's answer brief. However, we decline to accept the concession, and we affirm. See Perry v. State , 808 So. 2d 268, 268 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) (a confession of error is not binding upon an appellate court) (citations omitted); see also Markham v. N. Fla. Evaluation & Treatment Ctr. , 248 So. 3d 1274 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018).

Appellant claims that the trial court abused its discretion by dismissing his civil complaint for monetary damages with prejudice because he was entitled to amend it pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.190(a). However, the record reflects that Appellant never presented this argument to the trial court below nor attempted to amend his complaint. Generally, "the rule of preservation applies to the improper dismissal of a complaint with prejudice." Shelswell v. Bourdeau , 239 So. 3d 707, 708 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018) (citing Vorbeck v. Betancourt , 107 So. 3d 1142, 1147 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012) ). "For an issue to be preserved for appeal, it must be presented to the lower court and the specific legal argument or ground to be argued on appeal must be part of that presentation." Holland v. Cheney Bros. , 22 So. 3d 648, 649–50 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009). When there is no indication that an argument challenging a motion to dismiss was first presented to the trial court, the argument will be deemed waived on appeal. See Metro. Cas. Ins. Co. v. Tepper , 969 So. 2d 403, 405 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007), approved , 2 So. 3d 209 (Fla. 2009).

Because Appellant's claim is not preserved for appellate review, we decline Appellee's confession of error and affirm.

Ray, C.J., and Bilbrey and Jay, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Hickmon v. Reese

FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA
Jul 16, 2019
275 So. 3d 841 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2019)
Case details for

Hickmon v. Reese

Case Details

Full title:LEVORY W. HICKMON, Appellant, v. RACHEL BUSHEY REESE, P.A., Appellee.

Court:FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA

Date published: Jul 16, 2019

Citations

275 So. 3d 841 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2019)

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