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Prieto v. Miami-Dade Cty

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Nov 21, 2001
803 So. 2d 780 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2001)

Opinion

Case No. 3D01-1274.

Opinion filed November 21, 2001. Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied January 23, 2002.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Dade County, Alan Postman, Judge. Lower Tribunal No. 98-14161.

Jose M. Francisco; Bambi G. Blum; and Stokes Gonzalez, for appellant.

Michael H. Lax, for appellee.

Before JORGENSON, GREEN, and RAMIREZ, JJ.


Eduardo Prieto, the plaintiff below, appeals from a final judgment entered in favor of defendant Miami-Dade County. We affirm.

Prieto sued defendants Miami-Dade County, Alanis Security, and The Wackenhut Corporation for negligence; his claim arose from an assault he suffered at a Metrorail station. There is no evidence in the record of prior similar incidents at that station.

Prieto knew his assailants, as they had attacked him before at different locations. Prieto had not reported the attacks.

The trial court properly entered final summary judgment for defendant Miami-Dade County on the grounds that the attack was not foreseeable. In the absence of any record evidence that the County had actual or constructive notice of similar criminal activity at that station, the County cannot be held liable as a matter of law for the incident. See Metropolitan Dade County v. Ivanov, 689 So.2d 1267 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997); Ameijeiras v. Metropolitan Dade County, 534 So.2d 812 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988).

The claims against the other defendants remain pending.

We do not reach the issue of sovereign immunity, as the issue of duty is dispositive. See Metropolitan Dade County v. Dubon, 780 So.2d 328, 330 n. 2 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001).

AFFIRMED.


Summaries of

Prieto v. Miami-Dade Cty

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Nov 21, 2001
803 So. 2d 780 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2001)
Case details for

Prieto v. Miami-Dade Cty

Case Details

Full title:EDUARDO PRIETO, Appellant, v. MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Appellee

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District

Date published: Nov 21, 2001

Citations

803 So. 2d 780 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2001)

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