(from opening sentences and other excerpts of his reported opinions selected by his nephew, William L. Vinson)
Shaffer worked at Arby's in St. Petersburg until he and a substantial sum of money disappeared at approximately the same time. .... Shaffer v. State, 295 So.2d 677 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974).
Does Palm Avenue go to the Manatee River? Yes. The trial judge's decision to the contrary rests on a misapprehension of the law as it relates to riparian rights. ... County of Manatee v. Votey, 293 So.2d 719 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974).
This marriage lasted 121 days, during which, in an effort to show good faith in spite of constant battling, each of the parties conveyed certain assets to the parties jointly as tenants by the entirety. ... McKay v. McKay, 293 So.2d 766 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974).
Perhaps Brenda Williams should not have taken her gun to the dance, but she did. .... State v. Williams, 297 So.2d 52 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974).
It is often said that every citizen is entitled to his day in court. That is an understatement. Every citizen is entitled to Two days in court. ... Pinkins v. State, 292 So.2d 55 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974).
Keener's 1952 Pontiac was manufactured 20 years before automobiles were required in Florida to have two tail lamps,[FN1] but a policeman stopped him. ... Keener v. State, 290 So.2d 513 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974).
'Heads I win, tails you lose' is the theory on which this earnestly argued appeal seeks to surcharge a conscientious fiduciary. The matter was disposed of by summary judgment in the Circuit Court, and we have examined the record with particular care to discern a triable issue if there be one. We conclude that there is not. ... Fulton v. First National Bank of Fort Myers, 290 So.2d 498 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974).
Tony (formerly Toni) is a cat, and the focal point of this dogfight between three utterly human beings. To explain why a cat's tale is pending in the Court of Appeal, we must begin at the beginning. ... Calleja v. Wiley, 290 So.2d 123 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974).
... Certainly most landowners get by without judicial declaration of their boundaries, and the assessor's argument reminds one of the claim that one returned from the State Hospital has a superior claim to sanity because he has papers to prove it. In essence, nothing has changed. It is still the same old land. ...Banks v. Schooley, 290 So.2d 134 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974).
We are oathbound to reverse a circuit judge who refused to grant a dissolution of marriage to a woman who came into his court with 'unclean hands.' Reminded in a petition for rehearing that the legislature had abrogated the 'clean hands' defense in divorce actions and that the Supreme Court had, in Ryan, quoted from above, held the law constitutional, the trial judge replied that 'some court other than this one must announce the abdication of common sense, morality, and decency by the courts of this state.' It is our duty to oblige, although one of our seven Justices agrees with the trial judge in this case. We receive the statutory law from the legislature and its interpretation from our Supreme Court, agreeing with some, disagreeing with some, following all, because our bondage to law is the price of our freedom.
Reversed and remanded for further proceedings in accordance with law.
Johnson v. Johnson, 284 So.2d 231 (Fla. 2d DCA 1973).
Billy's Creek isn't where it used to be, and hasn't been for about forth years. ... French v. Youmans, 282 So.2d 642 (Fla. 2d DCA 1973).
The many papers Lyden has filed in this court support his statement that he is not a lawyer and does not understand law. ... Lyden v. State, 281 So.2d 591 (Fla. 2d DCA 1973).
Quality Fruit Buyers, Inc., which bird-dogs, says bird-dogging is illegal. That takes a little explanation. ... Quality Fruit Buyers, Inc. v. Kilarney Fruit Co., 269 So.2d 424 (Fla. 2d DCA 1972).
To Man, the sophisticated scavenger, cash is carrion. Consider this chronology: ... Lewis v. Hodges, 254 So.2d 397 (Fla. 2d DCA 1971).
Francoeur has a problem remote from even our vicarious experience: he has more cash to invest then one man can do effectively. ... Francoeur v. Howell, 250 So.2d 305 (Fla. 2d DCA 1971).
It all began before the War, in 1850. A.U.S. Government surveyor plotting the west shore of Charlotte Harbor at the mouth of the Myakka River confused several sections with the ones immediately north. ... General Development Corp. v. Kirk, 251 So.2d 284 (Fla. 2d DCA 1971).
In custody cases it is often impossible to do the right thing because there is no right thing. ... Duffy v. Duffy, 247 So.2d 493 (Fla. 2d DCA 1971).
In our progress toward equality of gastronomic opportunity for all Americans, Franchise Freeway has bypassed Main Street. ... Jensen v. DiPaolo’s Italian Foods Co., 244 So.2d 513 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970).
Terence Godfrey Ashmore is English, and as a consequence suffers a language disability in the United States. ... Ashmore v. Ashmore, 241 So.2d 424 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970).
Jack Abbott's reasons for preferring Florida to California will not likely be the subject of a Development Commission advertisement. ... Abbott v. Genung, 238 So.2d 135 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970).
It speaks well for government in Florida that this is the first reported construction of a common clause that has provoked much litigation in other jurisdictions. ... Southern Gulf Utilities, Inc. v. Boca Ciega Sanitary District, 238 So.2d 458 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970).
Our opinion that Tampa is a heavenly place is reinforced by the complaint, which alleges that plaintiffs' mother died in June, 1965 and that in August, 1965 the defendant 'duly executed and delivered to plaintiffs' mother at Tampa, Florida' a policy of insurance purporting to protect a home against fire, which destroyed it in April, 1967. ... Bright v. Hanover Insurance Co., 237 So.2d 7 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970).
Everything is coming up thorns in Roseland Park. ... Roark v. Weldon, 232 So.2d 216 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970).
We believe that judges should not answer unasked questions, and for that reason hesitated to suggest the ultimate outcome of this litigation when it was first before us. ... First National Bank In St. Petersburg v. Cooper, 234 So.2d 698 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970) [on rehearing]
The late John Reid Topping had a talent for spending which topped his ancestors' capacity to accumulate. ... The First National Bank of Belleair Bluffs v. Maricopa Corporation, 230 So.2d 191 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970).
Any man's death diminishes me.
- John Donne, Devotions XVII.
No one pretends that actions
Should be as free as opinions.
- John Stuart Mill, On Liberty.
Does a motorcyclist have a constitutional right to ride the highways without the protective helmet and goggles or face mask the legislature says he must wear? ... State v. Eitel, 227 So.2d 489 (Fla. 1969).
A person who suffers a major upset over a minor grievance is admonished not to 'make a federal case out of it.' The advice is timely: we accept it and share it. We decline to make literally a federal case out of Reynolds' simple, though important, petition. ... Reynolds v. State, 224 So.2d 769 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969).
...
A free society is much like a bank. Each of a bank's depositors has a right to withdraw his funds at once. If many of them demand their rights simultaneously the bank will fail. But banks survive because of confidence. A depositor knows that if he has the money on deposit he may write a simple order to pay someone, paying due homage to the demands of electronic data processing, and that the order will be complied with promptly, courteously and without the slightest regard to the depositor's age, sex, race or region of origin. In a world in which the unquestioned compliance with principles of fundamental fairness is assumed by all, respect for the law will prevail. We do our part to hasten that day. ... Reynolds v. State, 224 So.2d 769 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969).
None of us has been to Concordia, Kansas, and it is not among the places we are yearning to visit. On the other hand, St. Petersburg, Florida, is a nice place to live or visit, and in the midst of one of its largest retail districts is the Central Plaza Bank & Trust Company, a reputable financial institution owned and managed by some of the community's leading citizens. We regret to announce that we cannot uphold the judgment in its favor from which this appeal is taken. ... Central Savings Assoc. v. Central Plaza Bank & Trust Co., 223 So.2d 50 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969).
Clara Hill was the discarded but not divorced wife of Jim Hill, who before his death was employed by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and insured under a group life policy. ... Hill v. Hill, 222 So.2d 454 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969).
The order appealed from might be wrong, but it is not erroneous. This may baffle the layman, so we explain; appellate judges will not substitute their judgment for that of the trial judge if the record supports the judgment. ... Lindgren v. Lindgrin, 220 So.2d 440 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969).
Pleasure mistaken for happiness is life's most persistent mirage. ... Bernstein v. Bernstein, 220 So.2d 429 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969).
Two groups will find this case instructive. The first includes those who assume that the police in a small Southern town will not respect the civil rights of a 65-year old Negro citrus grove worker accused of stabbing another man. The second includes those who argue that the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States declaring the extent of an American's constitutional rights, which this Court is sworn to protect, impose an unreasonable burden on law enforcement officers. ... Ray v. State, 219 So.2d 64 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969).
Some will see this as the predictable collision between the new morality and the old biology, but we who read the old opinions preparatory to writing the new ones know that sweet-and-sour sex is not new in life and law. ... B.S.B. v. B.S.F., 217 So.2d 599 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969).
Belle Terre is admittedly one of the more pleasant and gracious subdivisions in Dunedin. Since it was platted in 1924 a covenant running with the land has provided that 'only one dwelling house (except for servants) shall be erected on any single lot or plot and each dwelling house shall be for one family only.' There is not the slightest suggestion that enforcement of this restriction has been rendered inequitable by supervening circumstances. ... Belle Terre Association v. Brosch, 216 So.2d 462 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969).
If oratory comes, can reversal be far behind? In this case a zealous prosecutor, summing up to the jury, said, 'This is your community. If you believe that Deputy Booth is lying on that witness stand, if you think that he's mistaken then you come in with a verdict of an acquittal and let him go back out in your community and handle more morphine.'
... We can find no fault with the work of the sheriff's office in this case, and if the prosecutor will let the next jury determine this case on evidence and not emotion it will be justified in rendering the same verdict. .. Chavez v. State, 215 So.2d 750 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968).
....
Many a headnote is cut off from the heart of the law. ... Knight v. State, 217 So.2d 124 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968).
... Cobb was convicted of assault with intent to commit murder in the first degree. He contends that the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict. Nonsense. ... Whatever fires may in the next world consume those who spend Saturdays in sloth, the rights of Louis Banks and other free men protect them against premature ignition. .. Cobb v. State, 214 So.2d 372 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968).
Difference of opinion is said to underlie the sale of inferior land and the marriage of ugly women. Who are we to say from the scholarly serenity of the appellate bench that a jury erred in awarding $18,250.00 to Mrs. Simpson? She suffered some nerve damage in the left ear which causes pain in the ear and headaches and which physicians testified is permanent. The translation of misery into money is a task for which judges are no better fitted than laymen, and we will not disturb a jury's verdict in the absence of a showing that it reflects passion, prejudice, improper motive or manifest misconstruction of the law or the evidence.
... Appellant contends that the verdict is excessive because it is more than twenty times the amount of medical expense incurred. This argument does not survive reflection. We are grateful for whatever rules of thumb facilitate the settlement of personal injury cases before they reach the courts, but they have no legal significance. Pain and suffering do not vary with the cost of treatment. ... This court will not substitute judges' computations for juries' common sense. ... Crane v. Simpson, 213 So.2d 299 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968).
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