Murrow v. Osceola County

Florida District Courts of Appeal
Murrow v. Osceola County, 679 So. 2d 883 (1996)
1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 9772; 1996 WL 531696
Antoon, Peterson, Sharp

Murrow v. Osceola County

Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

Cherry B. Murrow appeals the denial of her motion, pursuant to Rule 1.540, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, to have a judgment of forfeiture vacated based on the fact that during her bench trial, the trial court failed to obtain from her a written waiver of her right to a jury trial. We affirm.

Rule 1.430(d), Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, states that “a party who fails to serve a demand as required by this rule waives trial by jury.” Section 932.704(3), Florida Statutes (1995) provides:

Any trial on the ultimate issue of forfeiture shall be decided by a jury, unless such right is waived by the claimant through a written waiver or on the record before the court conducting the forfeiture proceeding.

Murrow, by agreeing to and participating in, a bench trial, affirmatively waived her right to a jury trial.

We note additionally that even assuming error was made in failing to inform Murrow of her right to a jury trial, her proper remedy was by appeal, not by way of a 1.540 motion. Curbelo v. Ullman, 571 So.2d 443, 445 (Fla. 1990) (judicial error such as a “mistaken view of the law” is not one of the circumstances contemplated by the rule.)

AFFIRMED.

PETERSON, C.J., W. SHARP, and ANTOON, JJ., concur.

Reference

Full Case Name
Cherry B. MURROW v. OSCEOLA COUNTY, Florida
Cited By
1 case
Status
Published