Florida District Courts of Appeal, 2011

Thomas v. State, Department of Revenue

Florida District Courts of Appeal · Decided October 31, 2011 · Davis, Rowe, Van Nortwick

74 So. 3d 145; 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 17223; 2011 WL 5126171 (Southern Reporter, Third Series)

Cases that cite this one

17 later published cases cite this decision.

Ronald Willard v. State of Florida (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2018)
Patrice Kerr v. Second Judicial Circuit Court (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2018)
Willard v. State (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2018)
Kerr v. Second Judicial Circuit Court (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2018)
Trina Ross Cason, daughter etc. v. Mary S. Ross, alleged incapacitated etc. (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2017)
Qaadir Saintloit v. Johnise Sainteloit (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2015)
Saintloit v. Sainteloit (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2015)
Grady M. Kittrell v. Jane K. Kittrell (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2014)
Terry Perry v. Florida Department of Children etc. (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2014)
Faison v. GGO Prison Facility (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2014)
Kittrell v. Kittrell (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2014)
Perry v. Florida Department of Children & Families (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2014)
Richardson v. State (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2013)
Hernandez v. Landrum (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2013)
Winslow v. Winslow (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2013)
Butler v. Bartley (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2013)
Stanley v. State (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2011)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Petitioner files a petition for writ of mandamus seeking to compel the circuit court to rule on petitioner’s request for a paternity test. Petitioner misunderstands the duty of the trial court in matters such as this. In an ordinary civil action, the trial court is under no obligation to rule on a complaint, motion or request on its own initiative. Instead, it is the litigant’s obligation to take such actions as are necessary to prosecute the case to final disposition, and, in the course of that, to file such motions as may be necessary and bring those motions to the trial court’s attention for a ruling. Absent a showing that an express and distinct demand for performance of this sort has been made, mandamus will not lie. See Al-Hakim v. State, 783 So.2d 293 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001).

*146 Accordingly, the petition for writ of mandamus is denied on the merits.

DAVIS, VAN NORTWICK, and ROWE, JJ., concur.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.