Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
A party may disagree with the trial court’s assessment of the evidence in a case, but this alone is not grounds for appeal. The appellate court usually will not second-guess the judgment of the trial court judge since he or she had the advantage of reviewing live testimony and assessing witness credibility. This was an issue in the case Tropper v. Corti, 3D24-1320 (Fla. 3d DCA June 18, 2025).
This appellate opinion does not give background information, however it is apparent that one party appealed the lower court’s determination. The appellate court held “Because the trial court’s final judgment is based on the extensive fact findings it made on the record based on credibility determinations derived from live testimony, the final judgment is supported by competent substantial evidence and therefore, we are constrained to affirm. See Keys Country Resort, LLC v. 1733 Overseas Highway, LLC, 324 So. 3d 988, 988 (Fla. 3d DCA 2021) (‘[I]t is not our function to conduct a de novo review of the evidence, but simply to determine whether there exists in the record competent substantial evidence to support the judgment of the trial court.’)”
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