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Davis v. Dollar Rent a Car Systems11/17/2004
ection so that the vegetation would not obstruct the vision of such motorists.
9. Beverly Williams at no time assumed a duty to motorists passing through the intersection of Pine Street and Sidney Hayes Road in Orlando, Orange County, Florida to maintain the property on the northeast corner of the intersection so that the vegetation would not obstruct the vision of such motorists.
Requests for admission are governed by rule 1.370, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, which provides in pertinent part that " party may serve upon any other party a written request for the admission of the truth of any matters within the scope of rule 1.280(b) set forth in the request that relate to statements or opinions of fact or of the application of law to fact, including the genuineness of any documents described in the request." Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.370(a). Prior to its 1972 amendment, this rule "provided that a party could serve a written request for '. . . the truth of any relevant matters of fact set forth in the request.'" Salazar v. Valle, 360 So. 2d 132, 134 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978). The case law that interpreted the earlier version of the rule held that only requests directed to factual issues that did not lie at the heart of the case were appropriate and that requests seeking admissions relating to conclusions of law were similarly inappropriate and did not require a response. See Old Equity Life Ins. Co. v. Suggs, 263 So. 2d 280, 281 (Fla. 2d DCA 1972) ("Essentially, this was not a request for admission as to a fact, but rather a request for admission of a conclusion; the conclusion being that Old Equity was legally liable for the full amount claimed by Suggs. The Request for Admission was thus objectionable on its face and did not legally call for a response under the rules.") (citing City of Miami v. Bell, 253 So. 2d 742 (Fla. 3d DCA 1971); Graham v. Eisele, 245 So. 2d 682 (Fla. 3d DCA 1971)).
The committee notes appended to the current version of rule 1.370 specifically state that the rule was amended to "eliminate distinctions between questions of opinion, fact, and mixed questions." Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.370 committee notes. We conclude that while the current rule now allows for requests directed to opinions, facts, and the application of law to facts, it continues to make no provision for requests seeking a purely legal conclusion. Accordingly, because the response to a request seeking an admission or denial regarding whether a duty of care is owed is a purely legal conclusion, prior case law, which holds that such requests are inappropriate and that a response is thus unnecessary, is still applicable. Therefore, we conclude that Davis' failure to respond to the request for admissions relating to the legal issue of whether Williams owed Twanda a duty of care may not be the basis for a summary judgment in favor of Williams. See Pandol Bros., Inc. v. NCNB Nat'l Bank of Fla., 450 So. 2d 592, 594 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984) ("Request number 8 was not objectionable as asking for a conclusion of law, but would more appropriately be characterized as requiring 'an application of law to fact,' permissible under Salazar v. Valle, 360 So. 2d 132, 134 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978).").
Next, we will address whether a common law duty of care was owed by Williams to passing motorists.
Common Law Duty Of Care
Williams, an owner of private non-commercial property, argues that she did not owe a duty of care to Twanda, a motorist on a public roadway whose vision of the intersection and highway adjacent to Williams' property was obscured by foliage thereon. The trial court agreed, eschewing the foreseeable zone of risk analysis that the supreme court established in McCain v. Florida Power Corp.,
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