CopyPublished | District Court, S.D. Florida | 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3318
...sed upon the quantity of fruit delivered. Plaintiff delivered citrus fruit to defendant’s plant, but defendant has allegedly not paid the full amount due under the contract. Plaintiff served Treesweet with a Notice of Claim of Lien under Fla.Stat. § 713.62 for the amount allegedly due under the contract. Section 713.62 provides for a lien: In favor of any person who shall furnish any logs, lumber, clay, sand, stone or other material whatsoever, crude or partially or wholly prepared for use, to any mill or other manufactory to be manufactured into any...
...For the following reasons, the court concludes that plaintiff is not entitled to a temporary injunction. First, there is no authority to support plaintiffs contention that citrus fruit and citrus products are “other material” or “article[s] of value” within the meaning of section 713.62....
...t, but are to be held as applying only to persons or things of the same general kind or class as those specifically mentioned.” Smith v. Nussman,
156 So.2d 680, 682 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1963). In this case, the words “other material whatsoever” in section
713.62 follow a list of words of particular and specific meaning, such as logs, sand, clay, lumber and stone. Fla.Stat. §
713.62. To conclude that citrus fruit and citrus products fall within the provisions of section
713.62 would unreasonably extend the meaning of that statute....
...However, “a literal interpretation of the language of a statute need not be given when to do so would lead to an unreasonable or ridiculous conclusion.” Holly v. Auld,
450 So.2d 217, 219 (Fla.1984). Consequently, the court must conclude that plaintiff’s reliance on section
713.62 is misplaced....
...For the foregoing reasons, plaintiff’s Motion for Temporary Injunction must be DENIED. II. Motion to Dismiss Defendant Treesweet has moved to dismiss Counts II and III of plaintiff’s complaint upon the ground that plaintiff has failed to state a cause of action under section 713.62 of the Florida Statutes....
...Count III seeks the same injunctive relief sought in plaintiff’s motion for a temporary injunction discussed at length above. For the reasons set forth above, the court finds that Counts II and III of plaintiff’s complaint fail to state a cause of *388 action under Fla.Stat. § 713.62....
