Ayala Files a Petition for a Writ of Mandamus with the Third District Court of Appeals

Ayala has filed a petition for a writ of mandamus with the Third District Court of Appeal seeking an order compelling the trial court to enforce its prior order.

A writ of mandamus is an order from a court to an inferior government official ordering the government official to properly fulfill their official duties, or correct an abuse of discretion. See e.g. Cheney v. United States Dist. Court For D.C. (2004) .

The underlying case involves a lawsuit by Ayala’s client against a warehouse owner for refusing to release Ayala’s client’s equipment, which was stored at the defendant’s warehouse, in transit, by the freight forwarding company hired by Ayala’s client.

As it turns out, the freight forwarding company, also a defendant, had an outstanding debt with the Miami warehouse of ~$120,000.

In order to unlawfully secure its debt, the warehouse is holding Ayala’s client’s property hostage, despite admitting that the invoice for the storage of Ayala’s client’s property is no more than $14,000.

The trial court ordered Ayala’s client to initially pay a $76,000 bond for the release of the property. Notwithstanding the posting of the bond, the defendant refused to release Ayala’s client’s property, and sought a raise of the bond.

At a second hearing, the trial court ordered Ayala’s client to post an additional $44,000 bond, which Ayala’s client, with a lot of sacrifice, once again posted. After Ayala’s client had already posted a $76,000 bond based on the trial court’s prior (erroneous) order, the defendant still refused to release Ayala’s client’s property, making the senseless argument that there was a pending appeal.

Ayala then moved for an order to show cause seeking enforcement of the trial court’s prior order, releasing the property to Ayala’s client. The trial court refused to enforce its own order, and Ayala’s client was then left without its property and without $120,000.

As stated by attorney Eduardo A. Maura, “The decision is plainly wrong. We now have no option but to seek the extraordinary remedy of mandamus. Our client has been deprived of his property for over 6 months now despite complying with every single (and unfair) bond request. Extraordinary circumstances demand extraordinary remedies. We are confident that the Third District will see through this tremendous injustice and rectify it.”

You can find the initial brief written by Ayala on behalf of its client here.

For more information about bonds or warehouse liens, contact an experienced attorney in Miami at 305-570-2208.

You can also contact trial attorney Eduardo A. Maura at eduardo@ayalalawpa.com.

Schedule a case evaluation online here.