Hughes Laboratories, Inc. v. Murphy

The plaintiff below, Hughes Laboratories, Ine., appeals from a Final Judgment on the Pleadings for the Defendants. We reverse for the following reasons.

First, the motion for judgment on the pleadings was prematurely filed since the defendants had not yet filed their answer. Therefore, the trial court erred in entertaining the motion at that point of the proceedings. J & S Coin Operated Machs., Inc. v. Gottlieb, 362 So.2d 38, 39 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978). Second, when ruling on a motion for judgment on the pleadings, “the trial court is not authorized to take judicial notice of the records in a…