Van Lent v. The Everglades Foundation, Inc.
A former employee of the Everglades Foundation was adjudicated guilty of indirect criminal contempt for a massive post-injunction data-deletion campaign (760,000+ files, 11,000+ emails, anti-forensic software, repeated hard-drive reformatting) in violation of a temporary injunction entered in the Foundation's trade-secret suit. The Third District affirmed, holding competent substantial evidence supported the intent finding and that the trial court's appointment of the opposing party's counsel to assist in prosecuting the contempt under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.840(d) was not fundamental error and did not deny due process. Judge Miller concurred dubitante, questioning whether such appointments may be structural error.
Key facts
- Van Lent, a former employee of The Everglades Foundation, Inc., engaged in a massive data-deletion campaign involving over 760,000 files, 11,000+ emails, and use of anti-forensic software and repeated hard-drive reformatting.
- The Everglades Foundation obtained a temporary injunction in a trade-secret suit, and Van Lent's deletion campaign occurred in violation of that injunction.
- +2 more key facts with a free trial
Why it matters
This is the most detailed Florida appellate treatment to date of whether the beneficiary's civil counsel may be appointed to prosecute indirect criminal contempt for violating an injunction — a common enforcement tool… — full analysis with a trial
Read the full opinion, holdings & search — free for 30 days
The full opinion PDF, the rules the court applied, our significance analysis, the background facts, and full-text search across every tracked Florida decision — in your hands.
- Search every tracked Florida decision in seconds
- Save, tag & file the cases that matter into your own library
- Read the full plain-English analysis and holdings
Not ready to sign up? Get the free Friday digest — the week's key Florida decisions by email, no login required.
Florida Court Tracker provides summaries of publicly available court opinions for informational and research purposes only. This is not legal advice and does not create an attorney–client relationship. Always verify holdings against the official opinion.