MIAMI — A Delray Beach company has succeeded in having its real property dispute against an international telecommunications company that owns and operates an undersea fiber optic cable system remanded to the Palm Beach Circuit Court.
According to the June 13 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida filing, plaintiff South Spanish Trail LLC presented a motion to remand to the court in its case against the defendant Caribbean Crossings LTD Inc.
The case stems from South Spanish Trail's allegations that Caribbean Crossings, through its underwater cables, is in possession of a section of South Spanish Trail's property. Earlier this year South Spanish Trail received a judgment in which it was issued writs of possession against Caribbean Crossing.
The court reviewed South Spanish Trail's argument that value of the possession "is an equitable remedy" and can't be assigned "a dollar amount." Caribbean Crossings argues that the amount "is tied to the cost of either moving the cables" or the more than $1 million in costs of "easement permitting the cables."
U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg noted that the "final judgment" did not mandate that South Spanish Trail must "grant an easement" to Caribbean Crossings for any future access to the property or stop Caribbean Crossings from running cable through a different parcel. She also noted that South Spanish Trail's claim only included "possession and restoration" of their property to its prior state.
Rosenberg concluded that Caribbean Crossings "bears the burden" of showing "the amount in controversy" and that the case needed to be remanded since the "monetary value is too speculative or immeasurable."
The court granted South Spanish Trail's motion to remand and also denied its request for attorney fees while ordering the case closed.