What if the judge says some things, not directed at the point of our hearing?
Q.: What if the judge says some things, not directed at the point of our hearing? [Just some comments-made by the judge]
A.: Statements made during the course of the hearing, by a judge, which are not necessary to the resolution of the case before the court, are basically gratuitous.
- “A purely gratuitous observation or remark made in pronouncing an opinion which concerns some rule, principal, or application of law and not necessarily involved in the case or essential to its determination is obiter dictum, pure and simple.” Bunn v. Bunn, 311 So.2d 387 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975). (dicta had no binding legal effect but, as demonstrated by this appeal, served only to confound the trial court’s final ruling.)
- “Judicial pronouncements which are obiter dicta in character more often serve to confound than to clarify the jurisprudence of this state.” (Answer is by Florida divorce attorney)
