William Johnson v. First City Bank Gainesville and J. Emory Cross

Per Curiam The order from which this appeal is taken granted the appellees' motion to dismiss with prejudice. It is an order granting a motion, not an order dismissing the action. Such an order is not final and not appealable. Gries Investment Company v. Chelton, 388 So.2d 1281 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1980). The appeal is therefor dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. We agree with our sister court in Gries that Williams v. State, 324 So.2d 74 (Fla. 1975) does not preclude dismissal in a case such as this one. However, we are not inclined to encourage the trial bench and bar in practices which result in the appeal of such nonappealable orders by accommodating the parties as our sister court has done in Gries. In our view, although the appellate court has the inherent power to determine if it has jurisdiction over a particular appeal, once it has determined that it does not have jurisdiction, the appellate court may not relinquish this nonexistent jurisdiction for the entry of a proper order which would then invest the appellate court with jurisdiction to hear the appeal.