Barnes v. Litton Systems., Inc.

28 Cal. App. 4th 681, 33 Cal. Rptr. 2d 562, 94 Daily Journal DAR 13335, 94 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7276, 1994 Cal. App. LEXIS 949
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 21, 1994
DocketNo. B079729
StatusPublished

This text of 28 Cal. App. 4th 681 (Barnes v. Litton Systems., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barnes v. Litton Systems., Inc., 28 Cal. App. 4th 681, 33 Cal. Rptr. 2d 562, 94 Daily Journal DAR 13335, 94 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7276, 1994 Cal. App. LEXIS 949 (Cal. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

Opinion

TURNER, P. J.

Plaintiff, Thomas J. Barnes, appeals from an order taxing costs after this court had reversed a summary judgment and remanded for trial. In an order to show cause, we raise the issue of whether an order taxing costs is appealable. The parties have briefed the issue. We conclude such an order is not appealable and dismiss the appeal.

On December 18, 1991, summary judgment was entered at the request of defendant, Litton Systems, Inc. An appeal was taken and on April 20, 1993, this court reversed the summary judgment in an unpublished opinion. (Barnes v. Litton Systems, Inc. (Apr. 20, 1993) B064749.) Upon remand, plaintiff filed a cost memorandum. A motion to tax costs was granted in part. On October 20, 1993, plaintiff filed the following notice of appeal: “Notice Is Hereby Given That Defendant Thomas Barnes, Appeals to the Court of Appeals for the Second District, the Minute Order and Judgment entered on October 12, 1993 in favor of plaintiff and defendant in this case. H] This is a partial appeal, appealing only the taxing of plaintiff’s preparation of Record on Appeal to this Court.” On June 17, 1994, this court issued an order to show cause requesting briefing concerning possible dismissal of the appeal. The parties have filed responses.

We agree with defendant that an order taxing costs is not separately appealable. The order under review is not described specifically in Code of Civil Procedure section 904.1.1 Subject to constitutional limitations, there is no federal or state constitutional right to appeal. (Lindsey v. Normet (1972) 405 U.S. 56, 77 [31 L.Ed.2d 36, 52-53, 92 S.Ct. 862]; Trede v. Superior [683]*683Court (1943) 21 Cal.2d 630, 634 [134 P.2d 745].) Further, the California Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the right to appeal is wholly statutory. (People v. Chi Ko Wong (1976) 18 Cal.3d 698, 709 [135 Cal.Rptr. 392, 557 P.2d 976], disapproved on another point in People v. Green (1980) 27 Cal.3d 1, 34-35 [164 Cal.Rptr. 1, 609 P.2d 468] [“a judgment or order is not appealable unless expressly made so by statute”]; Skaff v. Small Claims Court (1968) 68 Cal.2d 76, 78 [65 Cal.Rptr. 65, 435 P.2d 825] [“. . . a party possesses no right of appeal except as provided by statute”]; People v. Keener (1961) 55 Cal.2d 714, 720 [12 Cal.Rptr. 859, 361 P.2d 587], disapproved on another point in People v. Butler (1966) 64 Cal.2d 842, 844 [52 Cal.Rptr. 4, 415 P.2d 819] [“. . . an order is not appealable unless declared to be so by the Constitution or by statute”]; People v. Valenti (1957) 49 Cal.2d 199, 204 [316 P.2d 633], disapproved on another point in People v. Sidener (1962) 58 Cal.2d 645, 647 [25 Cal.Rptr. 697, 375 P.2d 641] [“. . . the right of appeal is statutory and a judgment... is not appealable unless it is expressly made so by statute”]; Modern Barber Col. v. Cal. Emp. Stab. Com. (1948) 31 Cal.2d 720, 728 [192 P.2d 916] [“. . . the Legislature has the power to declare by statute what orders are appealable, and, unless a statute does so declare, the order is not appealable”]; Trede v. Superior Court, supra, 21 Cal.2d at p. 634 [there being no constitutional right of appeal; “. . . the appellate procedure is entirely statutory and subject to complete legislative control”]; Superior Wheeler C. Corp. v. Superior Court (1928) 203 Cal. 384, 386 [264 P. 488] [“right of appeal is statutory and may be granted or withheld”].) Accordingly, if the order under review is appeal-able at all, it must be pursuant to section 904.1, subdivision (a)(2) which states in pertinent part: “An appeal may be taken from a superior court in the following cases: [¶] ... [¶] (2) From an order made after a judgment made appealable by paragraph (1).”

Plaintiffs argument that an order taxing costs after a reversal of a judgment on appeal is properly before this court pursuant to section 904.1, subdivision (a) as an appeal from an order made after an appealable judgment is without merit for two reasons. First, as noted previously, this court’s nonpublished opinion of April 20, 1993, reversed the summary judgment in its entirety. The California Supreme Court has consistently held that a reversal of a judgment places the case in a posture as though one had never been entered at all. (People v. Mattson (1990) 50 Cal.3d 826, 849 [268 Cal.Rptr. 802, 789 P.2d 983] [an unqualified reversal “ ‘places the parties in the trial court in the same position as if the cause had never been tried.’ ”]; Weisenburg v. Cragholm (1971) 5 Cal.3d 892, 896 [97 Cal.Rptr. 862, 489 P.2d 1126] [when a judgment was unqualifiedly reversed “. . . the effect was the same as if it had never been entered”]; People v. Murphy (1963) 59 Cal.2d 818, 833 [31 Cal.Rptr. 306, 382 P.2d 346] [“. . . an unqualified [684]*684reversal remands the cause for new trial and places the parties in the trial court in the same position as if the cause had never been tried. [Citation]”]; Hall v. Superior Court (1955) 45 Cal.2d 377, 381 [289 P.2d 431] [a general or partial reversal “ ‘places the parties in the trial court in the same position as if the cause had never been tried’ ”]; Erlin v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. (1936) 7 Cal.2d 547, 549 [61 P.2d 756] [“[s]uch a reversal remands the case for a new trial and places the parties in the same position as if the case had never been tried. [Citations.]”].) Since the effect of a general reversal is to create a situation where no judgment is deemed entered, the present appeal may not be justified pursuant to section 904.1, subdivision (a)(2). The procedural posture of the case is one in which no judgment has been entered.2

Second, even if the present appeal can be deemed to be one from an order after judgment, it would not be appealable because it is not sufficiently final. Our Supreme Court has described the scope of appealable postjudgment orders as follows: “The rule that an appealable postjudgment order must affect the judgment or relate to its enforcement has existed for more than a century. ...[¶] In the ensuing years we determined the appealability of a variety of postjudgment orders. It is instructive to review those we have held that do not affect the judgment or relate to its enforcement, and hence were not appealable. All are orders that, although following an earlier judgment, are more accurately understood as being preliminary to a later judgment, at which time they will become ripe for appeal.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Lindsey v. Normet
405 U.S. 56 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Bailey v. County of Los Angeles
293 P.2d 449 (California Supreme Court, 1956)
Johnston v. Board of Supervisors
187 P.2d 686 (California Supreme Court, 1947)
People v. Chi Ko Wong
557 P.2d 976 (California Supreme Court, 1976)
People v. Butler
415 P.2d 819 (California Supreme Court, 1966)
Hall v. Superior Court
289 P.2d 431 (California Supreme Court, 1955)
Tiernan v. Trustees of California State University and Colleges
655 P.2d 317 (California Supreme Court, 1982)
Sjoberg v. Hastorf
199 P.2d 668 (California Supreme Court, 1948)
Trede v. Superior Court
134 P.2d 745 (California Supreme Court, 1943)
Weisenburg v. Cragholm
489 P.2d 1126 (California Supreme Court, 1971)
Lakin v. Watkins Associated Industries
863 P.2d 179 (California Supreme Court, 1993)
People v. Keener
361 P.2d 587 (California Supreme Court, 1961)
Erlin v. National Union Fire Insurance
61 P.2d 756 (California Supreme Court, 1936)
People v. Mattson
789 P.2d 983 (California Supreme Court, 1990)
People v. Sidener
375 P.2d 641 (California Supreme Court, 1962)
People v. Valenti
49 Cal. 2d 199 (California Supreme Court, 1957)
Citizens Against Rent Control v. City of Berkeley
181 Cal. App. 3d 213 (California Court of Appeal, 1986)
Samuel v. Stevedoring Services of America
24 Cal. App. 4th 414 (California Court of Appeal, 1994)
Superior Wheeler Cake Corp. v. Superior Court
264 P. 488 (California Supreme Court, 1928)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
28 Cal. App. 4th 681, 33 Cal. Rptr. 2d 562, 94 Daily Journal DAR 13335, 94 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7276, 1994 Cal. App. LEXIS 949, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barnes-v-litton-systems-inc-calctapp-1994.