Braun v. Thuet Bros.

174 N.W. 807, 42 S.D. 491, 1919 S.D. LEXIS 130
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 8, 1919
DocketFile No. 4441
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 174 N.W. 807 (Braun v. Thuet Bros.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Braun v. Thuet Bros., 174 N.W. 807, 42 S.D. 491, 1919 S.D. LEXIS 130 (S.D. 1919).

Opinion

WHITING, J.

[1] The appeal herein purports to be from a judgment and from an order denying a new trial entered after the judgment. From appellant’s brief it affirmatively appeared that the judgment was entered July 5, 1917, and the appeal taken August 16, 1918. It was thus disclosed that the attempted appeal, so far as it purported to be an appeal from the judgment, was ineffective because taken after the expiration of the statutory time limited for appeal. Chapter 201, Laws 1917; section 3147, Rev. Code 1919; Union Investment Co. v. Sohonebaum, 40 S. D. 378. 167 N. W. 398. The appeal, if effective at all, was but an appeal from the order. Keyes v. Baskerville, 170 N. W. 143. But 'it also appeared that the order was made more than 60 days prior to the taking of the appeal. The record therefore failing to affirmatively show jurisdiction in this court, we saw fit to and did make an order requiring appellant to amend his brief so as to show [496]*496“w'hen, if at all, written notice of the order denying new trial was given to appellant.” In obedience to said order appellant amended his brief by the insertion of a statement which concludes as follow^:

“Appellant’s attorney therebjr had written notice of the filing of the order overruling motion' for new trial on the 7th day of June, 1918.”

[2] Appellant also, of his own motion, presented to this court a typewritten paper which he designates “Suggestions.” Such “suggestions” are not a proper amendment to appellant’s brief, as the subject-matter thereof, instead of presenting any legal ground why we should hold the appeal effective, consists rather of what might be deemed ungracious criticisms of this court. We prefer, however, to treat them’ as a part of appellant’s brief.

[3, 4] Counsel chides us for issuing our order requiring the amendment, and advises us that, so far as his practice has disclosed, and wte are reminded of its duration and extent it is unusual for an appellant’s brief to reveal the date of service upon appellant’s counsel of notice of the order denying a motion for new trial. Counsel seems to' be laboring under the impression that, in requiring the amendment, this court was of the opinion that, if no notice of the order had been served, no appeal .would lie from the order even though it had been entered. ¡Such, was not the theory of this court. There is no doubt whatsoever of a party’s right to appeal from the order as soon as it is entered whether notice of the order has been served or not; but, if notice has been served, such service limits the time for appeal. As this court is absolutely without any jurisdiction to entertain an appeal that is not taken within the statutory time, we deem it not only our right, but our duty, whenever, as in this case, the briefs upon appeal leave the jurisdictional facts in doubt, to either dismiss the appeal or see that such doubt is removed.

[5] Counsel also chides us for not having, in the case of Anderson v. Ketcham, reported in 171 N. W. 765, expressly ruled upon his motion to dismiss the appeal therein. Counsel asserts that, at the oral argument of said case, we announced that such motion “would be passed upon in writing the opinion.” [497]*497We do not question counsel’s statement, though we 'have no recollection of any such announcement. But such omission, even though deemed by counsel censurable, would hardly demand our present attention, wjere it not for the further fact that counsel contends that his motion in the 'Anderson Case presented the identical question now. before us, and that, by disregarding such motion and reversing the case on its merits, we in effect 'held that, under facts identical to those now before us, an appeal from an order was effective. It is apparent from counsel’s “suggestions” that he believes we should have sustained his motion in the Anderson Case, and that therefore, under his concession as to notice upon him, we should dismiss the present appeal, were it not that, having erred in the Anderson Case, we should follow our erroneous decision therein— nothing else would justify his present reference to the Anderson Case. We therefore feel that the situation thus presented justifies, even though it does not require, us to refer to the jurisdictional facts in the Anderson 'Case, and to supply the alleged omission in our opinion therein.

In the brief of the party appellant in the Anderson Case it was stated:

“Within the time limited by law therefor, the objector duly perfected her appeal to the 'Supreme Court of the state of South Dakota, from said' judgment and decree so entered herein, and from the whole and each and every ¡part thereof, and from said order overruling and denying the objector’s said motion for a new trial, and from the whole and each and every part of said order in the manner provided by law.” •;

In his answering brief, counsel who is now chiding this court, quoting from the above statement, omitted everything from the word “Dakota” down to and including the word “and,” preceding the words “from said,” and commenced the same word “from” with a capital. He thus made such statement to read as though such) appeal had been taken from the order only, and the appellant therein was asserting that it had been taken in time. After so emasculating the statement, counsel said, “This statement is not true,” and he called attention to the fact that the order was dated October 26, 1917, notice [498]*498thereof served November 28, 1917, and appeal taken April 30, 1918- — much more than 60 days after such notice. If the facts had been as thus set forth in counsel’s brief, the appeal, being then from the order alone, would have been- ineffective, and his motion- should and would have been sustained. But the appeal was in fact taken from the judgment and from an order entered after the judgment; moreover, the appeal was taken within 'the time prescribed for talcing' appeals from judgments. Such appeal was- therefore but a single appeal, and the time for taking same wajs controlled- by the -date of the filing of the judgment. It follows therefore that such appeal was “perfected within the time limited by law.” The law was so declared in a most exhaustive opinion -written- by the late Justice Corson. McVay v. Bridgman, 17 S. D. 424, 97 N. W. 20. We can hardly think counsel to have been ignorant of the opinion in tlhe McVay Case, as we find it referred to in the opinion in Gordon v. Kelley, 20 S. D. 70, 104 N. W. 605, a case wherein counsel appeared, in which latter opinion the court called specific attention to the fact that in the McVay Case it had held that an appeal from a judgment and' from an order denying a new trial was but a single appeal. The McVay Case was followed, and reference made thereto by this court, in Northwestern Mtg. T. Co. v. Ellis, 20 S. D. 543, 108 N. W. 22, and again in Peters v. Kohr, 24 S. D. 605, 124 N. W. 853. This court, unless because of the alleged' oral announcement from the bench, was not called upon, in its opinion in the Anderson Case, to restate a rule of law so long and fully -established. The appeal was timely taken in the Anderson Case. The jurisdictional facts therein were materially different from those in the case now before us, the attempted appeal from the judgment herein being -ineffectual, and the appeal from the order standing as though there had been no attempt to appeal from the judgment.

[6]

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Bluebook (online)
174 N.W. 807, 42 S.D. 491, 1919 S.D. LEXIS 130, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/braun-v-thuet-bros-sd-1919.