Bruney v. Little

222 N.E.2d 446, 8 Ohio Misc. 393, 37 Ohio Op. 2d 100, 1966 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 270
CourtBelmont County Court of Common Pleas
DecidedJune 15, 1966
DocketNo. 22781
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 222 N.E.2d 446 (Bruney v. Little) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Belmont County Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bruney v. Little, 222 N.E.2d 446, 8 Ohio Misc. 393, 37 Ohio Op. 2d 100, 1966 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 270 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1966).

Opinion

Matz, J.

The petition in this case alleges that on the 28th day of February 1965, plaintiff was “admitted as a patient at defendant Martins Ferry Hospital in the services of defendants J. H. Carson and A. S. Daniel, both duly qualified and licensed physicians for the treatment of breast conditions”; that on or about the first day of March 1965, plaintiff underwent certain surgical procedures in the Martins Ferry Hospital and that by reason of the negligence of said named physicians and of Dr. Harold G. Little, who was a pathologist employed by the hospital, the plaintiff suffered certain personal damage and injury for which judgment is prayed for in the sum of $150,000.00.

Personal service under the regular process statute of Ohio was obtained on the defendant Martins Ferry Hospital Association and defendant J. H. Carson. The defendants Harold G. Little and A. S. Daniel were non-residents of Ohio and service was attempted to be had under the provisions of the “long-arm” statute of Ohio. (Sections 2307.381 to 2307.385, Revised Code.)

A motion was filed by the defendant Dr. A. S. Daniel to quash the service of summons on him for the following reasons:

(1) That service of summons was not made upon the defendant in accordance with the provisions of Section 2307.383, Revised Code.

(2) “That such service and the statutes of Ohio authorizing the same insofar as attempted to be applied herein are in contravention of Article I, Section 16 and Article II, Section 28 of the Constitution of Ohio and Section 1 of Amendment XIV of the Constitution of the United States.”

(3) That the cause of action alleged in the petition accrued prior to the effective date of Section 2307.381 et seq., Revised Code.

[395]*395The defendant Dr. Harold G. Little filed a motion to quash the service of summons on him for the reason that the cause of action stated in the petition against him is “shown by the petition to have arisen prior to the 28th day of September 1965,” the effective date of Section 2307.383, Revised Code, and that said “statute or statutes as they apply to him are contrary to the Fourteenth Amendment (of the Constitution) of the United States and Article I, Section 16, and Article II, Section 28, of the Constitution of the State of Ohio.”

We will consider the motion of Dr. Daniel first, considering his claim that the service of summons upon him was not made in accordance with the provisions of Section 2307.383, Revised Code. Section 2307.381, Revised Code, is the definitive section. Section 2307.382, Revised Code, provides in part,

“(A) A court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a person who acts directly or by an agent, as to a cause of action arising from the person’s:

“(1) Transacting any business in this state;

Í££2) * # *

“(3) Causing tortious injury by an act or omission in this state;

(4) * * *

“ (5) * * *

“ (6) * * *

“ (7) * * *

“(B) When jurisdiction over a person is based solely upon this section, only a cause of action arising from acts enumerated in this section may be asserted against him.”

The next section, Section 2307.383, Revised Code, provides as follows:

“When personal jurisdiction is authorized by Section 2307.-382 of the Revised Code service of process may be made on such person, or any agent of such person, in any county in this state where he may be found or on the secretary of state who, for this purpose, shall be deemed to be the statutory agent of such person.”

“Such process shall be served, by the officer to whom the same is directed, or by the sheriff of Franklin County, who may be deputized for such purposes by the officer to whom the service is directed, upon the secretary of state by leaving at the [396]*396office of the secretary of state, at least fifteen days before the return day of such process, a true and attested copy thereof, and by sending to the defendant, by registered mail, postage prepaid, a like true and attested copy, with an indorsement thereon of the service upon said secretary of state, addressed to such defendant at his last known address. The registered mail return receipt of such defendant shall be attached to and made a part of the return of service of such process.”

Section 2307.384, Revised Code, reads as follows:

“When the exercise of personal jurisdiction is authorized by Sections 2307.381 to 2307.385, inclusive, of the Revised Code, any action of suit may be brought in the county wherein the plaintiff resides or where the cause of action or any part thereof arose.”

The last section of the “long-arm statute,” Section 2307.-385, Revised Code, provides:

“A court of this state may exercise jurisdiction on any other basis authorized in the Revised Code, notwithstanding Sections 2307.381 to 2307.385, inclusive, of the Revised Code.”

The summons was issued to the Sheriff of Belmont County who deputized the Sheriff of Franklin County “for the purpose of serving the within writ upon the secretary of state of the state of Ohio, agent for the service of process on the within named defendants.” Attached to the summons is the return of the Sheriff of Franklin County in which he recites his authorization by the Sheriff of Belmont County, service of same upon the secretary of state, and further recites,

“I also on the 2nd day of March, 1966, served the within named defendant, Harold G. Little, M. D., 5 Stramm Lane, Wheeling, West Virginia; and A. S. Daniel, M. D., 30 Mt. Lebanon Drive, Bethlehem, West Virginia, by sending each of them at their last known address * * * a true and attested copy thereof with an endorsement thereon of the service on the Secretary of State of the State of Ohio,” and further recites,

“The registered mail return receipt of said defendant, Harold G. Little, is attached hereto and made a part hereof. The registered letter sent to said A. S. Daniel, M. D., returned no such Post Office or city in State, is attached hereto, and made a part hereof.” (

[397]*397And attached thereto is the envelope containing summons as to defendant Daniel which has stamped thereon a notation, “No such Post Office in State.”

The original summons has endorsed thereon a return by the Sheriff of Belmont County which reads in part as follows:

“Received this writ February 23, 1966, at 3:00 o’clock P. M., and on February 25, 1966, I served the within named Harold G. Little, M. D., and A. S. Daniel, M. D., by sending to each of them at their last known address by registered mail * * * with an endorsement thereon of the service upon the secretary of state of the State of Ohio.”

By the affidavit of the Post Master of Wheeling, West Virginia, it is definitely established that there is no post office at Bethlehem, West Virginia.

The copy of the summons mailed by the Sheriff of Belmont County was, in fact, delivered to defendant Daniel in due time. A copy of the summons which the defendant received is attached to the affidavit of Frank A. O’Brien, Jr., one of counsel representing defendant Daniel which was certified by the Sheriff of Belmont County as a true copy. It does not, however, contain an endorsement that a copy of the original summons was served on the Secretary of State.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
222 N.E.2d 446, 8 Ohio Misc. 393, 37 Ohio Op. 2d 100, 1966 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 270, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bruney-v-little-ohctcomplbelmon-1966.