Cogley v. Duncan

32 A.3d 1288, 2011 Pa. Super. 258, 2011 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3763
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 30, 2011
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 32 A.3d 1288 (Cogley v. Duncan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cogley v. Duncan, 32 A.3d 1288, 2011 Pa. Super. 258, 2011 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3763 (Pa. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION BY

FITZGERALD, J.:

Appellant, James A. Cogley, appeals from the order entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County granting Appellees Megan Duncan, Kim Pas-korz, and The Butler Eagle’s motion to dismiss upon the pleadings on his claims for libel, slander, and invasion of privacy.1 We hold that a trial court prothonotary cannot refuse to accept a complaint for filing by relying on an unpublished local “rule.” When a trial court prothonotary rejects a complaint improperly, but subsequently accepts a party’s complaint for filing, we hold that a party’s “admission” to filing a complaint on that subsequent date is not binding. Accordingly, we reverse the portion of the trial court’s order dismissing Appellant’s claim for libel based on the May 24, 2008 article, affirm the portion of the order dismissing his claims for the May 29, 2008, February 11, Febru[1290]*1290ary 14, and April 17, 2009 articles, affirm the portion of the order dismissing all of Appellant’s claims for slander and invasion of privacy, and remand for further proceedings limited to the libel claim for the May 24, 2008 article.

On May 24, 2008, Appellee The Butler Eagle, a newspaper, published an article that reported Appellant had been arrested and was under investigation for various crimes. The Butler Eagle published four more articles about Appellant on May 29, 2008, and February 11, February 14, and April 17, 2009.

Appellant, pro se, prepared a complaint claiming, inter alia, Appellees had libeled him in the May 24, 2008 article. Appellant, pro se, attempted to file that complaint with the Butler County Prothonota-ry on May 26, 2009, which was the last day to file a complaint before the one-year statute of limitations2 expired on his claims for the first article.3 The prothono-tary, however, refused to accept the complaint because Appellant failed to include a sufficient number of copies for service on each defendant. In returning the complaint to Appellant, the prothonotary did not cite any state or local rule of civil procedure or other authority.

Included in the certified record is a document titled “Re: Return of Document,” which the prothonotary attached to Appellant’s rejected complaint. This “Re: Return of Document” was time-stamped by the prothonotary on May 26, 2009, at 1:21 p.m. Appellant resubmitted his complaint with the requested number of copies and the prothonotary docketed it on June 3, 2009. The docket itself similarly reflects a complaint filing date of June 3, 2009, and that a document was returned on May 26, 2009.

Appellant, in his subsequent pro se and counseled pleadings, acknowledged that the filing date of his complaint was June 3, 2009. In one of his first pro se pleadings, Appellant averred, “The instant action was originally filed on June 3, 2009.” Appellant’s Objections to Appellees’ Mot. for Extension of Time, 8/27/09, at 1. Appellant, while represented by counsel, also acknowledged in two pleadings that his complaint was filed on June 3, 2009. Appellant’s Resp. to New Matter, 12/10/09, at 2; Appellant’s Resp. to Prelim. Objections, 1/21/10, at 2.

Because Appellees published four additional articles on May 29, 2008, February 11, February 14, and April 17, 2009, Appellant believed that the doctrine of a continuous tort applied and thus, the one-year statute of limitations did not bar his claims for the May 24, 2008 article.4 After recognizing the doctrine could not apply,5 Appellant adopted a new strategy and filed [1291]*1291an amended complaint on May 7, 2010, raising claims for the four subsequent articles. Appellant’s Answer to New Matter, 6/30/10, at 2. As part of this new strategy, Appellant averred his original complaint was filed on May 26, 2009 — not June 3, 2009. The one-year statute of limitations for claims related to the final article expired on April 17, 2010, prior to the filing of his amended complaint.

Appellees filed a motion to dismiss upon the pleadings, which the court granted on September 15, 2010. The trial court held, inter alia, that Appellant’s “claims are barred by the Statute of Limitations pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5523, and that [Appellant’s] slander and invasion of privacy claims are insufficiently pled and fail as a matter of law.” Order, 9/15/10, at 1. Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal and a timely court-ordered Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) statement.

Appellant raises two issues for our review:

The court below incorrectly ruled that the original complaint in libel and slander was filed outside the one-year limitation period, insofar as the facts showed that the complaint was filed timely with the prothonotary, who sent it back to [Appellant] to append a copy of the complaint for service by the sheriff.
The court below utilized the incorrect standard when it granted [Appellees’] motion to dismiss upon the pleadings, as there was a genuine issue of material fact before the court regarding when [Appellant] filed an original complaint in the above matter.

Appellant’s Brief at 4. Appellant challenges only the trial court’s dismissal of his original complaint, raising claims limited to the May 24, 2008 article.6

Appellant’s argument focuses on the Butler County Prothonotary’s alleged error in rejecting his initial complaint for failure to include a sufficient number of copies. Appellant does not address his repeated statements that he filed his complaint on June 3, 2009, after the statute of limitations had expired. Notwithstanding his prior “admissions,” Appellant concludes the prothonotary’s error provides grounds for reversal.

Appellees respond that Appellant has conceded that the complaint filing date was June 3, 2009. Thus, Appellees insist, Appellant’s “admissions” bind him. Appel-lees conclude that because Appellant is bound by his judicial “admissions,” the statute of limitations bars Appellant’s complaint. Under these unique facts, we hold Appellant is entitled to relief.

The standard of review follows:

The standard by which a court reviews a request for judgment on the pleadings is limited. A motion for judgment on the pleadings will be granted only where, on the facts averred, the law says with certainty no recovery is possible. As this issue concerns a question of law, our review of the entry of judgment on the pleadings is de novo.
It is fundamental that a judgment on the pleadings should not be entered where there are unknown or disputed issues of fact. The court must treat the [1292]*1292motion as if it were a preliminary objection in the nature of a demurrer. In conducting this inquiry, the court should confíne its consideration to the pleadings and relevant documents.

Piehl v. City of Philadelphia, 604 Pa. 658, 671, 987 A.2d 146, 154 (2009) (citations omitted).

Instantly, we address the import of Appellant’s admissions that his complaint was “filed” on June 3, 2009, after the statute of limitations had expired.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
32 A.3d 1288, 2011 Pa. Super. 258, 2011 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3763, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cogley-v-duncan-pasuperct-2011.