Dolphin v. Wilson

983 S.W.2d 113, 335 Ark. 113, 1998 Ark. LEXIS 599

• Court: Supreme Court of Arkansas
• Decided: November 12, 1998
• Docket: 97-1391
• Status: Published

Opinions

Robert L. Brown, Justice.

This is the second appeal we have had regarding the parties’ dispute, which relates to an alleged oral contract for the sale of land. See Dolphin v. Wilson, 328 Ark. 1, 942 S.W.2d 815 (1997) (Wilson I). The facts surrounding the dispute are sufficiently laid out in Wilson I. In the first case, we reversed the trial court’s decree and held as follows:

When considering all the evidence, we conclude that the chancellor clearly erred in finding that there was clear and convincing evidence that an agreement existed between the parties. Under these circumstances, we hold that the Wilsons’ complaint was barred by the statute of frauds, and reverse and remand for entry of an order consistent ivith this opinion.

Wilson I, 328 Ark. at 8, 942 S.W.2d at 819-820 (emphasis ours).

A mandate was subsequendy issued by the Supreme Court Clerk after rehearing in the case had been denied, and that mandate read in pertinent part:

It is therefore ordered and decreed by the Court that the decree of said Chancery Court in this cause rendered be, and the same is hereby reversed, annulled and set aside with costs and that this cause be remanded to said Chancery Court for further proceedings to be therein had according to the principles of equity and consistent with the opinion herein delivered. (Emphasis ours.)

When the case returned to the trial court on remand, appellees Jimmie L. Wilson and Henrietta J. Wilson filed a Motion For Refund of Funds Expended wherein they claimed that appellant Beatrice Dolphin was unjustly enriched in the amounts of $13,200, which they had paid to the Farmers Home Administration for the removal of liens on the farm land, and $1,239.40, which they had paid to the United States Department of Justice for costs. They prayed that she be ordered to reimburse them in the amount of $14,439.40. Dolphin responded to the motion and asserted that the Wilsons had paid those amounts as volunteers, that the Supreme Court had decreed there was no contract that could be specifically performed, and that the trial court should enter an order placing into effect the Supreme Court mandate following Wilson I. The Wilsons replied that the expenses paid were for Dolphin’s benefit and that Dolphin’s response should be struck for lack of factual or legal support. Wilson then amended his reimbursement motion to claim relief under the equitable doctrine of quantum meruit.

Legal briefs accompanied the parties’ motion and response, and the trial court entered its order, granting Wilson judgment in the amount of $14,239.40 under the theory of unjust enrichment. The trial court relied on Townsend v. Arkansas Highway Commission, 317 Ark. 581, 879 S.W.2d 447 (1994), in finding that it had jurisdiction to hear the Wilsons’s motion. We quote the pertinent part of the trial court’s order on jurisdiction:

In Arkansas State Highway Commission v. Townsend, Townsend 1313 Ark. 702, (1993), the Arkansas Highway Commission petitioned this court for injunctive relief to have a structure removed from a right-of-way held by the Commission. This court denied the requested relief. The matter was appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court, and the denial of injunctive relief was reversed and the case “dismissed” by the Arkansas Supreme Court. In a later proceeding filed in the same case, the Commission petitioned this court to grant it the injunctive relief that it had originally requested and felt itself entitled because of the reversal by the Arkansas Supreme Court. This court declined to act on the matter because the Arkansas Supreme Courts mandate reflected that the case had been dismissed. According to the law, as it was understood by this court at that time, a dismissal removed jurisdiction from the trial court to act for any purpose. The Supreme Court, on the second appeal of this case, Townsend v. Arkansas Highway Commission, 317 Ark. 581, (1994) Townsend II, held otherwise. To quote the Arkansas Supreme Court in that case:

“When the Arkansas State Highway Commission petitioned for an injunction subsequent to our original decision, the chancellor could have treated it as a new case rather than as continuation under the aegis of the original fihng. Under those circumstances, she would have assumed jurisdiction independendy of the mandate from this court in Townsend I.

317 Ark. at 585.

Thus, although the opinion of this court would almost certainly have been different before the Arkansas Supreme Court’s pronouncement in Townsend II, it is now of the opinion that it has the authority to render such further orders as may be necessary to fully effectuate the decision of the Arkansas Supreme Court. If this court has the authority to act where the case has been “dismissed” by the Arkansas Supreme Court, surely it may act where, as here, the case has been remanded. This court has the authority to grant such relief as may be required under the Arkansas Supreme Court’s mandate to fully and finally resolve the matter. Therefore, since the relief requested by the plaintiffs is entirely consonant with, and in no way conflicts with the Arkansas Supreme Court’s ruling, this court finds that it has jurisdiction to treat this as “a new case” within the meaning of Townsend II.

The first issue raised by Dolphin on appeal is whether the trial court exceeded its authority in hearing and deciding the unjust-enrichment claim after our opinion in Wilson I had come down and the mandate had issued. We believe that it did.

It is instructive, initially, to turn once more to our decision in Wilson I. Our opinion in that case discussed the sole issue on appeal, which concerned the existence of an oral contract to sell farm land. An unjust-enrichment claim was not pled in Wilson I; nor was relief in the form of quantum meruit requested. Moreover, the Wilsons do not contend that the unjust-enrichment claim was tried by the express or implied consent of the parties during the first trial. See Ark. R. Civ. P. 15(b). Also, the Wilsons did not make a motion in the first trial to amend the pleadings to conform to the evidence. Id. Because of this, the trial court did not consider a claim for unjust enrichment or address it as part of the decree. This being the case, the issue before us today is whether the Wilsons can raise a new cause of action after the case on appeal has been decided and when the opinion and mandate both require an order consistent with the opinion in Wilson I.

The history of the mandate rule was reviewed recently by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. See Casey v. Planned Parenthood, 14 F.3d 848 (3d Cir. 1994). In Casey, the Third Circuit observed:

Of these rules, the most compelling is the mandate rule. This fundamental rule binds every court to honor rulings in the case by superior courts. As the Supreme Court has stated, “In its earliest days this Court consistently held that an inferior court has no power or authority to deviate from the mandate issued by an appellate court.” Briggs v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 334 U.S. 304, 306, 68 S.Ct. 1039, 1040, 92 L.Ed. 1403 (1948).

Casey, 14 F.3d at 856. Quoting from Bankers Trust Co. v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 761 F.2d 943, 949 (3d Cir. 1985), the Third Circuit went on to underscore the deference a trial court must give to the mandate:

A trial court must implement both the letter and spirit of the mandate, taking into account the appellate court’s opinion and the circumstances it embraces.

Casey, 14 F.3d at 857.

The Casey decision is in accord with the blackletter law on mandates which we garner from American Jurisprudence. See 5 Am. Jur. 2d Appellate Review, §§ 776-794 (1995). We take this opportunity to cite with approval a few of the major precepts regarding mandates:

A “mandate” is the official notice of action of the appellate court, directed to the court below, advising that court of the action taken by the appellate court, and directing the lower court to have the appellate court’s judgment duly recognized, obeyed, and executed.

5 Am. Jur. 2d, § 776.

However, the lower court is vested with jurisdiction only to the extent conferred by the appellate court’s opinion and mandate. Therefore, the question of whether the lower court followed the mandate is not simply one of whether the lower court was correct in its construction of the case, but also involves a question of the lower court’s jurisdiction.

5 Am. Jur. 2d, § 784.

If an appellate court remands with specific instructions, those instructions must be followed exacdy, to ensure that the lower court’s decision is in accord with that of the appellate court.

Where a remand limits the issues for determination, the court on remand is precluded from considering other issues, or new matters, affecting the cause. Thus, where the case is remanded for disposition of the remaining post-trial issues that were not addressed by the trial court, any issue the trial court had previously addressed may not be considered on remand. Similarly, when a case is remanded for a specific act, the entire case is not reopened, but rather the lower tribunal is only authorized to carry out the appellate court’s mandate, and the trial court may be powerless to undertake any proceedings beyond those specified.

5 Am. Jur. 2d, § 787.

Any proceedings on remand which are contrary to the directions contained in the mandate from the appellate court may be considered null and void.

5 Am. Jur. 2d, § 791.

Two cases, in particular, have touched on this issue in Arkansas. See Little Red River Levee Dist. No. 2 v. Moore, 199 Ark. 946, 137 S.W.2d 234 (1940); Felker v. McKee, 154 Ark. 106, 241 S.W. 378 (1922). In Felker, we referred to a previous appeal in that case where we overruled the trial court’s sustaining of a demurrer and reversed and remanded “with directions to overrule the demurrer, and for further proceedings to be therein had according to the principles of equity and not inconsistent with the opinion of the court.” Felker, 154 Ark. at 105, 241 S.W. at 378. On remand, the appellant sought to offer proof on the market value of certain stock and payment. The trial court refused to allow additional proof and limited its consideration to the record originally made. We affirmed the trial court’s ruling and said:

Ample opportunity was given him to fully develop his case upon all issues presented by the pleadings. To construe a reversal and remand of a cause for further proceedings, which had been submitted originally upon the merits, to mean that appellant might further develop his cause would enable him to proceed in his case by piecemeal and try it over every time he secured a reversal ad infinitum.

Had this been done, and had the court been of the opinion that appellant was entitled to further develop the case, specific directions to that effect would have been included in the mandate.

Felker, 154 Ark. at 106, 241 S.W. at 378-379.

In Little Red River Levee Dist. No. 2 v. Moore, supra, the facts were more akin to the facts in the instant case. There, we reversed the trial court, ordered specific performance of certain contracts, and remanded the case with directions to make payments on the land to effect that specific performance. On remand, a party filed an answer raising a prayer for reformation of the timber contract, which the trial court entertained. We reversed the trial court’s decision to allow a new defense to be raised after remand and said:

When it had been held that plaintiffs were entitled to the relief prayed under the contracts, which the demurrers confessed to be true, an answer was filed, after remand of the cause, in which it was alleged that the contracts, made exhibits to the complaint, did not express the true contract between the parties, and its reformation was prayed. The prayer to reform the contract comes too late. Litigation would be interminable if a party were allowed to present his defenses piecemeal, or, failing in one defense, to then interpose another. One way may not change his hold in this manner.

Little Red River Levee Dist. No. 2, 199 Ark. at 950, 137 S.W.2d at 236.

Neither of these cases is on all fours with the facts in the instant case, but they stand for the proposition that either new proof or new defenses cannot be raised after remand when they are inconsistent with this court’s first opinion and mandate. Indeed, to allow such to occur undermines the finality of this court’s decision and denies closure on matters litigated. The same principle applies to raising a new cause of action after appeal and the issuance of the mandate. It is indisputable that this court held in Wilson I that an order should be entered by the trial court consistent with our opinion. To go outside of that opinion, hear a new cause of action which had not been pled or tried, and then enter an order on the new cause of action cannot be said in any wise to be action which conforms with this court’s holding.

Clearly, the trial court’s first instincts in this appeal were to refrain from entertaining the unjust-enrichment claim. The trial court, however, relied on our opinion in Arkansas State Highway Comm’n v. Townsend, 317 Ark. 581, 879 S.W.2d 447 (1994) (Townsend II). In Townsend II, the issue was whether the trial court had authority to grant a petition for injunctive relief which was consistent with our opinion in Townsend I (Arkansas State Highway Comm’n v. Townsend, 313 Ark. 702, 858 S.W.2d 66 (1993)). In Townsend I, the Highway Department had filed a petition to enjoin Townsend from maintaining a gate, fence, and cabins on the Highway Department’s right-of-way. The chancery court denied the petition. We reversed the chancery court and dismissed the matter. After this court’s dismissal, the Highway Department sought an injunction in the trial court to enforce our opinion in Townsend I. The trial court first granted the injunction but then reversed itself and found it had no authority to grant injunctive relief because of the dismissal.

We again disagreed with the trial court in Townsend II and noted that the Townsend I mandate stated that the trial court had erred in denying the injunction “as set out in the opinion.” Townsend II, 317 Ark. at 583, 879 S.W.2d at 448. We further stated that our language in Townsend I that the trial court was wrong in denying the Highway Department an injunction was very clear. We concluded in Townsend II on de novo review that the trial court could have assumed jurisdiction of the Highway Department’s petition independently of the mandate and treated it as a new case. We affirmed the trial court’s initial grant of the petition for injunctive relief.

That situation in Townsend II, of course, is categorically different from the case before us. There, injunctive relief granted by the trial court to the Highway Department was entirely consistent with the intended result of our opinion in Townsend I. In the case at hand, the trial court’s order, which entertained a new cause of action, went far beyond the mandate and was not an order which gave effect to our opinion in Wilson I.

The trial court, further, misconstrues our opinion and the mandate in Wilson I, when it says in the order: “This court has the authority to grant such relief as may be required under the Arkansas Supreme Court’s mandate to fully and finally resolve the matter.” That is incorrect. Directions by an appellate court to the trial court as expressed by the opinion and mandate must be followed exactly and placed into execution. Indeed, the jurisdiction of the trial court on remand is limited to those directions. The trial court’s authority was circumscribed in this case, and the court was empowered only to enter an order consistent with this court’s opinion. The trial court’s order unquestionably exceeded those bounds.

We acknowledge that had this court remanded the matter for further proceedings without specific instructions as opposed to requiring the entry of an order conforming to our opinion, our holding might well be different. See generally Remand—Change of Fact Findings, 19 A.L.R. 3d 502-505 (1968). But that is not the situation. We reverse the trial court’s order because it exceeded that court’s jurisdiction following this court’s opinion in Wilson I and the mandate, and we dismiss this case.

Reversed and dismissed.

Special Justice Paul Byrd joins. Thorjsiton, J., Special Justice Kent Tester, and Special Justice James Roy dissent. Newbern, Glaze, and Corbin, JJ., not participating.