Douglas Reservoirs Water Users Ass'n v. Garst

451 P.2d 451, 1969 Wyo. LEXIS 119
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 3, 1969
Docket3713
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 451 P.2d 451 (Douglas Reservoirs Water Users Ass'n v. Garst) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Douglas Reservoirs Water Users Ass'n v. Garst, 451 P.2d 451, 1969 Wyo. LEXIS 119 (Wyo. 1969).

Opinion

Mr. Justice McINTYRE

delivered the opinion of the court.

Joseph Garst, now deceased, brought an action during his lifetime for a declaratory judgment. In the action, Garst sought to obtain a settlement of partnership accounts between himself and his deceased partner in the practice of law, R. C. Maurer.

The appellants, all of whom are general creditors of Maurer, intervened and were made defendants along with the executrix of the Maurer estate. American Surety Company of New York also intervened. Upon the death of Garst, his executrix was substituted as plaintiff.

In Garst’s complaint, he alleged the partners were entitled to equal shares in the partnership; that after the death of Maurer it had been discovered Maurer had overdrawn the sum of $27,264.35 above his entitlement. As near as we can tell from the findings and judgment of the district court, it disallowed $3,410 in the sums which Garst claimed Maurer had overdrawn. Two items in this category related to the Roby L. Burkett estate and totaled $1,660. Another item was $1,750 listed as used in the purchase of an accounting office.

As disclosed by the evidence and as appears in our opinion in Douglas Reservoirs Water Users Association v. Maurer & Garst, Wyo., 398 P.2d 74, 76, the money withdrawn by Maurer from the Roby L. Burkett estate was replaced by money withdrawn by Maurer from the checking account of Douglas Reservoirs Water Users Association. As a consequence, this transaction did not result in any loss to the partnership of Maurer and Garst, or in any profit to Maurer at the expense of such partnership.

Concerning the item of $1,750 which Maurer used for the purchase of an accounting office, the trial court apparently concluded from the evidence that the purchase was a partnership enterprise; and that there had been no wrongful withdrawal of partnership funds by Maurer.

The difference between the $27,264.35 claimed by Garst and the $3,410 which the district court disallowed left a balance of $23,854.35. This was held to be the amount of profits withdrawn by Maurer in excess of Garst’s withdrawals.

Gross assets of the partnership were found to be as follows:

Cash - $14,447.80
Due from J. Patrick Hand for furniture and equipment- 7,720.00
Profits held by R. C. Maurer- 23,854.35
Accounts receivable- No value
Total_ $46,022.15

However, the trial court held the partnership to be indebted to American Surety Company of New York, intervenor, in the sum of $4,478.10. Also, the partnership was charged with a fee of $3,000 as compensation for services rendered by Garst and his estate in winding up partnership affairs. When these two items were deducted from the gross assets, it left a net of $38,544.05, or $19,272.02 for each partner.

On that basis, Maurer had received $4,-582.33 more than he was entitled to; and Garst, when all available assets were applied, would be short $4,582.33. The district court therefore gave judgment in the amount of $4,582.33 in favor of the Garst estate and against the Maurer estate.

*453 Counsel for the Garst estate has moved to dismiss the appeal of general creditors of Maurer on the ground that a complete record on appeal was not timely filed. A partial record on appeal was filed within the time permitted by Rule 73(g), W.R. C.P., but this partial record did not contain the transcript of testimony nor the exhibits offered in evidence. Those missing parts were filed in this court 30 days after the maximum time had expired for filing the record on appeal.

Rule 75(k), W.R.C.P., provides, if prior to the time the complete record on appeal is settled and certified, a party desires to docket the appeal in order, among other things, to make a motion in the supreme court for an extension of time within which to complete the record, the clerk of the district court at the request of such party shall certify and transmit to the supreme court a copy of such portion of the record as is needed for that purpose.

Appellants in this case had sufficient record in the supreme court so that a motion for extension of time within which to complete the record could have been made. Appellants failed, however, to take advantage of the opportunity to make such a motion.

Moreover, Rule 73(g) states the supreme court “on proper application” may permit the record on appeal to be filed and docketed after the time limited for such where “without fault” of the appealing party the necessary transcript of evidence was not made available to the appellant within the time limited for filing and docketing of the record on appeal, if the appealing party produces “written evidence” that concurrently with the filing and serving of the notice of. appeal such appellant had ordered from and arranged with the court reporter the payment for the transcript of those portions of the evidence deemed necessary for the appeal. Appellants have wholly failed to make application for relief under this portion of Rule 73(g), and they have made no effort to establish that the necessary transcript of evidence had not been made available and that appellants were without fault and that they had made timely arrangements for the transcript and for payment therefor.

It is true the notice of appeal stated appellants had concurrently ordered and arranged for a transcript of the evidence for the appeal. It did not state appellants had arranged for the “payment” of a transcript. Also, appellants filed a memorandum in opposition to the motion to dismiss. They did not file a memorandum of points and authorities as contemplated in Rule 6, Wyoming Supreme Court Rules; and the memorandum filed was not filed within ten days after service of the motion to dismiss, as contemplated by Rule 6. The memorandum filed did state:

“The transcript of the testimony by the Court Reporter will be filed just as soon as it is completed. He apparently is having difficulty with exhibits, according to the District Court’s office.” (Emphasis ours.)

Obviously, the statements referred to in the notice of appeal and in the memorandum in opposition to dismissal of the appeal fail to constitute the kind of written evidence required by Rule 73(g) with respect to the transcript of evidence. Affidavits of counsel and of the court reporter would have been more in keeping with the requirement — if appellants had within reasonable time made “proper application” for the supreme court to permit the balance of the record to be filed and docketed after the time therefor had expired.

The motion of the Garst estate to dismiss the appeal was heard at the same time the case was heard on the merits. This has enabled us to see the whole of the case, and we are convinced none of the individual appellants will have reason to complain that an injustice is done to him by a dismissal of the appeal.

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Bluebook (online)
451 P.2d 451, 1969 Wyo. LEXIS 119, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/douglas-reservoirs-water-users-assn-v-garst-wyo-1969.