Dupuis v. Thompson

16 Fla. 69
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJanuary 15, 1877
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 16 Fla. 69 (Dupuis v. Thompson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dupuis v. Thompson, 16 Fla. 69 (Fla. 1877).

Opinion

Me. Justice Westcott

delivered the opinion of the court.

This action is ejectment. To the declaration which was drawn in strict conformity with the statute upon the subject there was a demurrer, which being overruled the defendant filed pleas, and to these pleas the plaintiff interposed the general replication. Afterwards the defendant filed, with leave of the court, a plea puis darreim continuance, and to this plea plaintiff filed “joinder and replication.” There was a verdict for plaintiff and motion for new trial by defendant. A hearing of this motion was denied, the motion was overruled, and there was judgment for plaintiff, awarding writ of hah&re facias possessionem and damages. To this judgment defendant Dupuis takes this writ of error.

The first error assigned is the judgment of the court overruling defendant’s demurrer to plaintiff’s declaration. The defendant having “plead over,” he waives his exception to the ruling upon the demurrer, and the matter cannot be reviewed in this court. 6 Fla., 516; 8 Fla., 206, 453; 14 Fla., 497; 5 How., U. S., 29; 3 Stewart, 444.

The next error assigned is the refusal of the court to set aside the verdict and award a new trial. The entry in the record showing the action of the court upon the motion for aew trial is as follows: “ And the said motion having been brought before the court for a hearing on the 7th day of [71]*71April, A. D. 1875, the plaintiff’s attorney objected to the court considering the same on the ground that no notice of said motion had been given to the opposite party, and no reasons in writing for making said motion had been filed with the clerk, which objection the court sustained. The court then overruled said motion for a new trial, and to these rulings the defendant excepted.”

The statute provides that “no motion'for a new trial shall be made unless the party intending to make the same shall file his reasons with the clerk in writing, and cause his motion to be placed upon the motion docket within four days after the verdict shall have been rendered and during the same term.” Thomp. Dig., 351.

In this case the reasons or grounds of the motion follow the entry of the motion on the motion docket, and that is a sufficient filing with the clerk. It is not required that a separate, statement of the reasons for the motion should be filed with the clerk. If the grounds of the motion are on the motion docket, that docket being in the custody of the clerk, it is a compliance with the law. The objection, however, that no notice of the motion was given to the opposite party was a good objection to its consideration. The 53d rule governing the Circuit Court in common law actions provides that “ motions required by law, or by these rules, shall be in writing, and due notice given to the opposite partyand the list rule requires such motion to be entered upon the motion docket. If it appeared affirmatively upon this record that the motion was made in open court in the presence of the opposite party, this would be held due notice, or if the record was silent upon the question, and there was a hearing, that would be sufficient, but where it affirmatively appears that no notice was given, we cannot set aside the action of the Circuit Court in enforcing a plain, simple rule of practice prescribed by this court. The court, in disposing of this question, “ overruled ” the motion, and [72]*72, it may be insisted that this involved a consideration of the grounds upon which it was based. An examination of the entry, however, will show that the objection for want of no- ■ tice was the ground of the action of the court, and while the entry might have stated more clearly that the court refused to consider the motion, still a fair construction of the record gives it that effect.

The other errors assigned are based upon exceptions taken during the progress of the trial. In some of the State courts, and in some of the courts of the United States, it has been held that a motion for a new trial is a waiver of the exception taken to the rulings during the progress of the trial. 5 Mason, 173; 1 Mass., 237; 3 Ark., 144; 4 Ark., 89; 10 Ark., 246; 2 Chit., 272 ; 2 Black., 929; Cowp., 151; Loft., 262. Before the act of 1853 (Chap. 521, Laws,) the decision of the Circuit Court upon a motion for a new trial was held by this court to be a matter of discretion not subject to review. 4 Fla., 356. This statute having granted this right, it has been the constant practice of this court to review such decisions, and in connection with them exceptions to matters occurring during the progress of the trial, which were before this statute the proper subjects of review, and which, upon a writ of error from the Supi’eme Court of the United States, were the proper subjects of review in that court, although in that court the rule was and is that the matter of granting a new trial by the Circuit Court of the United States would not be reviewed. The Supreme Court of the United States has held in several cases that a motion for a new trial is not a waiver of exceptions, (4 Wall., 182, 6 How., 179,) and this is the rule in this State. While this court has not expressly ruled upon the point, yet it has by its uniform practice disregarded the idea that a motion for a new trial in the Circuit Court is a waiver of exceptions. We have, therefore, in this case left for our consideration the errors assigned, based upon excep[73]*73tions taken to the action of the court during the progress of the trial. We cannot consider here the objection that the verdict was contrary to law, or to the evidence, or to the instructions of the court, or any objection to the sufficiency or weight of the evidence, or that the damages awarded were exceásive, because the only remedy for these matters was the motion for new trial, which was not heard by the court, and which is not here for review. 9 Ret., 488; 3 Wall., 240.

What are these exceptions ? The first exception of the defendant is to the ruling of the court to the effect that after a deed has been read to the jury without objection, and the party offering it in evidence had closed his testimony, it was too late to insist upon formal proof of its execution. This ruling was correct. By not requiring proof of its execution when the deed was offered, the party waived any right which he-may have had. 5 Fla., 268, 284; 17 Mich., 48; 4 Dall., 424; 30 Vt., 90.

The next exception is to the testimony of the plaintiff as to the rental value of the land. It was objected to upon the ground that it was conjectural. ITe testified that “he thought the yearly rents of said land were reasonably worth one dollar per acre, and estimated the cleared land at 500 acres.” This exception is not insisted upon in argument here, and no attention is given the subject in the briefs of counsel. This testimony is not as accurate as would have been that of a surveyor who had, by actual measurement, determined the amount of land, but we know of no rule of law which renders it inadmissible because it is not so absolutely certain and accurate. It was pertinent and relevant to the questions involved in the issue, and was properly admitted.

The next exception is a general exception to the charge of the court. This charge embraced four distinct propositions, and this general exception is not available if any one [74]*74of them is correct. 14 Fla., 492; 1 Black., 209; 3 Seld., 273q 2 Iler., 213.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Wright v. State
216 So. 2d 229 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1968)
Hogwood v. State
175 So. 2d 817 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1965)
Warner v. Goding
107 So. 406 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1926)
Manatee County State Bank v. Wade
56 Fla. 492 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1908)
Minor v. State
55 Fla. 77 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1908)
Johnson v. State
53 Fla. 42 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1907)
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad v. Mallard
53 Fla. 515 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1907)
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad v. Crosby
53 Fla. 400 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1907)
Keigans v. State
52 Fla. 57 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1906)
Jacksonville Electric Co. v. Adams
50 Fla. 429 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1905)
Taylor v. State
49 Fla. 69 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1905)
Davis v. State
47 Fla. 26 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1904)
McCoggle v. State
41 Fla. 525 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1899)
Campbell ex rel. Estate of Campbell v. Carruth
32 Fla. 264 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1893)
Williams v. LaPenotiere
32 Fla. 491 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1893)
Garner v. State
28 Fla. 113 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1891)
Parrish v. Pensacola & Atlantic Railroad
28 Fla. 251 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1891)
Burroughs v. State
17 Fla. 643 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1880)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
16 Fla. 69, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dupuis-v-thompson-fla-1877.