Lawrence v. Gillespie

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Lawrence v. Gillespie

151 A. 343, 300 Pa. 584, 1930 Pa. LEXIS 439

CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania

DecidedMay 27, 1930

Docket123 and 124

StatusPublished

Cited by11 cases

This text of 151 A. 343 (Lawrence v. Gillespie) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Lawrence v. Gillespie, 151 A. 343, 300 Pa. 584, 1930 Pa. LEXIS 439 (Pa. 1930).

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Opinion

Per Curiam,

We have before us plaintiff’s motion to quash defendant’s appeal. It appears, by petition and answer, that, after judgment on a verdict in plaintiff’s favor, defendant moved for a new trial and for judgment n. o. v.; the court below granted the first motion and refused the second; in directing a new trial, the court in banc stated that one ruling of the trial judge, which it conceived to be error, constituted sufficient reason for its order “without considering the other reasons to grant a new trial”; when requested “to state of record” that the only reason for granting a new trial was the one assigned in its opinion filed in support of its order to that effect, the court below refused to do so. We have repeatedly ruled that, “on an appeal from the grant of a new trial, unless the record contains a definite judicial statement that the order in question rests on a reáson given, which, to the exclusion of all else, controlled the decision, we will not interfere with the court’s exercise of discretion”; further, that “The Act of April 9, 1925, P. L. 221, authorizing appeals when the court declines to enter judgment n. o. v., does not impair or destroy the immemorial right of a court of first instance to grant a new trial, whenever, in its opinion, the justice of the particular case so requires, nor does it change the established practice of the appellate courts......in such matters, and that, in reviewing an appeal from the order of the court below, in cases where it has dismissed a motion for judgment non obstante veredicto [and] awarded a new trial, the appellate courts will affirm unless the grant of the new trial was a clear abuse of discretion.” See Pawlowski v. Sczehowicz, 293 Pa. 548, 550; Fisher Motor Co. v. Reppert, 295 Pa. 527, 528, and cases there cited. In short, under circumstances such as those in this case, the record presents nothing for review.

The motion to quash is allowed and the appeal is dismissed.

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Per Curiam,

We have before us plaintiff’s motion to quash defendant’s appeal. It appears, by petition and answer, that, after judgment on a verdict in plaintiff’s favor, defendant moved for a new trial and for judgment n. o. v.; the court below granted the first motion and refused the second; in directing a new trial, the court in banc stated that one ruling of the trial judge, which it conceived to be error, constituted sufficient reason for its order “without considering the other reasons to grant a new trial”; when requested “to state of record” that the only reason for granting a new trial was the one assigned in its opinion filed in support of its order to that effect, the court below refused to do so. We have repeatedly ruled that, “on an appeal from the grant of a new trial, unless the record contains a definite judicial statement that the order in question rests on a reáson given, which, to the exclusion of all else, controlled the decision, we will not interfere with the court’s exercise of discretion”; further, that “The Act of April 9, 1925, P. L. 221, authorizing appeals when the court declines to enter judgment n. o. v., does not impair or destroy the immemorial right of a court of first instance to grant a new trial, whenever, in its opinion, the justice of the particular case so requires, nor does it change the established practice of the appellate courts......in such matters, and that, in reviewing an appeal from the order of the court below, in cases where it has dismissed a motion for judgment non obstante veredicto [and] awarded a new trial, the appellate courts will affirm unless the grant of the new trial was a clear abuse of discretion.” See Pawlowski v. Sczehowicz, 293 Pa. 548, 550; Fisher Motor Co. v. Reppert, 295 Pa. 527, 528, and cases there cited. In short, under circumstances such as those in this case, the record presents nothing for review.

The motion to quash is allowed and the appeal is dismissed.

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Bluebook (online)

151 A. 343, 300 Pa. 584, 1930 Pa. LEXIS 439, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawrence-v-gillespie-pa-1930.

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