Manning v. State Ex Rel. Department of Public Safety

876 P.2d 667, 1994 WL 243385
Supreme Court of Oklahoma·Decided June 13, 1994·No. 81234·Published·Cited by 39 cases

Opinions

OPALA, Justice.

The question presented for our decision today is whether a trial judge’s directive that a party’s counsel prepare a journal entry extends appeal time’s commencement until that memorial’s filing, even though the record contains an earlier-filed, judge-signed writing terminating the proceeding and clearly indicating the relief afforded. We answer in the negative. When judgment is pronounced with all the parties present, appeal time commences as soon as a judge-signed memorial which clearly shows the relief afforded is filed.1 Because we clarify a point of appellate procedure that until now may have been obscure and hence presented a trap for the unwary, we allow this appeal to stand by giving today’s pronouncement prospective effect in accordance with the teachings of Poafpybitty v. Shelly Oil Company, Okl., 394 P.2d 515, 520 (1964).2

I.

THE ANATOMY OF LITIGATION

All the parties were present when the trial judge in this case reversed on appeal an administrative hearing officer’s revocation of [669]*669the plaintiff-appellee’s [driver’s] license.3 No issues were reserved or taken under advisement. The trial judge memorialized his ruling in longhand upon a form which had been printed and bore the label “court minute,” signed the writing4 and then handed a copy to each party present in court. Filing and entry upon the judgment roll must be assumed to have followed de cursu5 this terminal writing of January 13, 19936 Before the parties left the courtroom, the trial judge directed that plaintiffs counsel prepare a journal entry. The latter instrument, containing the same terms as the trial judge’s earlier handwritten memorialization, was filed on February 5, 1993.

This appeal was brought by defendant-appellant [the Department of Public Safety or Department] on March 8, 1993, less than thirty days after the February 5 plaintiff-prepared journal entry was filed but more than thirty days after the earlier judge-signed memorialization of the decision below was filed on January 13. The driver seeks this appeal’s dismissal as untimely.7 The Department’s counsel urges that (a) she did not know the January 13 writing had been filed until after this appeal was commenced and (b) the trial judge’s directive to counsel that a journal entry be prepared effectively postponed appeal time until February 5.

II.

AN INSTRUMENT’S MEANING AND EFFECT DEPEND UPON ITS CONTENT AND SUBSTANCE RATHER THAN UPON ITS FORM OR TITLE8

[670]*670Judgments,9 orders10 and minutes11 are facially distinguishable instruments. Recognizable by their content, appearance and substance, each of these writings has a distinct legal identity.12

Early jurisprudence gives us Webster’s definition of court minute: “a small portion;” “a short sketch or note;” “a brief summary.” 13 Minutes are no more than abbreviated memoranda of what takes place in court, made by the court’s authority.14

Never a fit substitute for the judge’s recordable memorialized entry,15 minutes are by definition incomplete. Casual examination of a minute usually reveals that a recordable order or judgment is intended to follow. In sum, record entry16 of judgment may never be accomplished by a clerk’s minute or by an unsigned, initialed or incomplete abstract of proceedings placed on a minute form later posted on the appearance docket.17 Rather, it is accomplished by the filing of a memorial that meets the 12 O.S. 1991 § 2k18 recordation criteria (the judge’s full signature and a clear indication of the relief afforded). The filing of the recordable [671]*671memorial begins the 12 O.S.1991 § 990A’s19 countdown for commencing an appeal.20

The content and substance of the January 13 entry is that of a judgment and not that of a minute. If the four corners yielded no more than an unsigned or initialed recitation of the events that transpired at trial,21 our conclusion might be different. The instrument in contest clearly vacates the driver’s license revocation, judicially determining the parties’ rights in the action. By application of the § 681 22 standards, the earlier entry is the recordable23 judgment. It precludes all further inquiry into the issues joined by the pleadings.24 Nothing remains to be done.25 Our facial examination of this instrument does not reveal any indication that the judge intended a more complete instrument to follow.26 In short, the January 13 entry is the filed judgment27 which may not be transmuted into a minute, either by its pre-printed “minute” label or by the judge’s oral directive that counsel prepare a journal entry.

III.

APPEAL TIME’S TRIGGER IS A LAW-DRIVEN MECHANISM WHICH MAY NOT BE POSTPONED BY ORAL DIRECTIVES

This court stands committed to the vieiv that, once an appealable event has occurred, a trial judge is utterly ivithoiit authority to extend appeal time by any means or in any manner, direct or oblique;28 neither may the nisi prius judge allow the parties to control the time of a judgment’s issuance. Appeal time’s trigger is a law-[672]*672driven mechanism which is beyond the reach of human tinkering,29

If a trial judge (1) pronounces judgment in court, (2) writes, signs and delivers to counsel a recordable memorial setting forth all the terms of his riding and (3) the clerk files it de cursu as required by law, the filing date inexorably sets appeal time in motion.30

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Manning v. State Ex Rel. Department of Public Safety, 876 P.2d 667, 1994 WL 243385 (Okla. 1994).

876 P.2d 667 (Manning v. State Ex Rel. Department of Public Safety) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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