Mid-West Federal Savings Bank v. Epperson

579 N.E.2d 124, 1991 Ind. App. LEXIS 1645, 1991 WL 194068
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 3, 1991
Docket82A01-9103-CV-62
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 579 N.E.2d 124 (Mid-West Federal Savings Bank v. Epperson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mid-West Federal Savings Bank v. Epperson, 579 N.E.2d 124, 1991 Ind. App. LEXIS 1645, 1991 WL 194068 (Ind. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

ROBERTSON, Judge.

Mid-West Federal Savings Bank (hereinafter Mid-West) appeals from an adverse ruling, that it did not have and was not entitled to a deficiency judgment following a sheriff's sale of real estate, entered upon O. Donetta Epperson's (hereinafter Epper-son) Ind. Trial Rule 60(B) motion for relief from judgment and stay of execution.

We affirm.

Mid-West raises primarily five issues in this appeal, three of which require a review of the evidence. Mid-West has informed us in its brief that the evidentiary hearing held upon Epperson's motion for relief from judgment was conducted in chambers because a court reporter was not available. When Mid-West failed to recreate the record in conformance with Ind. Appellate Rule 7.2, Epperson moved to supplement the record with order book entries and the appraisals which were apparently a part of the evidence at the hearing on her motion. Mid-West now urges us in fairness either not to consider the appraisals or in the alternative, direct that an affidavit of its witness be made a part of the record, pursuant to App.R. 7.2(C). We decline.

It is the appellant's duty to insure that an adequate record is presented to this court for review of the issues it raises. The intent of App.R. 7.2(C) is to provide a method whereby the parties or this court may correct mistakes or omissions in the record, such as the order book entries, following certification of the record. Cox v. State (1985), Ind., 475 N.E.2d 664. Appellate Rule 7.2(C) is not a substitute for the duties clearly placed upon an appellant by *126 other portions of the rule. Id. Consequently, while this court is mandated by App.R. 7.2 to review a supplemented or corrected record, the failure of the parties to present an adequate record constitutes waiver of any alleged error based upon the absent material. Adams v. State (1989), Ind.App., 539 N.E.2d 985. See also General Collections, Inc. v. Ochoa (1989), Ind.App., 546 N.E.2d 113. Although Epperson appears confident of a decision in her favor based solely upon the record as it exists now, we are reluctant to render an opinion on the issues raised without the benefit of all the evidence which was before the trial court. Accordingly, we deem review of Mid-West's claims, that the evidence fails to show procedural irregularities in the sale, that Epperson failed to meet her burden of proof, and that the trial court failed to take into account costs of resale in evaluating the adequacy of price, waived.

Hence, we address only two issues:

(1) whether the magistrate exceeded his statutory authority under Ind. Code 83-4-7-7, 8 by entering of record what appear to be final appealable orders without first filing findings with the court or obtaining review by the court, or by holding argument on and overruling Mid-West's motion to correct error, and;
(2) whether an Ind. Trial Rule 60(B) motion for relief from judgment is an appropriate vehicle for setting aside or denying Mid-West's deficiency judgment.

I

Mid-West's first allegation of error concerns the manner in which the proceedings occurring after the circuit court's entry of a default summary judgment in Mid-West's favor were conducted. Upon the retirement of the then circuit court judge, the Vanderburgh Cireuit Court magistrate conducted the proceedings which included evidentiary hearings on proceedings supplemental initiated by Mid-West, Epper-son's claim for exemption, Epperson's motions for relief and stay of execution on the judgment, and Mid-West's motions to correct error. At no time during these post judgment proceedings had the magistrate been appointed judge pro tempore or special judge of the Vanderburgh Circuit Court.

The September 28, 1990 entry which is at the center of this controversy is signed by the magistrate in his capacity as magistrate and contains the magistrate's findings of fact, conclusions of law and judgment entry. The entry itself is not signed by the circuit court judge. 'The minutes in the Vanderburgh Cireuit Court "Judge's Docket" reflect only the initials of the magistrate; however, the clerk's order book entries contain what apparently is the stamped signature of the Vanderburgh Circuit Court judge together with the specific entry:

[tlhe Court being duly advised by the Magistrate and/or Commissioner of this Court now approves the findings and recommendations of the said Magistrate and/or Commissioner and adopts said findings and recommendations as the Order in all causes heard on [the particular day in question].

A similar entry appears in the clerk's order book following the overruling of Mid-West's motion to correct error by the magistrate.

Mid-West seeks reversal or a redetermi-nation of the ruling on Epperson's motion for relief from judgment on the ground that the magistrate's September 28, 1990 "Entry," which purports to be an appeal-able final judgment, and the magistrate's action on Mid-West's motion to correct error, were beyond the scope of authority granted him by the legislature in I.C. 33-4-7. Section seven of that chapter precludes a magistrate from entering a final appeal-able order unless sitting as a judge pro tempore or special judge while sections four and eight authorize a magistrate to conduct an evidentiary hearing or trial and to report his findings to the court, but direct that the court shall issue the final order. Mid-West argues that the entries, accompanied by the judge's stamp, exceed the scope of the magistrate's authority because they reflect that the actual decision-making was done by the magistrate. And, regardless of our resolution of this ques *127 tion, Mid-West argues that the magistrate nonetheless exceeded the seope of his express statutory authority by ruling upon the motions to correct error.

We agree with Mid-West that the authority to decide is a judicial power which cannot, consistent with the Indiana Constitution, be delegated to the magistrate, State ex rel. Smith v. Starke Circuit Court (1981), 275 Ind. 483, 494, 417 N.E.2d 1115, 1121, but the instrumentalities used to inform the court, whether left to the court's own choice or fixed by law, are merely auxiliary to that power and operate upon persons or things only through the court's actions. Id. Therefore, had the trial court failed to adopt the magistrate's actions as its own, the judgment rendered by the magistrate would be without effect. However, here the trial court expressly adopted the magistrate's findings, conclusions and "recommendations" as its own; it exercised the power to decide. Hence, the objection is nothing more than one based upon the manner in which the court chose to inform itself and enter a final decree upon the record. Were we to find that the court's adoption of the magistrate's actions was in some way deficient and judicial power had not been properly exercised, a remand for the entry of a final judgment would be in order. See e.g. Green v. State (1989), Ind.App., 540 N.E.2d 130

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Bluebook (online)
579 N.E.2d 124, 1991 Ind. App. LEXIS 1645, 1991 WL 194068, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mid-west-federal-savings-bank-v-epperson-indctapp-1991.