Morris v. Mullis

590 S.E.2d 823, 264 Ga. App. 428, 2004 Fulton County D. Rep. 348, 2003 Ga. App. LEXIS 1500
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedDecember 1, 2003
DocketA03A1301
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 590 S.E.2d 823 (Morris v. Mullis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morris v. Mullis, 590 S.E.2d 823, 264 Ga. App. 428, 2004 Fulton County D. Rep. 348, 2003 Ga. App. LEXIS 1500 (Ga. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinions

Phipps, Judge.

Ellie Morris, Martha Sue Morris, and Debra M. Muth (the Morrises) appeal an order of the Superior Court of Atkinson County in which the court declared that they had not acquired a private way or easement across the property of Kay Mullis and Lamar Mullis. They claim that the court made five procedural errors and that its order should be reversed. We find that the court made four errors, and therefore we reverse.

On July 15, 2002, pursuant to OCGA § 44-9-59, the Morrises filed a “Petition to Remove Obstruction from Private Way” in the Probate Court of Atkinson County.1 In their petition, they alleged that for more than 29 years they had been in continuous and uninterrupted use of a permanent private way over and across land belonging to Lamar Mullis; that Mullis had never taken any steps to prevent them from enjoying the private way; and that Mullis had now obstructed the private way, thereby preventing them access. They sought an order requiring Mullis to remove the obstruction.

On July 22, 2002, Kay and Lamar Mullis filed a “Petition for Declaratory Judgment; for Injunctive Relief; for Damages and for Stay of Proceedings in Probate Court” in the Superior Court of Atkinson County. In their petition, the Mullises alleged that the probate court action was not valid because Kay Mullis, part owner of the land at issue, was not a party to the action. They farther alleged that the [429]*429Morrises had no right to use a road on the Mullises’ property without permission and that the Morrises had full access to their property over a road owned by another property owner. The Mullises sought a temporary restraining order precluding the Morrises from entering their property, a stay of the probate court proceedings, a declaration that the Morrises had no right to enter their property, and general damages for any trespass by Ellie Morris. In the petition, counsel for the Mullises certified that he had given no notice to the Morrises of the application for temporary relief. The same day the petition was filed, the superior court: (1) issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Morrises from entering or attempting to enter the Mullises’ land; (2) stayed the probate court action; (3) consolidated the probate court action and the superior court action; and (4) set a hearing to address both actions for August 8, 2002.

At the August 8 hearing, the superior court announced that it would hear both the probate court action and the superior court action. Counsel for the Morrises objected. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court issued no ruling, but requested briefs from the parties. On August 19, the Morrises filed an answer and counterclaim2 in the superior court action in which they objected to the consolidation of the probate court action with the superior court action and requested a jury trial. In an order filed on September 13, the superior court denied the Morrises’ request to remand their obstruction petition to probate court because Kay Mullis had not been made a party to the probate court action. The court held that the Morrises had failed to acquire a prescriptive private way or easement over the Mullises’ property and denied the Morrises’ request for removal of an obstruction.

Before we consider the issues properly before this court, we must briefly address the dissent. The dissent accuses the Morrises of “improper judge shopping” because they dismissed an action in one court and filed a similar action in another. Its characterization of this case as “foiled judge shopping” and its accusations of dishonesty draw attention from the numerous procedural errors committed by the superior court. The record shows that after the Morrises filed their action in superior court, they obtained new counsel who determined that the proper way to obtain the relief sought by his clients was to file an action in probate court to remove the obstruction the Mullises had erected. He therefore dismissed the superior court action and filed a petition to remove an obstruction in probate court. [430]*430There is no merit to the dissent’s “judge-shopping” characterization because

it has been repeatedly held that the intent of the legislature in enacting OCGA § 9-11-41 (a)[, which allows a plaintiff to dismiss an action without prejudice at any time before the plaintiff rests his case,]3 was to give plaintiffs the opportunity to escape untenable positions and relitigate the case. There is no bad faith exception to the right to dismiss and later relitigate, despite whatever inconvenience and irritation this may cause the defendants.4

Although it cites no authority for its position, the dissent claims that the Morrises could not utilize OCGA § 9-11-41 (a) because their pleadings were totally inconsistent. In fact, in the superior court action the Morrises dismissed, they claimed to have acquired a prescriptive easement, and in their probate court petition, which was not a verified pleading, they set forth facts that would support a prescriptive easement. Even if it was apparent from the facts set forth in their initial pleading that they would not prevail, the Morrises were entitled to dismiss that action without prejudice.5

To support its claim of “improper judge shopping,” the dissent relies upon Sears v. Citizens Exchange Bank of Pearson.6 In Sears, the defendant against whom a default judgment had been taken moved to reopen the default. When that motion was denied and the time for appeal had passed, the defendant retained new counsel who moved before a different judge of the same superior court circuit a second time to reopen the default judgment. When the trial court granted the second motion to reopen, the plaintiff filed an interlocutory appeal. The Sears court stated that “[t]o allow a losing party to bring before a different judge a renewed motion and dispute a ruling on a motion already heard and denied, after the time for appeal has passed, makes a mockery of the principle of res judicata and wholly disregards the rules of appellate procedure.”7 In this case, when the Morrises dismissed their superior court action, no adverse ruling had been issued against them. They did not engage in conduct even remotely similar to the conduct criticized in Sears.

[431]*431The dissent states that it considers the merits of the underlying cases “to provide the parties with a full and complete resolution of the issues involved in this appeal.” But the Morrises do not assert as error or even discuss the ruling on the merits of either case presented to the superior court. Instead, they point out numerous procedural errors committed by the superior court and seek the opportunity to proceed with their action in probate court. We do not consider issues not raised on appeal.8 Instead, our jurisdiction is limited to the consideration of legal points raised by enumeration of error.9 In considering the merits and reaching its conclusion that the right party won, the dissent excuses the trial court’s errors. We cannot condone such an approach.

1.

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Morris v. Mullis
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
590 S.E.2d 823, 264 Ga. App. 428, 2004 Fulton County D. Rep. 348, 2003 Ga. App. LEXIS 1500, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morris-v-mullis-gactapp-2003.