Neighbors & Danielson v. West Nebraska Methodist Hospital

74 N.W.2d 854, 162 Neb. 33, 1956 Neb. LEXIS 18
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 17, 1956
Docket33880
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 74 N.W.2d 854 (Neighbors & Danielson v. West Nebraska Methodist Hospital) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Neighbors & Danielson v. West Nebraska Methodist Hospital, 74 N.W.2d 854, 162 Neb. 33, 1956 Neb. LEXIS 18 (Neb. 1956).

Opinions

Carter, J.

The question presently before the court arises on two motions filed by the parties. The appellee, hereafter referred to as the plaintiff, filed a motion to quash the bill of exceptions. The appellant, hereafter referred to as the defendant, filed a motion for an order authorizing the appellant to attach to the bill of exceptions filed in this court an executed copy of the order of the judge who heard the cause, bearing the date of November 21, 1955, granting an extension of time allowing an additional 40 days for the preparation, service, and settlement of the bill of exceptions, such 40 days to run from August 20, 1955.

Defendant filed a notice of appeal on July 12, 1955. The bill of exceptions was reduced to writing and certified to by the court reporter on September 2, 1955, it being the fifty-second day after the filing of the notice of appeal. Defendant’s counsel delivered the bill of exceptions to counsel for the plaintiff on September 10, 1955, it being the sixtieth day after the filing of the notice of appeal. On September 19, 1955, plaintiff’s attorney returned the bill of exceptions to defendant’s counsel with four proposed amendments which were accepted by the attorneys for the defendant on the same day. The trial judge settled and allowed the bill of exceptions on September 22, 1955, the seventy-second day after the notice of appeal was filed.

There appears in the bill of exceptions an order signed by C. G. Perry, District Judge, allowing an additional 40 days, over and above the original 40 days granted by statute, in which to prepare the bill of exceptions. The record shows that the judge who tried the cause was Fay H. Pollock, District Judge for the Ninth Judicial District, and not C. G. Perry, District Judge for the Seventeenth Judicial District, the district in which the [35]*35action was filed. It is the contention of the plaintiff that Judge Perry was without authority to extend the time for preparing the bill of exceptions and that his order was without force or effect.

The applicable statute provides: “In cases where a party seeking to obtain the allowance of a bill of exceptions has used due diligence in that behalf, but has failed to secure the settlement and allowance of the same as herein required, it shall be competent for the judge who tried the cause, upon showing of due diligence, and not otherwise, to extend the time herein allowed, but not beyond forty days additional to that herein provided, making such specific directions in that behalf as shall appear to the court to be just to all parties. Thereafter, a further extension of time may be granted by the Supreme Court upon application and showing of good cause therefor.” § 25-1140.07, R. R. S. 1943. The foregoing statute is clear that only the judge who tried the cause may extend the time for settling and allowing a bill of exceptions. Consequently, the purported order by Judge Perry is without force and effect. No proper extension of time was obtained and the contention of the plaintiff must be deemed the correct one. This appears to have been the holding of this court since Hanscom v. Lantry, 48 Neb. 665, 67 N. W. 762. In that case this court said: “It follows that appellants’ motion for additional time within which to procure the allowance of their exceptions should have been addressed to Judge Am. brose, by whom the order of confirmation was made, and that the orders in that behalf by Judge Scott were ineffective for the purpose intended.”

The defendant relies upon the case of State ex rel. Downing v. Gaslin, 32 Neb. 291, 49 N. W. 353. It seems clear that the holding in that case upon the point presently being considered was overruled, although not in terms, in Hanscom v. Lantry, supra. It is no longer the law in this state. We hold, therefore, that the order purporting to extend the time for the allowance and [36]*36settlement of the bill of exceptions by Judge Perry was not authorized. We conclude that there was no extension of time granted in the present case.

It is the contention of the plaintiff that in the absence of an extension of time to settle and allow the bill of exceptions, the trial court had no power to do so after 70 days from the time of the filing of the notice of appeal. Plaintiff cites and relies on Jones v. City of Chadron, 156 Neb. 150, 55 N. W. 2d 495; Gernandt v. Beckwith, 160 Neb. 719, 71 N. W. 2d 303; Zenker v. Zenker, 161 Neb. 200, 72 N. W. 2d 809; and other earlier cases. The defendant contends that the allowance and settlement of the bill of exceptions was within the time provided by statute under the holdings of this court in In re Estate of Boschulte, 128 Neb. 316, 258 N. W. 530; Scotts Bluff County v. McHenry, 128 Neb. 613, 259 N. W. 754; Markel v. Glassmeyer, 132 Neb. 716, 273 N. W. 33; and other earlier cases. Due to the confusion that appears to exist in the two classes of cases referred to, we shall attempt to clarify the law on the subject as it now exists. This requires a consideration of sections 25-1140 to 25-1140.07, R. R. S. 1943.

Prior to 1877 it was necessary to settle the bill of exceptions within the trial term. In 1877 the applicable statute was amended to provide that the party excepting was required to submit the proposed bill within 15 days, or in such time as the court may direct, not exceeding 40 days from the rising of the court. In 1881 the statute was again amended by adding the provision permitting the judge who tried the cause, upon due showing of diligence and not otherwise, to further extend the time, but not beyond 40 days additional. The statute does not appear to have been materially changed until 1947 when the present sections (25-1140 to 25-1140.07, R. R. S. 1943) were enacted. Under the 1947 statute the time for allowing and settling a bill of exceptions began to run with the filing of the notice of appeal. It seems clear, therefore, that cases arising prior to 1947 are not appli[37]*37cable to cases arising since that time, except as the reasoning of the prior cases may be applied to the interpretation to be placed upon the 1947 amendments.

The right to a bill of exceptions is in all cases the creature of statute and is measured and defined by statute. This appears to have been the rule as early as First National Bank v. Bartlett, 8 Neb. 319, 1 N. W. 199. See Horbach v. City of Omaha, 49 Neb. 851, 69 N. W. 121, and cases cited therein. In Stock v. Luebben, 72 Neb. 254, 100 N. W. 307, this court said: “This evidence shows that it was solely the fault of the court reporter, and the question is whether, under such circumstances, the delay beyond the 80 days in presenting the bill to opposing counsel is fatal to the settlement of the bill. It was held that such delay is not fatal in State v. Gaslin, 32 Neb. 291, and in Richards v. State, 22 Neb. 145, but in Horbach v. City of Omaha, 49 Neb. 851, the case of Richards v. State is reviewed fully and overruled upon this point, and the rule declared to be that the statute is mandatory, and that no bill of exceptions can be settled and allowed by the trial court that has not been presented to the opposing counsel within the 80 days. This ruling is followed in Mathews v. Mulford, 53 Neb. 252, and it is there stated that the remedy, when the delay has been caused by the neglect of the reporter in making the transcript, is by application for a new trial. Following these later cases, which seem to be well reasoned, this motion must be sustained. This places great responsibility upon the official reporters of the trial courts.

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

Related

State Ex Rel. Line v. Kuhlman
94 N.W.2d 373 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1959)
Oak v. Griggs
92 N.W.2d 551 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1958)
Benedict v. State
89 N.W.2d 82 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1958)
Sawyer v. Kunkel
88 N.W.2d 906 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1958)
Worm v. Crowell
87 N.W.2d 384 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1958)
Bryant v. Greene
80 N.W.2d 137 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1956)
BURKE LUMBER & COAL COMPANY v. Anderson
76 N.W.2d 630 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1956)
Neighbors & Danielson v. West Nebraska Methodist Hospital
74 N.W.2d 854 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1956)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
74 N.W.2d 854, 162 Neb. 33, 1956 Neb. LEXIS 18, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/neighbors-danielson-v-west-nebraska-methodist-hospital-neb-1956.