Parks v. Stein Steel & Supply Co.

68 S.E.2d 919, 85 Ga. App. 306, 1952 Ga. App. LEXIS 722
Court of Appeals of Georgia·Decided February 1, 1952·No. 33877·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

Gardner, J.

While it is true that “All persons who are interested in sustaining or reversing the judgment of the court below are indispensable parties in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, and they must be made parties to the bill of exceptions” (Edwards v. Wall, 153 Ga. 776, 113 S. E. 190), this rule is on the theory that they are interested in sustaining or reversing the judgment excepted to; but where, as here, there is a suit [309] against two defendants, charging separate acts of negligence as to each, and one of the defendants demurs on the ground that it appears affirmatively from the petition that the plaintiff’s damage was the result of the negligence of the other defendant and not of the demurrant, and the trial court sustains this demurrer on that ground and dismisses the case as to that defendant, and the case remains in court as to the other defendant, who did not demur, and where the plaintiff excepts directly to the judgment sustaining said demurrer and in the bill of exceptions to this court the defendant who did not demur and against whom the case was not dismissed, but is yet pending in the trial court, was not made a party defendant in error, such defendant is not an indispensable party defendant in error in this court, not being interested in sustaining or reversing the judgment of the trial court. The failure of the plaintiff in error to make him a party defendant in error will not authorize a dismissal of the bill of exceptions. Edwards v. Wall, 153 Ga. 776, supra; Teasley v. Cordell, 153 Ga. 397 (112 S. E. 287); Anderson v. Haas, 160 Ga. 420 (128 S. E. 178).

There is nothing in the case of Tillman v. Davis, 147 Ga. 206 (93 S. E. 201), to the contrary of what we now rule. That case was an action against several defendants, and a general demurrer was interposed by some of them, which demurrer went to the substance of the whole petition and challenged' the plaintiff’s right to any relief, thus enuring to the benefit of all the defendants. The demurrer was sustained and the petition dismissed as to all the defendants. The plaintiff, complaining of the judgment sustaining the demurrer, sued out a writ of error to the Supreme Court, but he did not make the non-demurring defendants parties thereto, nor were they served with the bill of exceptions, nor did they acknowledge and waive service thereof. Those non-demurring defendants in the Tillman case were interested in retaining the judgment of the trial court in its existing status. With that judgment extant there was no case in the trial court in favor of the plaintiff against any of the defendants. The Supreme Court there held: “Where the judge sustains such demurrer and enters an order dismissing the whole case, such dismissal enures to the benefit of all the defendants, and they become interested in sustaining the judgment; and if [310] the plaintiff desires to except to the ruling, it is essential that he make all of the defendants in the trial court defendants in error and serve them with a copy of the bill of exceptions, and a failure to do so will require a dismissal of the writ of error.” Tillman v. Davis, supra, citing U. S. Leather Co. v. First National Bank, 107 Ga. 263 (33 S. E. 31); Davis v. Walters, 140 Ga. 229 (78 S. E. 838). The Tillman case is entirely different from the case at bar. That difference is in a very vital and material aspect. The non-demurring defendant here was not necessarily interested in sustaining the judgment of the trial court, whereas in the Tillman case they were directly interested in sustaining such judgment. The petition had not been dismissed as to him, but there was pending in the trial court an action for damages by the plaintiff against him. The demurrant (Stein Steel & Supply Company) in the trial court had attacked the plaintiff’s petition as not setting forth a cause of action against it, for the reason that it affirmatively appeared from the face of the petition that the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries was the acts of negligence of the defendant Reeves. The trial judge in sustaining this demurrer ruled: “This court is of the opinion that no cause of action is set out against the defendant Stein Steel & Supply Company, and that the petition clearly shows that the proximate cause of plaintiff’s injuries was the act of negligence of the other défendant” Reeves, and the demurrer “is hereby sustained and the petition as to, the Stein Steel & Supply Company . . is hereby dismissed.”

It follows that the motion of the defendant in error to dismiss this bill of exceptions is without merit and the same is hereby denied.

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Parks v. Stein Steel & Supply Co., 68 S.E.2d 919, 85 Ga. App. 306, 1952 Ga. App. LEXIS 722 (Ga. Ct. App. 1952).

68 S.E.2d 919 (Parks v. Stein Steel & Supply Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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