Price v. McCoy Sales & Service, Inc.

207 N.E.2d 236, 2 Ohio St. 2d 131, 31 Ohio Op. 2d 229, 1965 Ohio LEXIS 505
Ohio Supreme Court·Decided May 5, 1965·No. No. 38494·Published·Cited by 35 cases

Opinions

HERBERT, J.

The question for determinatinon presented by the record in this action may be stated as follows:

Was the order entered by the trial conrt setting aside the jury verdict and granting the motion for a new trial, filed by McCoy, a final appealable order?

If it was, the judgment of the Conrt of Appeals should be reversed. If it was not a final appealable order, then the judgment of the Court of Appeals should be affirmed, and the cause remanded to the trial court for a new trial.

It is an understatement to say that this court has experienced considerable difficulty during the past years in relation to the matter of review of an order setting aside a verdict of a jury, vacating a judgment thereon and granting a motion for a new trial without opportunity of appeal from such order. The problem had its origin in the Consitutional Convention of 1912. Prior thereto, appellate jurisdiction had been lodged in the Circuit Court by the General Assembly under its then constitutional authority. In 1912, our present Courts of Appeals were created by amendment to the Constitution which granted them “appellate jurisdiction in the trial of chancery cases, and, to review, affirm, modify, or reverse the judgments of the Courts of Common Pleas, Superior Courts, and other courts of record within the district as may be provided by law.”

This court, in construing this constitutional grant of power, decided that the Courts of Appeals derived their jurisdiction solely from the Constitution, and that the General Assembly had no power, right or authority to enlarge, limit or change such jurisdiction of the Courts of Appeals.

The General Assembly, in 1937, enacted an amendment to Section 12223-2 of the General Code (now 2505.02, Revised Code), providing that “* * * vacating or setting aside a general verdict of a jury and ordering a new trial, is a final order ’ ’ and therefore appealable.

This court, in Hoffman v. Knollman (1939), 135 Ohio St. 170, decided that this enactment by the General Assembly was [135]*135in conflict with Section 6 of Article IV of the Constitution and of no effect. This decision re-established the principle of law previously announced by this court that the granting of a motion for a new trial upon a general verdict of a jury was not a final order and, therefore, was not appealable.

An amendment to Section 6, Article IV of the Constitution, was submitted to the people and adopted by them on November 7, 1944, which, in part, provided:

“The Courts of Appeals shall have # * such jurisdiction as may he provided by law to review, affirm, modify, set aside, or reverse judgments or final orders of boards, commissions, officers, or tribunals, and of courts of record inferior to the Courts of Appeals within the district * *

It is unnecessary to discuss at length the developments in the differences between the General Assembly and this court in respect to the jurisdiction of the Courts of Appeals. Suffice it to say that following the adoption of the amendment to Section 6, Article IV of the Constitution in 1944 (effective January 1, 1945), the General Assembly enacted legislation of far-reaching importance in respect to its power to change the appellate jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals. Section 11575 of the General Code, now 2321.17, Revised Code, as amended in 1957, provides that the trial court must specify in writing the causes for which a new trial is granted. Section 11578 of the General Code (now 2321.19, Revised Code), Section 11599, General Code (now 2323.15, Revised Code) and Section 12223-2, General Code (now 2505.02, Revised Code) were duly enacted. The latter section having been declared unconstitutional by this court in Hoffman, supra (1939), it was amended by the General Assembly (1947) to read in part:

“* * * an order vacating or setting aside a judgment and ordering a new trial is a final order which may be reviewed, affirmed, modified, or reversed, with or without retrial * * (Emphasis added.)

Youngstown Municipal Ry. Co. v. City of Youngstown (1946), 147 Ohio St. 221, was the first case in which this court was called upon to construe Section 6 of Article IV of the Constitution, as amended by the people on November 7, 1944. The first paragraph of the syllabus reads:

[136]*136“1. Section 6 of Article IV of the Constitution of Ohio, as amended November 7, 1944, empowers * * * the General Assembly to change the appellate jurisdiction of the Courts of Appeals.” (Emphasis added.)

At page 223 in the opinion, Weygandt, C. J., said:

“* * * The expressed intention [of the amendment] is to accomplish the simple result of empowering the General Assembly tó change the appellate jurisdiction of the Courts of Appeals if it should desire so to do * * (Emphasis added.)

The decision in Youngstown, supra, was handed down by a divided court. .Williams, J., alone dissenting.

It was “approved and followed” in the second paragraph of the syllabus in Pilgrim Distributing Corp. v. Galsworthy, Inc., 148 Ohio St. 567, and followed in Meyer v. Meyer, 153 Ohio St. 408, at pages 414 and 417, by a unanimous court. Taft, C. J., then judge, delivered the opinion of the court and cited with approval the principle of law set out in the first paragraph of the syllabus in Youngstown, supra, although he did not agree with the second paragraph of the syllabus, which, however, is not material to the case at bar.

Kelley, a Minor, v. Runyan (1959), 170 Ohio St. 94, lays down this principle of law in paragraph one of the syllabus:

“Under the provisions of Section 2505.02, Revised Code, an order affecting a substantial right made in a special proceeding is a final order.” (Emphasis added.)

Here again is recognized the grant of power by the Constitution to the General Assembly to change the jurisdiction of or confer jurisdiction upon the Courts of Appeals.

Humphrys v. Putnam, 172 Ohio St. 456, recognizes the grant of power in respect to jurisdiction of the Courts of Appeals in equity that the amendment to Section 6 of Article IY of the Consitution conferred upon the General Assembly on November 7, 1944. The syllabus reads:

“An order of the Court of Appeals dismissing an appeal as one on questions of law and fact but retaining such appeal as one on questions of law, pursuant to the provisions of Section 2505.23, Revised Code, does not constitute a final order from which an appeal can be taken.”

As late as July of 1964, this court recognized the power of [137]*137the General Assembly to confer “additional jurisdiction upon Courts of Appeals.”

In Hawkins v. Hawkins (1964), 176 Ohio St. 469, at page 471 in the opinion, it is said:

“In 1961, the General Assembly amended Section 2501.02 of the Revised Code by making style deviations but not otherwise changing the effect of the statute which conferred additional jurisdiction upon the Courts of Appeals as follows:
“ * * * in addition to the original jurisdiction conferred by Section 6 of Article IY, Ohio Constitution * *

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Price v. McCoy Sales & Service, Inc., 207 N.E.2d 236, 2 Ohio St. 2d 131, 31 Ohio Op. 2d 229, 1965 Ohio LEXIS 505 (Ohio 1965).

207 N.E.2d 236 (Price v. McCoy Sales & Service, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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