Reeves v. Reeves

209 P.2d 937, 34 Cal. 2d 355, 1949 Cal. LEXIS 167
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 30, 1949
DocketL. A. 20895
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 209 P.2d 937 (Reeves v. Reeves) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reeves v. Reeves, 209 P.2d 937, 34 Cal. 2d 355, 1949 Cal. LEXIS 167 (Cal. 1949).

Opinion

CARTER, J.

Plaintiff husband commenced an action for a divorce from his 19-year-old wife in May, 1948, and personal service was had upon her in Nevada. She having failed to appear, default was entered and an interlocutory decree of divorce for plaintiff was entered on July 16, 1948, in which the custody of the minor children was awarded to plaintiff. No notice of such entry was served. On July 23, 1948, defendant filed a notice of motion to vacate the interlocutory decree under section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure on the ground that the default was due to accident and mistake. *357 That motion was denied by order dated July 29, 1948, and entered August 12, 1948, hereinafter referred to as first order. On August 21, 1948, defendant filed a notice of appeal from that order, hereinafter referred to as first appeal. On August 30, 1948, defendant filed a notice of intention to move for a new trial. That motion was denied by minute order (referred to as second order), entered on October 29, 1948. It is not clear, but the clerk’s supplemental record recites that a motion to vacate the decree was filed on August 30, 1948, and denied on September 30, 1948, bút no papers showing such motion or order appear in the record. It is also there recited that a memorandum decision and order was filed on October 4, 1948 (referred to as third order), denying defendant’s motion for attorney’s fees and costs on appeal, and that a notice of appeal therefrom was filed on November 19, 1948, referred to as second appeal. On November 5, 1948, defendant filed a notice of appeal from the decree and the order denying a new trial, referred to as third appeal.

While the foregoing proceedings were pending, defendant went to Nevada, taking the children with her, and obtained, on July 23, 1948, a final decree of divorce there, and has remarried.

Motions were made by plaintiff in the District Court of Appeal when this case was pending there to dismiss the appeals for failure to make timely arrangements for the preparation of the records on appeal, and time to prepare the records was granted. It appears that the records on the respective appeals are now before this court.

Turning first to that part of the third appeal which embraces an appeal from the order denying a new trial, such appeal must be dismissed inasmuch as no appeal lies from an order denying a motion for a new trial. (2 Cal.Jur. 174.)

Further considering the third appeal, that part of it which is from the decree, we find that such appeal must be dismissed for it was not timely filed. It will be recalled that the decree was entered on July 16, 1948, and the notice of appeal was filed on November 5, 1948. Under the Rules on Appeal, the time to appeal therefrom would expire 60 days after entry of the decree, or on September 14, 1948 (Rules on Appeal, rule 2(a)), unless that time was extended by either a valid motion for a new trial or a motion to vacate the decree. (Rules on Appeal, rules 2(a), 3(a), and 3(b).) First, we have the motion to vacate under section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure which was timely made, but the *358 order (first order) denying it was entered on August 12, 1948. Rule 3(b) reads, in part: “When a motion to vacate a judgment or to vacate a judgment and enter another and different judgment is made by any party on any ground within 60 days after entry of judgment, (1) if the motion is denied or not decided by the superior court within 120 days after entry of the judgment, the time for filing the notice of appeal from the judgment is extended for all parties until 30 days after entry of the order denying the motion to vacate or 120 days after entry of the judgment, whichever shall be less; ...” Hence that motion to vacate would not extend the time to appeal beyond September 11, 1948, or 30 days after the entry of the order denying the motion to vacate. The motion to vacate that was apparently made in August, 1948, does not save the appeal for it was denied on September 8, 1948, and would not extend the time to appeal beyond October 8, 1948. Assuming that the denial of the new trial was timely, and, therefore, would extend the time beyond November 5, 1948 (Rules on Appeal, rule 3(a); Mellin v. Trousdell, 33 Cal.2d 858 [205 P.2d 1036]), there still remains the question whether such motion in this case could operate to extend the time for appeal. It has been held that: “A motion for a new trial is not an appropriate proceeding to review the action of the court in giving judgment in a case where there has been no trial upon issues of fact. (Hayne on New Trial and Appeal, see. 443; Savings etc. Soc. v. Meeks, 66 Cal. 371 [5 P. 624]; Gregory v. Gregory, 102 Cal. 50 [36 P. 364]; In re Heldt, 98 Cal. 553 [33 P. 549].)

“In this case there was no such trial, the judgment being by default against both defendants. ... In such a case there is no office to be subserved by a new trial. A new trial is ‘a re-examination of an issue of fact.’ (Code Civ. Proc., sec. 656); and, unless such an issue has been raised and tried, there is nothing which can be reviewed by this method.

“While appellants concede this to be the law in actions other than for divorce, they contend that in the latter class of cases there is always of necessity a trial of issues of fact; that the law raises such issues whether the defendant answers or not. But this is a misapprehension of the effect of the statute. The code does provide that no divorce can be granted upon the mere default of the defendant, but that the court shall in all cases ‘require proof of the facts alleged’ before granting relief. (Civ. Code, sec. 130.) But the effect of that provision is not to raise ‘issues of fact,’ nor to constitute the *359 taking of proof submitted by the plaintiff in cases where the defendant has not answered a ‘trial,’ as those terms are used in the provisions relating to new trials. Such an issue arises only where a material averment of fact is made on the one side and is controverted upon the other (Code Civ. Proc., secs. 588, 590); and the ‘re-examination’ provided for in section 656 is where there has been a trial of such an issue.

‘ ‘ The provision of the Civil Code merely declares the policy of the law to be that in divorce cases, whether the defendant suffer default or not, the relief shall not be granted until the facts upon which it is sought are established by proof. In such an instance, however, as in any other where the defendant makes default and suffers judgment upon a mere ex parte showing, his remedy in seeking relief from the judgment is under section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and not by motion for a new trial. (Hayne on New Trial and Appeal, sec. 9, and cases above cited.)

“The attempted proceedings for a new trial were, therefore, wholly nugatory and cannot be reviewed.” (Foley v. Foley, 120 Cal. 33, 36-37 [52 P. 122, 65 Am.St.Rep. 147]; see, also, Abbey Land etc. Co. v. San Mateo, 167 Cal. 434 [139 P. 1068, Ann.Cas. 1915C 804, 52 L.R.A. N.S. 408]; Younger v. Moore, 8 Cal.App. 237 [96 P. 1093]; Crackel v. Crackel, 17 Cal.App. 600 [121 P.

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Bluebook (online)
209 P.2d 937, 34 Cal. 2d 355, 1949 Cal. LEXIS 167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reeves-v-reeves-cal-1949.