Rose v. Oklahoma City

1938 OK 246, 78 P.2d 315, 182 Okla. 422, 1938 Okla. LEXIS 580
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 5, 1938
DocketNo. 28131.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1938 OK 246 (Rose v. Oklahoma City) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rose v. Oklahoma City, 1938 OK 246, 78 P.2d 315, 182 Okla. 422, 1938 Okla. LEXIS 580 (Okla. 1938).

Opinion

DAVISON, J.

This is an appeal from a-judgment of the district court of Canadian county dismissing plaintiff’s (action upon ordering the mandate spread of record in a former opinion of this court in the same action (Oklahoma City v. Rose, 176 Okla. 607, 56 P.2d 775).

It is shown that Joseph L. Rose, as plaintiff, filed his action against the city of Oklahoma City, as defendant, praying for damages alleged to have been caused by the defendant’s negligent construction of a certain bank and dam across the channel of the North Canadian river at 39th street, as a part of the waterworks system of the defendant city. It was alleged that about two miles north of the concrete dam for Over-holser Lake, the defendant and the Oklahoma Railway Oompanj' maintained a grade for the railway to cross, which also served as a dam between the settling basin and the principal lake, and that in the floods of June and October, 1923, the water was held back by reason of insufficient underpasses or openings, which caused damages to the plaintiff’s land lying about two miles up the river.

The cause was tried to a jury and verdict of $11,000 for damages to plaintiff’s land and $1,154 for destruction of plaintiff’s crops was returned, upon which judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff in the sum of $8,154. The defendant appealed to this court, which rendered its decision therein reversing the judgment of the trial court. The mandate was issued to the trial court. The defendant filed its motion to spread the mandate of record and to dismiss plaintiff’s action. The plaintiff filed an answer to the motion alleging that the plaintiff had new and additional evidence to offer at further trial of said action which would entitle plaintiff to a verdict upon the causes set forth in the petition, and asked that the motion for a judgment of dismissal be overruled. The court made its order to spread the mandate of record and rendered judgment dismissing plaintiff’s action. It is from this judgment that the plaintiff has appealed to this court.

*423 The plaintiff has assigned as error of the court: (1) The rendering of the judgment dismissing plaintiff’s action; (2) in its refusal to set the cause for trial and permit the introduction of any additional evidence upon the merits of plaintiff’s cause of action ; (3) in its refusal “to take such other and further action as may be in accord with right and justice,” and in rendering judgment against plaintiff for costs. All of these assignments were discussed together.

Upon what theory the plaintiff is basing his right to a new trial is very indefinite. The plaintiff is not asking to change the pleadings, but desires to retry the cause upon the same causes of action set forth in the petition. The plaintiff says that he has new and additional evidence which at a new trial will entitle him to a verdict and judgment against the defendant.

_ The plaintiff has not indicated upon what ■ particular issue the additional testimony will be produced, but indicates that the additional testimony will be from witnesses who testified in the other companion cases involving the same flood.

The opinion of this court merely reversed the judgment and remanded the cause. No new trial was granted and no further hearing on the merits before the trial court was suggested. The mandate directed the trial court “to take such further action as may be in accord with right and justice and this opinion.” Primarily, the plaintiff would neither be allowed a new trial nor be deprived of same under the remanding order. Each case must depend upon the individual facts shown. In St. Louis & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Hardy, 45 Okla. 423, 146 P. 38, this court held:

“Where the findings and conclusions of the Supreme Court on appeal cover the entire case made by the pleadings and evidence in the trial below, and nQthing is left open for further examination in the trial court, and the case is simply reversed without directions, it is the duty of the trial court to enter judgment in accord with the opinion; and such court is without jurisdiction to permit amendments to the petition, alleging an entirely different state of facts as the direct and proximate cause of plaintiff’s injuries, and which facts have been adversely determined by the opinion of this court.
“All questions open to dispute and either expressly or by necessary implication decided on appeal to this court will not be open for review on the second appeal, but such decision becomes the settled law of the case as to all such questions, and is not subject to re-examination.
“In the absence of exceptional facts, it is the duty of parties to put in issue the entire claim or defense available when the case is tried; and a failure to do so cannot be remedied by amendment and repeated trials after appeal to and decision by this court.”

We find the same holding in many cases by this court, including the case of Board of Ed. of Independent School Dist. No. 11, Osage County, v. Philadelphia Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 156 Okla. 7, 9 P.2d 737, wherein this court further held:

“As a general rule, all questions open to dispute and decided, either expressly or by necessary implication, on appeal to this court, will not be open for review on the second appeal, but such decisions become the settled law of the case as to any such question, and is not subject to re-examination.”

It is the practice of this court in reversing the judgment of the trial court to remand the cause for further consideration of questions and issues not properly submitted for determination by this court, as well as for errors committed by the trial court upon the trial of the cause. Often a new trial is granted by this court with instructions or suggestions for further procedure. In the case of McIntosh, Adm’r, v. Lynch, 93 Okla. 174, 220 P. 367, this court held:

“Where a cause is reversed and remanded by the Supreme Court, with directions to the trial court to take such other and further proceedings in the matter as shall accord with said Supreme Court opinion, it stands in the court below the same as if no trial had been had. Pleadings could be amended, supplementary pleadings filed, and new issues formed under proper restrictions. If the parties could amend their pleadings in such a way as to conform to the views of the Supreme Court in relation to the allegation of facts necessary to entitle them to the relief sought, they ought not to be deprived of that right merely because they and the trial court had previously been in error as to the theory of the case. The court below, in justice to the parties, should permit such amendments upon such terms as to costs as it thought just, and it is reversible error to refuse to do so. Ball v. Rankin, 23 Okla. 801, 101 P. 1105.”

To the same effect is Consolidated Steel & Wire Co. v. Burnham, 8 Okla. 514, 58 P. 654.

It clearly appears from the petition filed by the plaintiff in the instant case that the real issue in the cause upon which the suit was predicated was damages to plaintiff’s farm due to the improper construction *424 and maintenance of the embankment constructed by the defendant to maintain its city water supply. It was admitted by council for the plaintiff that the testimony of A¥. I-I.

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Bluebook (online)
1938 OK 246, 78 P.2d 315, 182 Okla. 422, 1938 Okla. LEXIS 580, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rose-v-oklahoma-city-okla-1938.