Russell v. Johnson

111 N.W.2d 193, 14 Wis. 2d 406, 1961 Wisc. LEXIS 284
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 3, 1961
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 111 N.W.2d 193 (Russell v. Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Russell v. Johnson, 111 N.W.2d 193, 14 Wis. 2d 406, 1961 Wisc. LEXIS 284 (Wis. 1961).

Opinions

Fairchild, J.

1. Appealability of order dismissing complaint. Respondents previously moved to dismiss this appeal on the ground that the order dismissing the complaint without prejudice, but with conditions for recommencement, is not an appealable order. We denied the motion.

Sec. 274.33, Stats., provides:

“The following orders when made by the court may be appealed to the supreme court:
“(1) An order affecting a substantial right, made in any action, when such order in effect determines the action and prevents a judgment from which an appeal might be taken.”

All three of these conditions must exist for an order to be appealable under this section.1

This order affects a substantial right. It prevents plaintiff from pursuing his cause of action unless he pays more than $900 to the clerk of circuit court.

An order dismissing an action determines the action within the meaning of sec. 274.33 (1), Stats.2 In Willing v. Porter 3 the trial court denied plaintiff’s request for a default judgment. The order was held not appealable because the order contemplated further proceedings in the same action and therefore did not determine the action. In the case now at bar, on the other hand, the order fully determined the action, although it left open' the adjudication of the [411]*411alleged cause of action. Having terminated the action without judgment, it is clear that the order prevents a judgment from which an appeal might be taken.4 It is appealable.

2. Review of other orders. Plaintiff has appealed from and asks this court to review the orders of the trial court denying his motion for change of venue and his challenge to the array.

An order which denies a motion for change of venue is not an appealable order.5 An order which denies a challenge to the array is not appealable. Such order does not determine the action and does not prevent a judgment from which an appeal might be taken. Sec. 274.33 (1), Stats.

Plaintiff contends, however, that these orders are reviewable under sec. 274.34, Stats., which provides:

“Upon an appeal from a judgment, and upon a writ of error, the supreme court may review any intermediate order which involves the merits and necessarily affects the judgment, appearing upon the record.”

This statute allows review of intermediate orders only .upon an appeal from a judgment. On an appeal from an order, the supreme court lacks the power to review a prior order.6 The dismissal without prejudice, which is the subject of the present appeal, does not constitute a judgment. A [412]*412judgment is the final determination of the rights of the parties in the action.7

Plaintiff contends that the action of the trial court did constitute a final determination of certain “rights” of the plaintiff, i.e., to a jury impaneled in accordance with law, in a county where such a jury can be obtained free from prejudice, and to recommence the action without being obliged to comply with the conditions set by the court. These “rights,” though important and substantial, did not go to the merits of the alleged cause of action nor of any affirmative defense.8 Therefore the order of the trial court was not a judgment, and we lack the power to review the intermediate orders.

It follows that we express no opinion on the merits of plaintiff’s challenge to the array or his request for change in place of trial. Whether or not the circuit court was correct in denying plaintiffs challenge, we point out that jury commissioners can avoid the question raised by plaintiff if they are careful to determine from census figures the number of persons to be placed on the list from each town, village, and city ward as required (as nearly as practicable) by sec. 255.04 (2) (a), Stats.

3. Conditions for the recommencement of the action. Plaintiff contends that the court erred in imposing upon plaintiff the obligation to reimburse the defendants, the state of Wisconsin, and Oneida county for the expenses incurred [413]*413in preparing for trial October 3d, as a condition for the recommencement of the action.

A plaintiff does not have an absolute right to discontinue his action. Leave to discontinue may be denied in the discretion of the court if the rights of defendants, third parties, or the public will be substantially prejudiced by discontinuance.9 The trial court has the authority to compel a plaintiff to proceed with trial or take a dismissal upon the merits.10 Under the circumstances of this case, it would not have been an abuse of discretion for the trial court to have dismissed the action upon the merits.

Plaintiff was not personally in court nor prepared to try his case, although the trial date had been set two months in advance. At the conference of court and counsel in July, counsel for plaintiff had indicated the possibility that he would move for a change of venue and the court had directed him to make any such motion before the trial date. He had made no motion in the interim, nor given any notice of his intention to make the motions he made on October 3d. In the event of denial of the motions, the orders would not be appealable. If there were to be no trial on October 3d, the people on the jury panel might have been excused from coming to the courthouse and defendants need not have completed the preparation of their defense.

Had the court entered judgment dismissing the action on the merits, statutory costs would have been allowed as a matter of course.11 Even if the court had considered that plaintiff had shown cause for a continuance, plaintiff would have been required to make immediate payment of the fees of witnesses in actual attendance and reasonable attorney’s [414]*414fees.12 The statutes also authorize the court to impose conditions on a stay pending appeal from an order.13 In a divorce case, this court has held that a plaintiff is not entitled to an unconditional discontinuance but the court may, in its discretion, require him, as a condition of discontinuance, to pay the reasonable expenses incurred by the wife in defense of the action.14 None of the situations just mentioned is an exact counterpart of the situation at bar, but the statutes and decisions support by analogy the thought that terms may be imposed here.

The circuit court evidently concluded that plaintiffs failure to prepare for trial in reliance upon the expectation that his motions would be granted, or that if denied he could obtain a stay pending appeal was unreasonable. Plaintiff had made no effort to avoid expense on the part of the defendants and the public which would be fruitless if the case were not tried on October 3d. The court concluded that justice required plaintiff to make good for the unnecessary expense before being permitted to commence a new action. We agree that the theory is sound.

We conclude, however, that the amounts allowed were unwarranted in certain respects.

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Russell v. Johnson
111 N.W.2d 193 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1961)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
111 N.W.2d 193, 14 Wis. 2d 406, 1961 Wisc. LEXIS 284, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/russell-v-johnson-wis-1961.