Santanello v. Cooper

475 P.2d 246, 106 Ariz. 262, 41 A.L.R. 3d 881, 1970 Ariz. LEXIS 407
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 9, 1970
Docket10071-PR
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 475 P.2d 246 (Santanello v. Cooper) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Santanello v. Cooper, 475 P.2d 246, 106 Ariz. 262, 41 A.L.R. 3d 881, 1970 Ariz. LEXIS 407 (Ark. 1970).

Opinion

HAYS, Justice.

This case is before us on a petition for review of the decision of the Court of Appeals in Santanello v. Cooper, 12 Ariz.App. 123, 468 P.2d 390 (1970). The decision of the Court of Appeals is vacated and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Plaintiff Anthony Andrew Santanello [hereinafter referred to as Santanello] sued defendants Floyd Ray Highfill and Vern Cooper [hereinafter referred to as Cooper] as joint and concurrent tortfeasors. Santanello alleged that defendant Highfill was negligent in causing his motor vehicle to collide with the rear of appellant’s vehicle. He also alleged that Cooper was negligent in allowing his dog to run at large in violation of Phoenix City Ordinance No. G-589. A jury verdict was returned against both defendants, jointly and separately, for the sum of $50,000. Cooper made a timely motion for new trial which was granted by the trial court. It is this order granting a new trial from which appellant has appealed.

A brief review of the facts of this case is necessary. Santanello was driving east on East Camelback Road near the 4800 block when a dog crossed into the path of his vehicle causing him to stop quickly to avoid hitting the dog. While he was so stopped Santanello’s vehicle was struck from behind by a vehicle driven by defendant Highfill. It was established to the satisfaction of the jury that the dog was owned by Cooper; however, no evidence was presented as to the length of time the dog had been loose or the circumstances surrounding its being away from Cooper’s residence on the day of the accident.

The issue before this Court is threefold: (1) is an appellate court’s review of an order granting a new trial limited to those grounds set forth in the order or may the appellate court consider all grounds set forth in the motion for new trial, (2) what procedure should be followed on appeal where the appellee seeks to support the order granting him a new trial upon grounds not relied upon by the trial judge but which were set forth in the motion for new trial, and (3) did the trial court, in the instant case, err in failing to instruct the jury that a violation of Phoenix City Ordinance No. G-589 is not negligence per se.

Language has appeared in several decisions of this Court stating that an ap *264 pellate court is limited in its review of an order granting a new trial to considering only those grounds specified in the order. Rogers v. Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Co., 100 Ariz. 154, 412 P.2d 272 (1966); State ex rel. Morrison v. McMinn, 88 Ariz. 261, 355 P.2d 900 (1960); City of Phoenix v. Harlan, 75 Ariz. 290, 255 P.2d 609 (1953); Young Mines Co. v. Citizens’ State Bank, 37 Ariz. 521, 296 P. 247 (1931). In Young Mines we said:

“When * * * the court specifies in its order [granting a new trial] the precise reasons it was granted, we are necessarily confined to those reasons in passing upon the order.” (Citations omitted) 37 Ariz. at page 524, 296 P. at page 249.

In support of this statement the Court cited Millar v. Madison Car Co., 130 Mo. 517, 31 S.W. 574 (1895). A reading of the following statement from Millar clarifies the above statement pertaining to the scope of appellate review of an order granting a new trial:

“And it was held in [Iron Mountain] Bank v. Armstrong, 92 Mo. 265, 4 S.W. 720, that if the motion was properly sustained upon any of the grounds assigned in the motion, the judgment of the lower court would be affirmed. * * * In the more recent case of E. O. Stanard Milling Co. v. White Line Cent. Transit Co., 122 Mo. 258, 26 S.W. 704, it was said: ‘Nothing can be considered by this court save and except the grounds set forth in the order of the court sustaining the motion as it appears of record and the grounds of the motion itself.’ These cases proceed largely upon the salutary presumption indulged in favor of the correctness of the rulings of the circuit court, and learned counsel for respondent ürge that the action of the trial court in granting a new trial will be presumed correct, and that unless appellant shows to the contrary the judgment must be affirmed. * * * Indulging the presumption * * * it is evident that we must hold that prima facie there is no ground for disturbing the verdict of the jury except those specified in the order granting the new trial, and if this conclusion is correct the burden is cast upon the appellant in the first instance of affirmatively showing the error of the court in holding it had committed error in certain particulars, and upon respondent to demonstrate that the court should have granted a new trial upon the grounds in his motion, and the judgment was right notwithstanding an erroneous reason may have been assigned for it. It seems to us that this is entirely logical and just. * * * ” (Emphasis supplied) 31 S.W. at pp. 575-576.

We agree with this statement from Millar and believe it was the intent of this Court in Young Mines to adopt this position. Reading Young Mines, and subsequent cases relying upon Young Mines, with Millar in mind the following rule emerges: Where there is an appeal from an order granting a new trial the burden is upon the appellant to affirmatively establish that the reasons stated in the order for new trial do not justify a new trial, and if the appellee seeks to support the order for new trial upon other grounds raised in his motion but not relied upon by the court the burden is upon him to convince the appellate court. This rule is in accord with the reasoning of the Court in Yoo Thun Lim v. Crespin, 100 Ariz. 80, 411 P.2d 809, 811 (1966) where we held that where the trial court does not specif}' with particularity the grounds for its decision to grant a new trial “ * * * we will presume that the verdict of the jury was correct, placing the burden upon the appellee to convince us that the trial court did not err in ordering a new trial. * * * ”

Next we must consider the closely related question of the procedure to be followed where the appellee seeks to support the order for new trial upon grounds set forth in the motion for new trial but not *265 relied upon by the trial court in ordering a new trial. There are conflicting decisions of the Court of Appeals of this State on this issue. In Boudreaux v. Edwards, 7 Ariz.App. 178, 437 P.2d 430 (1968) it was held that the appellee must take a cross-appeal if he seeks to sustain the order granting a new trial on grounds other than those set forth in the order granting a new trial. Aegerter v. Duncan, 7 Ariz.App. 239, 437 P.2d 991 (1968), on the other hand, held that a cross-appeal would be improper and that the proper method was for the appellee to make a cross-assignment of error. Accord: Wagner v.

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Bluebook (online)
475 P.2d 246, 106 Ariz. 262, 41 A.L.R. 3d 881, 1970 Ariz. LEXIS 407, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/santanello-v-cooper-ariz-1970.