State ex rel. Lane v. Robinson, Maness & Stark

108 S.W. 619, 129 Mo. App. 147, 1908 Mo. App. LEXIS 100
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 18, 1908
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 108 S.W. 619 (State ex rel. Lane v. Robinson, Maness & Stark) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Lane v. Robinson, Maness & Stark, 108 S.W. 619, 129 Mo. App. 147, 1908 Mo. App. LEXIS 100 (Mo. Ct. App. 1908).

Opinion

NORTONI, J.

1. The first question presented relates to the bill of exceptions. The court allowed an appeal in the cause and granted appellants leave to file the bill in vacation. In the interim and before the time granted by the court therefor had expired, one of appellants’ counsel presented to the judge in chambers what purported to be a bill of exceptions. It was indorsed “OK” by counsel representing the adverse party which, of course, taken together with the fact that appellants’ counsel had presented it, indicated the same to have been agreed upon by the parties. In view of this, the judge signed the bill and ordered it filed in the case without examining its contents. The bill was not filed, however, and on the following day appellants’ counsel, other than the one who had presented the bill to the judge for his signature, looked into the same and discovered that both the motion for new trial and motion in arrest of judgment, together with the exceptions to the action of the court in overruling the same, were omitted from the bill. Of course such omission would be fatal to a review of the case on its merits in this court. When counsel made this discovery, the bill not having yet been actually filed, he proceeded to and did incorporate the motions and exceptions mentioned in an addenda to the same immediately following the certificate and signature of the judge to the incompleted bill. Before the time for filing had expired, he obtained a further extension therefor from the judge, which was duly entered of record, and within the time granted by such extension, presented a completed bill to the judge for approval and signature. The [150]*150judge examined and approved the same with the addenda thereto, containing the motions for new trial and in arrest, together with the exceptions to the action of the court in overruling the same. At the conclusion of the entire bill, that is, at the conclusion of the addenda Avhich was annexed to the original document and immediately following the judge’s first signature thereto, the judge made and signed the following certificate: •

“That part of the foregoing bill of exceptions, beginning with page one and extending to page 35, both inclusive, was presented to the undersigned judge of said Newton County Circuit Court to be signed on August 6, 1906. As said bill of exceptions as then presented had endorsed thereon the words, “O. K., Horace Ruark,” and was presented by James H. Pratt, one of defendants’ attorneys herein, it was presumed by the undersigned judge that the same was correct and had been examined and approved by all the attorneys in the case, and the same was then signed by said judg’e without examination or question and was handed back to Mr. Pratt. On the next day, Aug. 7th, 1906, said judge’s attention was called to the fact that material matters particularly relating to the motion for new trial and in arrest as set out on pages 36 to 39 had been omitted, and said bill had not been seen by or any opportunity given to defendants’ attorney, John T. Sturgis, associated with Mr. Pratt in the trial of said cause, to examine said bill, and thereupon an order was made extending the time to file the bill of exceptions herein whiqh time has since been extended by a further like order.
“And now no bill of exceptions having yet been filed herein, and within the time given and extended by the court for that purpose and said bill of exceptions having been made correct by said judge by the insertion of the matters contained on said pages 36 to 39, this complete and correct bill of exceptions is now signed by the [151]*151undersigned judge of said Newton County Circuit Court and ordered filed and made a part of the record herein on this 2nd day of October, 1906.
“Witness my hand as judge of said court the day and date last above given. F. C. Johnston,
“Judge Newton County Circuit Court.”
On the back of the bill of exceptions was indorsed the following: “Filed Oct. 2, 1906; J. H. Centers, Clerk Circuit Court.”

It further appears from the record in the case that this completed bill of exceptions, all in one 'document, and over the signature and certificate of the judge last above quoted, was actually filed in the cause. Counsel for respondent insists that the bill of exceptions, as approved by the judge upon the second presentation to him, is not the bill of exceptions in the case for the reason, it is said, the judge had exhausted his authority over the matter when he signed and ordered filed the document first presented, which did not contain the motions for new trial and in arrest of judgment. It is argued that the first document presented is the true bill of exceptions and as that bill contained neither a motion for new trial nor a motion in arrest of judgment, then such motions are not before this court and therefore Ave are precluded from revieAving the case on its merits. The argument proceeds upon the theory that the judge in Am cation had exhausted his authority over the bill by affixing his signature and ordering filed the first or incompleted bill. The case of Atchison v. Railroad, 94 Mo. App. 572, 72 S. W. 489, is relied upon to support the proposition advanced. In that case, it is true the court said: “We think, when the judge approved and signed the paper presented to him on April 23rd as the bill, or part of the bill of exceptions, and ordered the same to be made a part of the record, he exhausted his jurisdiction Avith respect to signing the bill of exceptions and could not thereafter sign a re[152]*152mainder, supplemental or additional bill of exceptions.” Now what was said in that case was entirely appropriate to the facts in judgment, but not so in this case.- The case presented there was one where the appellant, in open court, had presented a portion of its bill of exceptions, which was duly signed and ordered filed by the court and not by the judge in vacation. That is to say, the court was then in session and the court signed and ordered the bill filed in open court. It follows, of course, that the bill, as signed and ordered filed by the court, was actually filed and thereby became en-grafted upon the record of the court. The bill became a record in the cause. The court granted time, however, to appellants to prepare the remainder of its bill of exceptions, Avhich was done within the time granted and this remainder Avas signed and ordered filed by the judge in vacation. Now Avhile the opinion lays no particular stress upon the fact that the first document presented, that presented in open court, was actually filed in the case, such appears to be a fact, as is disclosed by the discussion of the subject, for the court, in treating the question, says: “The designation of the second filing of a partial bill of exceptions as the remainder of the bill, is a mere subterfuge designed to hide the fact that there were filed in the court two incomplete bills of exception” So we see the case in judgment there was where the court had signed and ordered filed a bill of exceptions in the first instance, Avhich bill had been actually filed, and thereby became parcel of the record of the cause, and these facts, Avhen considered together, no doubt did exhaust the jurisdiction of the judge over the bill of exceptions in that case, except in the case of an amendment nunc pro tunc from some proper minutes on the records of the court, which perchance had been overlooked.

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State ex rel. Wirt v. County Court
137 Mo. App. 698 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1909)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
108 S.W. 619, 129 Mo. App. 147, 1908 Mo. App. LEXIS 100, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-lane-v-robinson-maness-stark-moctapp-1908.