State ex rel. Premier Panels, Inc. v. Swink

400 S.W.2d 639, 1966 Mo. App. LEXIS 712
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 15, 1966
DocketNo. 31885
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 400 S.W.2d 639 (State ex rel. Premier Panels, Inc. v. Swink) 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. Premier Panels, Inc. v. Swink, 400 S.W.2d 639, 1966 Mo. App. LEXIS 712 (Mo. Ct. App. 1966).

Opinion

WOLFE, Presiding Judge.

This is an original proceeding in prohibition. The relator is the defendant in an action before the respondent judge. That action was brought by Keasbey and Matti-son Co., a corporation, on an account amounting to $13,929.04 for merchandise alleged to have been sold and delivered to the defendant. The defendant filed a counterclaim alleging that the plaintiff delivered merchandise unfit for the purpose for which it was to be used. It alleged that this was a breach of a warranty that the merchandise could be used for the purpose for which it was purchased. The defendant asked for damages amounting to $50,-000.

This proceeding is brought to prohibit the respondent judge from compelling the defendant to answer certain interrogatories that were filed and directed to the defendant, relator. The petition for prohibition filed here seeks the writ upon two grounds. One ground is that the defendant is entitled to a judgment -on his counterclaim because the plaintiff failed to file an answer to it in the time prescribed by Missouri Rules of Civil Procedure and that therefore there was nothing about which it should be interrogated. The other reason asserted for the prohibition sought is that the interrogatories propounded go beyond the scope of discovery covered by Civil Rules 56.01 and 57.01, V.A.M.R.

The first point as to the state of the pleadings is predicated upon facts which are as follow: On May 3, 1963, the defendant filed its answer and counterclaim; on May 27, 1963, plaintiff filed a motion to dismiss the counterclaim; on June 5, 1963, the defendant filed an amended counterclaim— this was also attacked by a motion to dismiss; and on October 7, 1963, that motion was overruled and the plaintiff was granted thirty days in which to plead. On November 12, 1963, the plaintiff filed a motion for more definite statements of the facts alleged in defendant’s amended counterclaim.

[642]*642On January 23, 1964, the plaintiff filed the interrogatories here under consideration. Two days thereafter the defendant filed a motion for a judgment on the pleadings as to the counterclaim and a motion to strike the interrogatories or for a protective order. On January 28 the respondent judge made an order “nunc pro tunc” granting the plaintiff as of November 1, 1963, ten days additional time in which to plead. On February 13, 1964, the defendant’s motion for a judgment on the pleadings was overruled, and its motion to strike the interrogatories or for a protective order was overruled and the defendant was granted thirty days to file answers to the interrogatories. Shortly after this point of the proceedings the writ of prohibition was sought here and a preliminary rule issued by this court.

As the matter stands now, there is before the trial court a motion to make more definite and certain the counterclaim filed and interrogatories to be answered. It is contended that the defendant is entitled to a judgment on its counterclaim in that the plaintiff has filed no answer to it and that the defendant consequently should not be compelled to answer the interrogatories. It predicates its right to such a judgment on Civil Rule 55.37, V.A.M.R. This rule is entitled “Joinder of Motions — Waiver of Objections.” That is the subject with which it deals and we find it unrelated to the facts before us.

It is asserted that the court’s order nunc pro tunc granting the additional time to plead was a nullity, and indeed it was. There must be some record, either in the minutes of the judge, clerk’s entries, or in some paper in the cause, which supports the correction. Wegman v. Fendelman, Mo.App., 333 S.W.2d 290. There was no such support for the entry made in the case before us.

However, no objection was made to the filing of the motion to make the counterclaim more definite until over two months after it was filed. Then, when the defendant was confronted with interrogatories, it sought to avoid trial of the issues by its motion for judgment on the pleadings. There is no doubt that the plaintiff had a right to file a motion to make the counterclaim more definite, Civil Rule 55.34, V.A. M.R. If the defendant objected to it being filed out of time it should have moved to strike the motion. Since it did not do so it waived any objection thereto. The code contemplates a trial on the merits so that substantial justice may be accorded litigants. Parks v. Thompson, 363 Mo. 791, 253 S.W.2d 796. A motion for judgment on the pleadings is only available after pleadings are closed. Civil Rule 55.39, V.A. M.R. The court properly overruled the motion for judgment. If the motion to make the counterclaim more definite is overruled, the plaintiff will have a right to file an answer to the counterclaim within ten days thereafter, or if the motion is sustained it will have ten days to answer after the counterclaim is amended in compliance with the court’s ruling. Civil Rule 55.27 (c), V.A.M.R.; Richman v. Richman, Mo., 350 S.W.2d 733.

As we have stated, the petition filed in the circuit court was on an account and it sought to recover from the defendant the value of certain types of asbestos boards sold to the defendant in the year 1961. Defendant generally denied the allegations that the goods were sold and that the prices were reasonable and proper and that they agreed to pay. This was followed with the counterclaim.

The counterclaim alleges that the defendant is engaged in the business of processing and laminating asbestos boards and other types of boards for resale. It states that in August, 1958, it bought from the plaintiff and the plaintiff delivered to it “several carloads” of unfinished asbestos boards knowing that the boards were to be processed and laminated by it and were then to be sold by the defendant to construction contractors. The defendant alleges that the plaintiff expressly warranted that the [643]*643asbestos boards had been cured a minimum of three weeks prior to shipment and “ * * * impliedly warranted that said asbestos boards were fit for the purpose and use intended, upon which said warranties defendant relied in making the aforesaid purchase from plaintiff.”

The counterclaim goes on to allege that the boards had not been aged or cured for the minmum of three weeks prior to the shipment and that they were not fit for the use for which they were intended. It is alleged that this was a latent condition not discoverable until several months after the boards had been laminated and resold. It is alleged that the boards then began to swell, crack and blister. It is alleged that the defendant was obliged to replace the defective material at its own expense and by reason of that it suffered damages in the sum of $50,000.

Civil Rule 56.01, V.A.M.R. provides for the serving of written interrogatories by any party upon any other party to an action. It fixes the scope of the inquiry that may be made, by Civil Rule 57.01(b), V.A.M.R. which relates to matters that may be inquired into by depositions. It is as follows:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
400 S.W.2d 639, 1966 Mo. App. LEXIS 712, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-premier-panels-inc-v-swink-moctapp-1966.