State ex rel. Raydel v. Raible

112 N.E.2d 568, 64 Ohio Law. Abs. 438, 1953 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 416
CourtCuyahoga County Common Pleas Court
DecidedFebruary 3, 1953
DocketNo. 631251
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 112 N.E.2d 568 (State ex rel. Raydel v. Raible) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Raydel v. Raible, 112 N.E.2d 568, 64 Ohio Law. Abs. 438, 1953 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 416 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1953).

Opinion

OPINION

By NICOLA, J:

The action against the defendant was brought under favor of §8006-1 et seq GC. The complainant, Alice E. Raydel, an unmarried woman, alleged in her complaint that the defendant was the father of a child born to her on December 28th, 1949. The jury found the defendant guilty of being the putative father of said minor child, and this Court entered judgment on said verdict. The further duties of the Court are set forth in §8006-17 GC as follows:

“* * * if the child is alive the Court shall adjudge that he (the defendant) pay to the complainant such sum as the Court may find to be necessary for her support, maintenance, and necessary expenses caused by pregnancy and childbirth, together with costs of prosecution, and that a reasonable weekly sum be paid the complainant for support and maintenance of the child up to 18 years of age.”

[440]*440Pursuant to this statutory command, after the verdict was returned and judgment entered thereon, the Court sought at once to adjudicate the two matters called for, but the hearing for good cause was continued to January 26, 1953, at which time the testimony of the parties was taken. In the light of said testimony the Court now proceeds to solve as best he can the two matters involved.

I. What shall complainant be allowed for her support, maintenance and necessary expenses caused by pregnancy and childbirth?

At the hearing the complainant herself could actually itemize her outlay for the above purposes at about $846. No mention was made by complainant in her itemization of expenses incurred in being taken by automobile to the doctors during pregnancy, to the hospital before, and from the hospital after the child was born. Also she must have expended something' for help and assistance immediately before the birth of her son. However, these facts were developed in the trial of the bastardy action and will be taken into consideration in arriving at the amount to be fixed. We, therefore deem it just that she be allowed for her support, maintenance and expenses the sum of $1,000. Judgment will be entered in that sum.

II. Coming to a consideration of the second phase of the statutory provision — the adjudication of a reasonable weekly sum to the complainant for the “support and maintenance” of the child up to the age of 18 years — we are confronted with two legal questions, as follows:

(a) When does the support and maintenance of the child commence, and (b) does the statute permit the allowance of attorney fees for complainant’s counsel?

We will consider the above questions in the order propounded.

(a) The defendant asserts that under the ruling of Griffin v. Zimmerman, 67 Oh Ap 273, no award may be made for support of an illegitimate child until the accused is found guilty of being the putative father. The case cited so holds and proceeds- on the theory that this provision of the Code is in derrogation of Common Law and must be strictly construed. Then, construing the Code strictly the Court decides that support of the child starts from the date of the adjudication of paternity.

The last decision of lower courts on the subject is by the Common Pleas Court of Hamilton County in Davis v. Brown, 60 Abs 183, decided April 1, 1951. This trial court follows the Zimmerman case first above cited.

[441]*441On the other hand the complainant points to the former cases of Willis v. Wilson, 83 Oh Ap 311, and Gill v. Volz, 85 Oh Ap 207, which hold the contrary — that the putative father after conviction must pay for the support of the child from its birth.

Judge Hornbeck in the Gill v. Volz case says:

“The whole trend of the legislation is to lend assistance of the law to the enforcement against the father as his obligation to support and maintain his child, and it is not probable, and to us it seems a strained construction of the statute to hold, that it was intended this obligation shall not begin from the date of the birth of the child.”

That the opinion of the eminent jurist is sound is, in our judgment supported by the latter part of the same statute which is quoted above.

“In the event said child is not born alive, or is not living at the time of said plea or finding of guilty, the court shall order the accused to pay * * * including therein a reasonable amount for maintenance of said child until its death, * * *.” The legislative intent must be gathered from the entire statute. Surely our solons did not mean that if the child died a week before the finding, the complainant would be paid for the child’s support during its lifetime, but if he lived, the complainant could not recover for his support during the same period of time. The rule of reason runs through all statutes as Judge Taft of the Supreme Court of the United States once remarked, and here it compels us to conclude that payment for the child’s support starts from the time of its birth.

There being a difference in the views of the Courts of Appeals, the Gill v. Volz case supra, was certified to the Supreme Court of Ohio for its decision. The errors involved in the case before the Supreme Court were, first, whether the verdict of the jury could be returned by nine members thereof, or whether it should be a unanimous one: second, — whether the court erred in entering judgment for the complaining mother in a given sum without hearing any evidence, and third, whether the court erred in ordering payment of support for the child from the date of his birth.

The syllabus of the Supreme Court, found in Gill v. Volz, 156 Oh St, 60, decided in July, 1951, refers only to the first ground of error, and settles the law in Ohio that such a case is civil in its nature and therefore, a verdict signed by nine of the jurors is sufficient.

The syllabus does not refer to the other two grounds but Judge Hart in the concluding paragraph of his oninion says.—

“On examination we do not find any reversible error as [442]*442to the other assignments by the accused, therefore the judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed.”

It is clear to us that the Supreme Court considered all the assignments of error and from the language of Judge Hart the judgment of the Court of Appeals stands as the judgment of the Supreme Court. Consequently all doubts are removed from the conclusion that the time for which the support of the child starts is from the day of its birth.

(2) May attorney fees be included in the award to the complainant?

Counsel for the complainant have expended a great deal of time in the preparation and trial of this case, as well as in solving the preliminary questions that arose. Their diligent persistent efforts were crowned by the successful conclusion of the case before the jury. There is no question that counsel should be paid handsomely for their efforts, but may we order the defendant in this case to pay them under the laws of Ohio? “Support and maintenance” have never been interpreted to include attorney fees nor interpreted to exclude them. This is a new question in Ohio under this part of the statute.

Counsel for the complainant argue that in this enlightened age it is unjust to so narrowly construe our statute on the subject as to exclude compensation for those who have brought about justice to a little child.

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Bluebook (online)
112 N.E.2d 568, 64 Ohio Law. Abs. 438, 1953 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-raydel-v-raible-ohctcomplcuyaho-1953.