Stewart v. Judge of the 15th Judicial District

1975 OK 156, 542 P.2d 945, 1975 Okla. LEXIS 595
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 6, 1975
DocketNo. 48673
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 1975 OK 156 (Stewart v. Judge of the 15th Judicial District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stewart v. Judge of the 15th Judicial District, 1975 OK 156, 542 P.2d 945, 1975 Okla. LEXIS 595 (Okla. 1975).

Opinions

DOOLIN, Justice.

We have carefully considered and weighed all factual allegations set forth by the parties in the pleadings, affidavits, portions of the record and briefs and have determined that upon the death of the parents of George R. Cosper, minor, in an explosion, his grandmother (a petitioner) was appointed guardian of his person. Thereafter, her removal was sought by an aunt from the other side of the family. During the period while the grandmother served as guardian and continuing until the present, and obviously at grandmother Mildred’s request and insistence, attorneys Greer, Peterson, Gilder, Greer and Anderson, who are also petitioners in this cause, filed probate proceedings for the deceased parents of the minor and also filed four personal injury actions on his behalf. The personal injury actions are apparently ready for trial.

At the removal hearing sought by the aunt, the court appointed the First National Bank of Muskogee, guardian of the estate of the minor along with S.- and B.- S.- and B.-, together with an officer of the bank, were to act in the selection of attorneys to represent the minor in the personal injury actions. We note at this point that the combined prayers of the personal injury actions were in excess of 2 million dollars. The respondent judge conditioned the appointment of the three guardians last mentioned, in that their duties were to be originally limited to the selection of attorneys to represent the minor in the personal injury actions. At the time of the appointment of the selection committee, the respondent judge stated he might remove one or all three when they had made a selection. The result of the action of the selection committee was that they hired attorney P. rather than the petitioner attorneys heretofore described.

We further note the respondent judge has not removed S.- and B.- who now stand with the First National Bank of Muskogee, Oklahoma, as guardians of the estate of the minor. Thus we have guardians of the person (grandmother Mildred) and three guardians of the estate of the minor.

More than one guardian is authorized under 58 O.S.1971 § 772.

Petitioners seek prohibition on the grounds of unauthorized use of judicial force; they also seek to allow the guardian bank to name or make the selection of attorneys, thus indirectly asking that the order of the respondent judge be vacated as to the selection procedure heretofore outlined.

Although it can be argued that the application and petition for prohibition [947]*947should be denied on the simple grounds that an adequate remedy at law, appeal, exists, we decline this action for our holding in City of Bethany v. the District Court of Oklahoma County, 200 Okl. 49, 191 P.2d 187 (1948), authorizes the use of a Writ of Prohibition when an appeal does not provide “plain speedy and adequate” relief under the circumstances. See also State ex rel. Oklahoma Natural Gas v. Hughes, 204 Okl. 134, 227 P.2d 666 (1942); State ex rel. Britton v. District Judge of Pushmataha County, 181 Okl. 286, 73 P.2d 457 (1937), and Frensley v. Frensley, 173 Okl. 321, 49 P.2d 731. We conclude that when a plain speedy and adequate remedy is not provided by appeal, prohibition will lie. This rule is sometimes stated: “the availability of another remedy does not prevent granting of prohibition if other remedy is not equally adequate," Sparks v. Steele, 501 P.2d 1106 (Okl.1972).

As previously mentioned, examination of the application and petition for the writ indicates that petitioner seeks not only prohibition against respondent judge but also a writ in the nature of mandamus requiring the vacation of his order appointing guardians. Even though the prayer does not specifically invoke mandamus we believe and will treat said application as seeking both prohibition and mandamus. We find no Oklahoma case in point which has specifically allowed the treating of a formal application for prohibition as mandamus in special matters. We have held in numerous cases however that “Equity looks to substance not form.” Calling on cases from California the rule appears to be well established:

“Although a person may request an improper writ, if the cause is tried without objection to the remedy sought * * * the petitioner is entitled to the relief sought although under a different form of writ, the court has the power and should grant the proper relief.”

See Elevator Operators and Starters’ Union v. Newman, Cal.App., 180 P.2d 42, 46; Fritz v. Superior Court in and for San Francisco, 18 Cal.App.2d 232, 63 P.2d 872; Simmons v. Superior Court in and for Los Angeles County, 96 Cal.App.2d 171, 214 P.2d 844, and Owens v. Superior Court in and for Los Angeles, Cal.App., 338 P.2d 465. To the same effect and from other jurisdictions see State ex rel. Duke v. O’Brien, 145 W.Va. 600, 117 S.E.2d 353 and Henry v. Stuart, 251 Ark. 361, 473 S.W.2d 164.

Having decided that the form of the application and petition filed and the prayer sought is not singularly controlling, we are next presented with the more formidable question as to whether a writ will issue to vacate the action and orders of the trial court under the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case. We dealt with our powers to vacate orders of administrative bodies in Board of Education of Dependent School District #32 v. Oklahoma State Board of Education, 521 P.2d 390 (Okl. 1974), wherein the acts of the State Board of Education were vacated and set aside by mandamus. See State ex rel. Freeling v. Right, 49 Okl. 202, 152 P. 362 (1915) where an attempted order of the County Court abrogating Supreme Court rules was vacated; Bare v. Patterson, 200 Okl. 420, 195 P.2d 281 (1948) for another vacation of an administrative order. Although no cases on the question of vacation of appealable orders and judgments of courts of record or more particularly, orders of a probate court (which proceedings are in the nature of special proceedings) are found in Oklahoma, we see no reason to decline such an action. In St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Co. v. Superior Court of Creek County, 290 P.2d 118 (Okl.1955), we vacated the order of the district court in overruling motions to dismiss, stating that where there had been an arbitrary abuse of discretion by the trial court mandamus will lie. See also State of Indiana on the relation of Anderson-Madi[948]*948son County Hospital Development Corporation et al. v. Superior Court of Madison County et al., 245 Ind. 371, 199 N.E.2d 88 where the Supreme Court of Indiana wisely observed: “this Court is given specifically the duty and power to issue original writs of mandamus and prohibition for the purpose of confining lower courts to the respective lawful jurisdictions.” The editorial headnote from that case states:

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Bluebook (online)
1975 OK 156, 542 P.2d 945, 1975 Okla. LEXIS 595, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stewart-v-judge-of-the-15th-judicial-district-okla-1975.