Taylor v. Morris

609 So. 2d 405, 1992 WL 382324
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 26, 1992
Docket89-CA-1029
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 609 So. 2d 405 (Taylor v. Morris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. Morris, 609 So. 2d 405, 1992 WL 382324 (Mich. 1992).

Opinion

609 So.2d 405 (1992)

James TAYLOR, Jr.
v.
James L. MORRIS.

No. 89-CA-1029.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

August 26, 1992.

*406 Frank A. Wood, Jr., Watkins & Eager, E. Michael Marks, Jackson, for appellant.

Anselm J. McLaurin, McLaurin & McLaurin, Brandon, for appellee.

Before HAWKINS, P.J., and PRATHER and McRAE, JJ.

McRAE, Justice, for the Court:

James L. Morris brought suit against James Taylor in the Chancery Court of Rankin County seeking specific performance of a land sales contract. The court entered a default judgment against Taylor, but Taylor steadfastly refused to convey the land. At a subsequent hearing, which Taylor did not attend, the court found Taylor in contempt. At the same hearing, apparently upon an ore tenus motion by Morris, the court found that Taylor owned only a one-half (1/2) interest in the subject property and amended the default judgment so as to abate the contractual purchase price pro rata. Taylor appeals the amended judgment, assigning the following as error:

The trial court erred in substantively amending its Default Judgment by abating the contract price of the property without providing Taylor with notice or opportunity to be heard.

We hold that, although Taylor did not receive adequate notice of the hearing and motion, the error is harmless since there is no conceivable set of facts under which Taylor could have prevailed.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On October 3, 1988, Taylor and Morris entered into a written contract wherein Taylor agreed to convey a 5.63-acre tract of land in Pearl, Mississippi, to Morris for $39,410. Morris timely tendered the purchase price, but Taylor refused to accept the tender or to make the conveyance.

Morris filed a Complaint for Specific Performance on March 31, 1989, and served it upon Taylor on April 10, 1989. Taylor failed to appear, and on June 27, 1989, the chancery court entered a default judgment ordering Taylor to convey the 5.63-acre tract to Morris within ten days upon tender of $37,410.

Taylor declined to abide by the judgment, so on July 12, 1989, Morris filed a Motion to Find Defendant in Contempt of Court. On the same day, Morris filed a Notice of Hearing on the Motion for Contempt, setting July 21, 1989, as a hearing date. The Notice of Hearing was not served on Taylor until July 17, 1989.

On July 21, 1989, the Chancellor entered an order finding that Taylor had not had the necessary five days notice and rescheduled the hearing for July 27, 1989. Morris mailed Taylor a notice of the July 27 hearing on July 21, 1989.

Taylor did not appear at the July 27 hearing. The chancellor entered an order, filed on July 27, 1989, finding Taylor in contempt of court and directing that he be placed in jail. The order also amended the default judgment to find that Taylor owned only a one-half undivided interest in the subject property. The amount of tender required of Morris was halved from $37,410 to $18,705 to reflect smaller interest to be acquired. Taylor was taken into custody.

An Agreed Order filed on July 31, 1989, temporarily released Taylor from jail. The Order provided that Taylor should report back for continued confinement if he had not executed a deed by August 7, 1989. The Order also granted the court the authority to enter a judgment "which shall act as a conveyance" if Taylor had not executed a deed by August 7. Taylor executed no deed.

On August 7, 1989, Taylor served on Morris a Motion to Set Aside Judgment and Order of Contempt. The motion was filed the following day. Morris filed a Motion to Enter Judgment Divesting Defendant of Title on August 9, 1989. In an Order filed on August 23, 1989, the chancellor denied Taylor's Motion to Set Aside Judgment and Order of Contempt and granted Morris's Motion to Enter Judgment Divesting Defendant of Title.

*407 On August 29, 1989, Morris forwarded Taylor a check for $18,705. Taylor cashed the check, and final payment was made on August 30 or 31, 1989.

Taylor filed a notice of appeal on September 8, 1989. On January 19, 1990, Morris filed a motion in this court to dismiss the appeal.

LAW

Before discussing the merits of Taylor's appeal, we shall address Morris' attacks upon the validity of the appeal itself. Morris first argues that Taylor did not file his notice of appeal within the thirty-day time limit established by Miss.Sup.Ct.Rule 4(a). The order that amended the Default Judgment was filed on July 27, 1989; Taylor filed his Notice of Appeal more than thirty days later on September 8, 1989. The record reflects that Taylor served his Motion to Set Aside Judgment on August 7, 1989. Although Taylor's Motion to Set Aside is nominally a Rule 60 motion, it requests relief in character with a Rule 59(e) motion and was filed within ten days of the judgment from which Taylor appeals.[1] It must therefore be treated as a Rule 59 motion. See Bruce v. Bruce, 587 So.2d 898, 904 (Miss. 1991); Harcon Barge Co., Inc. v. D & G Boat Rentals, Inc., 784 F.2d 665, 669 (5th Cir.1986). A timely Rule 59 motion stops the running of the thirty-day time limit for appeal. Miss.Sup.Ct. Rule 4(d). Taylor's motion was timely filed (see note 1, supra, and accompanying text). Therefore, the thirty day time limit for appeal began to run anew on August 23, 1989, when the chancellor entered an order denying Taylor's motion. See Miss.Sup.Ct. Rule 4(d) (where party files timely motion under Rule 59, "the time for appeal for all parties shall run from the entry of the order denying [the motion]"). Taylor filed his Notice of Appeal less than thirty days after the August 23 order. The appeal was timely.

Morris also argues that Taylor waived his right to appeal by acknowledging his contempt of court in the July 31 Agreed Order under which he was temporarily released from jail. The Agreed Order makes no reference whatsoever to the amendment of the Default Judgment, so this argument is meritless.

Morris additionally contends that Taylor waived his right to appeal by accepting and cashing the $18,705 check. Morris cites Adams v. Carter, 92 Miss. 579, 47 So. 409 (1908), which holds that

a party cannot proceed to enforce and have the benefit of such portions of a judgment as are in his favor, and appeal from those against him; in other words, that the right to proceed on a judgment and enjoy its fruits, and the right to appeal therefrom, are totally inconsistent positions. The election to pursue one course must be deemed an abandonment of the other.

Adams, 47 So. at 410; see also Madison County v. City of Canton, 171 Miss. 547, 158 So. 149, 150 (1934); 4 Am.Jur.2d Appeal and Error § 250, 251, 258 (1962); 4 C.J.S. Appeal & Error § 215, 216 (1957).

Taylor acknowledges the rule but argues that it applies only in cases arising at law and not those arising in equity. See Madison County, 158 So. at 150 ("a party cannot accept a portion of a judgment favorable to him and appeal from that which is unfavorable in a court of law" (emphasis added)); see also Adams, 47 So. at 410-12 (noting that Court was dealing with judgment at law). Morris counters by noting that subsequent to the adoption of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, the distinction between actions at law and actions in equity has largely disappeared. See

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
609 So. 2d 405, 1992 WL 382324, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-morris-miss-1992.