Trask v. See

42 Haw. 324, 1958 Haw. LEXIS 41
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 24, 1958
DocketNo. 4058; No. 4060
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 42 Haw. 324 (Trask v. See) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hawaii Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Trask v. See, 42 Haw. 324, 1958 Haw. LEXIS 41 (haw 1958).

Opinion

Per Curiam.

In an action in the circuit court of the first circuit filed by Arthur K. Trask, plaintiff, against Tam See, defendant, and James K. Murakami, auditor of the City and County of Honolulu, garnishee, the court entered a judgment in favor of the plaintiff, pursuant to a verdict of the jury. The defendant and the garnishee took separate appeals to this court from the judgment, and the plaintiff moved to dismiss both appeals. The appeal of the defendant is docketed as No. 4058 and that of the garnishee as No. 4060.

MOTION TO DISMISS DEFENDANT’S APPEAL.

The motion is made on the ground that the defendant failed to file the record on appeal, and docket the appeal, in this court within the time prescribed in the rule 73 (g) of Hawaii Rules of Civil Procedure. That rule provides that such filing and docketing shall be done within forty [325]*325days from the date of the filing of the notice of appeal.

The judgment was entered on November 8,1957. Under rule 73 (a), the defendant had thirty days from that date to take her appeal. However, she filed her notice of appeal on November 14. The forty-day period prescribed in rule 73 (g) expired on December 24. The record on appeal was not filed, nor was the appeal docketed, in this court by that date.

The prescribed period begins to run from the date of the filing of the notice of appeal, not from the final date on which the notice of appeal could have been filed. (Bluford v. Canada, 1 F. R. D. 567)

Rule 73 (g) further provides that the circuit court, with or without motion or notice, may extend the time for filing the record on appeal and docketing the appeal, if its order for extension is made before the expiration of the period for filing and docketing as originally prescribed or as extended by a previous order.

On January 3, 1958, fifty days after the filing of the defendant’s notice of appeal, the circuit court entered an order reading as follows: “Upon the oral motion of the Clerk of Court and GOOD CAUSE APPEARING THEREFORE: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the said Clerk of Court shall have up to and including the 11th day of February 1958, within which to docket with the Clerk of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Hawaii the Record on Appeal in the above entitled cause.” The record on appeal, except the transcript of the evidence and proceedings, was filed in this court on January 20, and the transcript was filed on February 11, all within the time prescribed in the order.

The order of the circuit court is ineffective to extend the time because it was made after the expiration of the period as originally prescribed and there was no previous order extending the time. (Bluford v. Canada, supra; [326]*326Burke v. Canfield, 111 F. [2d] 526) However, failure to comply with, rule 73 (g) is not jurisdictional. Under rule 73 (a), such failure is ground only for such action as this court deems appropriate, which may include dismissal of the appeal.

In this case, we think that the facts presented to this court show mitigating circumstances sufficient to excuse the defendant from literal compliance with the provisions of the rule. We therefore deny the plaintiff’s motion to dismiss the defendant’s appeal.

In Burke v. Canfield, supra, a case involving a request for extension of time to file the record on appeal and docketing the appeal under the Federal rules, the court stated: “The new rules are intended to liberalize procedure in that regard and to avoid the harshness of the old rules which often required us to decline consideration of the merits because of counsel’s neglect to comply with the rules. * * * But even so, the change does not contemplate a complete breakdown of all rules. * * * We think it timely to advise the bar that we intend to exercise sparingly our discretion to save an appeal prosecuted in disregard of the rules. For notwithstanding the modern trend, which we fully approve, it is desirable that courts and counsel bear in mind Justice Story’s admonition that ‘infinite mischief has been produced by the facility of courts of justice in overlooking errors of form.’ ” The court, in that case, despite its expressed reluctance to exercise its discretion to save an appeal prosecuted in disregard of the rules, denied the motion to dismiss the appeal because the rules were new and the specific point involved in the motion was one upon which opinion differed.

In Miller v. United States, 117 F. (2d) 256, the court stated that the provision in the Federal rules limiting the time for filing the record on appeal and docketing the appeal was designed to guard against dilatory tactics and [327]*327denied the motion to dismiss the government’s appeal on a finding that the government was diligent.

In this case the defendant was not guilty of dilatory tactics. Quite the contrary is true. She filed with the official court reporter a request for a transcript of the evidence and proceedings on November 6, two days after the verdict of the jury and two days before the entry of the judgment. At the same time she paid $550 to the reporter for the full cost of the transcript. In the request, she stated that the original of the transcript was intended to be filed with the defendant’s designation of contents of record on her proposed appeal. She filed her notice of appeal on November 14, six days after the entry of the judgment although she had thirty days within which to do so. Simultaneously with the notice of appeal, she filed a designation of the record on appeal. Her counsel immediately notified the reporter of the filing and inquired of him whether the latter could complete the transcript within the forty-day period prescribed in the rule. The reporter stated to the counsel that if he could not complete the transcript in time he would so advise the clerk of the circuit court in charge of the preparation of the record on appeal and that the clerk would obtain from the court the necessary extension of time on a regular form prepared by the court for such purpose. The reporter’s statement was based upon his conversation with the clerk and the practice in the circuit court. About the middle of December, the reporter advised the clerk that he would be unable to complete the transcript within the prescribed time. The clerk, thereupon, told the reporter that he would obtain an extension from the court. On December 23, the counsel telephoned the office of the clerk to ascertain whether or not an extension had been obtained. The counsel understood from his conversation with the secretary of the clerk that an extension to January 6, 1958, had been obtained. [328]*328That was a misunderstanding on the part of the counsel. In fact the clerk did not obtain an extension until January 3. The clerk did not obtain an extension before January 3 because he figured that he had forty days from the date of filing of the garnishee’s notice of appeal within which to obtain the extension. The garnishee filed his notice of appeal on November 26, and the forty-day period after such filing expired on January 5. The clerk’s thinking was based upon the fact that rule 75 (k) provides that when more than one appeal is taken from the same judgment, a single record on appeal shall be prepared containing all the matter designated or agreed upon by the parties, without duplication.

The plaintiff argues that the defendant was negligent in depending upon the clerk of the circuit court to obtain the extension, and cites

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
42 Haw. 324, 1958 Haw. LEXIS 41, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trask-v-see-haw-1958.