United States v. Rothschild

3 Ct. Cust. 251, 1912 CCPA LEXIS 112
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedMay 17, 1912
DocketNo. 831
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 3 Ct. Cust. 251 (United States v. Rothschild) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Rothschild, 3 Ct. Cust. 251, 1912 CCPA LEXIS 112 (ccpa 1912).

Opinion

De Vries, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

This appeal brings here for consideration a question of practice by a board of three general appraisers sitting as a classification board.

■ The procedure of the board, as conceded in the record, was as follows;

July 22, 1911, a protest was overruled, as stated by the board, in default of appearance (“no evidence having been introduced at the hearing by the importers, and they having failed to submit their case on the record, and nothing having been found by the board in the record to justify a reversal of the collector’s decision”), it was affirmed by judgment duly entered.

August 21, 1911, application was made by the importer, appellee here, by telegraph from San Francisco, Cal., for a rehearing, which application was duly filed with said board.

August 21, 1911, the same day, said application for rehearing was denied.

November 24, 1911, an application was filed before the board to vacate the order of August 21, 1911, denying a rehearing, and to grant a rehearing.

[252]*252December 13, 1911, the order of August 21, 1911, denying a rehearing, was vacated and set aside by the board; a rehearing of the protest was at the same time granted; and at the same time the board, without notice of its proceedings or motion therefor, proceeded to a reconsideration of the case and entered judgment sustaining the protest.

The Government appeals from the final judgment and recites as specification of errors as follows:

1, 2, and 3 concerned the sufficiency of the protest. These claims of errors were not urged upon appeal.

4. In entertaining and granting a motion for a rehearing in said case when said motion was made more than 30 days after the decision of the Board of General Appraisers overruling the protest herein.
5. In entertaining and granting said motion for a rehearing without notice to appellant herein and opportunity to he heard in opposition thereto.
6. In hearing and deciding said case ex parte (after the granting of said motion ' for a rehearing) without said case being duly set for hearing on a regular trial day, as provided by law and by the rules of said Board of General Appraisers, and without due and reasonable notice to the appellant herein and opportunity to be heard.
7. In hearing and deciding said case (after the granting of said motion for a rehearing) without said case being duly docketed for hearing at a regular docket at San Francisco, as provided by law and the rules of said Board of General Appraisers.

The application or motion of November 24, 1911, was as follows:

Application to have order denying a rehearing vacated.
* * * * * . * *
As an error appears to have been made by the board, we would respectfully petition that the order denying the protestant a rehearing be vacated, and we be granted our original application for a rehearing.

The application of November 24, 1911, therefore, embraces two separate and distinct matters: (1) That the order denying the protestant a rehearing be vacated; (2) That the original application for a rehearing be granted. It will be noted that there was no motion for a judgment.

It is conceded by the appellee, as clearly appears from the record, that on December 13, 1911, when the board vacated its previous order denying a rehearing and entered an order granting a rehearing of the protest, and proceeded to hear and determine, or, at least, to a determination of the issues in the case, no notice was given to the Government counsel of any of these proceedings, nor is it claimed that said hearing was had upon the regular trial day.

It is first contended by counsel for the Government, appellant, on argument, that the petition for a rehearing by telegram from San Francisco, Cal., August 21, 1911, was insufficient under the rules of the board, in that it was not verified.

[253]*253It was also so contended that the order of the board of December 13, 1911, vacating its previous order overruling the appellant’s appli-. cation for a rehearing was void.

It was next contended on argument that the board erred in granting the motion for rehearing without notice to appellant.

The statute provides (customs administrative law, subsec. 29, sec. 28) that the application for a review in this court must contain “a concise statement of errors of law and fact complained of,” and under the well settled rules of law in such cases the failure to specify amounts to a waiver of any irregularities occurring therein; at least they are not available to appellant here.

The specifications of error do not challenge either the form or sufficiency of the application for a rehearing and assign no error in relation to the application itself, save that it “was made more than 30 days after the decision of the board” (specifications of error 4). Indeed, if we assume that it was the application of November 24,1911, which was effectively and duly challenged by this specification of error, that-application related expressly to a-motion for a new trial made within 30 days after the decision for it was directed to “our original application for a rehearing.”

While the fifth specification of error challenges the order of the board in “granting a rehearing,” the order of the board in “setting aside its previous order denying a rehearing” made at the same time as the said order “granting á rehearing,” is nowhere assigned as error in appellant’s specification thereof. We can not of course adjudge specifications of error 4 and 5 that elastic application necessary to constitute them, first, a challenge of the original application for a new trial as made too late and without notice, and thereafter as„ a challenge of the motion to set aside the previous order denying that application for a new trial. And with much less reason could the same challenges be further extended to cover the order of the board vacating its previous order.

The broadest consistent and only grammatical scope that can be given these specifications is, that they assign as error, first, that the original application for a rehearing, which was. the only such ever presented or urged in the case, was made more than 30 days after decision, which manifestly can not be sustained; and, secondly, that said application was granted without notice to appellant.

We are of the opinion, therefore, that specifications of error 4 and 5 duly challenged and made available to appellant in this court only the failure to give notice of the motion for the rehearing granted December 13, 1911.

At the same time the same considerations equally support appellant’s specifications of error 6 and 7.

[254]*254The court has before it for consideration the final judgment of the Board of General Appraisers herein rendered December 13, 1911.

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Bluebook (online)
3 Ct. Cust. 251, 1912 CCPA LEXIS 112, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-rothschild-ccpa-1912.