Miller v. Superior Court
Miller v. Superior Court
Opinion of the Court
The petition in this matter seeks review of an order allowing costs of trial against petitioner and prohibition to restrain enforcement of a judgment entered thereon.
The following facts are shown' by the petition. In an action by Arthur Washburn against petitioner Miller verdict
Petitioner contends that the order made on motion for new trial granted a new trial for the reason that plaintiff did not comply with the condition of the order. Therefore, he claims the judgment that was entered on the verdict was vacated, and since there was no judgment in force thereafter, the court was without power to award costs to the plaintiff. He says that the judgment when reduced to $3,000 was within the jurisdiction of the municipal court (Code Civ. Proe., § 89, subd. 1) and hence would not carry costs as a matter of right (Code Civ. Proe., § 1032, subd. (d)). He says further that the remission by the plaintiff did not meet the condition of the court’s order since it remitted “all sums in excess of $3,000 plus costs”; he could not reduce his judgment to $3,000 and have costs in addition. We cannot agree with petitioner’s contentions.
Section 1032 of the Code of Civil Procedure, as amended (Stats. 1953, chap. 910, § 1), provides that “except as otherwise expressly provided, costs are allowed the pre
The order of the court on the motion for new trial gave plaintiff an opportunity to reduce his recovery to “$3,000 compensatory damages” which, inferentially, was exclusive of costs. Plaintiff complied with this condition and agreed to reduce the amount to “$3,000 plus costs.” It was not a condition of the court’s order that plaintiff should not have his costs in addition to damages and he therefore had a right to claim them. If there could have been any doubt in the court’s mind as to plaintiff’s right to costs when the order for remission was made, and the wording of the order indicates there was none, the matter was settled by the later order taxing the costs at $543.50.
As the matter stands now plaintiff has a judgment for $3,543.50 and the records of the superior court should so show.
The petition is denied.
Wood (Parker), J., and Nourse (Paul), J. pro tern.,
Petitioner’s application for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied December 21, 1955.
Assigned by Chairman of Judicial Council.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.