Secured Insurance v. Whitley Construction
Secured Insurance v. Whitley Construction
Opinion of the Court
“When no motion for a new trial is made, the evidence should be embodied in the bill of exceptions, or attached as an exhibit thereto, and properly identified, or contained in a brief approved by the trial judge and made part of the record. In a suit on an insurance policy, where the case is tried on an agreed statement of facts, and a judgment in favor of the defendant is rendered by the court, and the exception is to this judgment, the embodiment in the record of what purports to be a copy of the agreement signed by counsel is not sufficient. Mann v. Archer, 69 Ga. 767.” McClarty v. Penn Mutual Life Ins. Co., 131 Ga. 724 (1) (63 SE 224). “An alleged statement of facts not being set forth in the bill of exceptions nor made a part of the same as an exhibit thereto and properly authenticated, what purports to be an agreed statement of facts sent up as a part of the record, but not approved by the judge and ordered filed as such, can not be considered by this court [cases cited].” Silvey & Co. v. Brown, 137 Ga. 104 (1) (72 SE 907). See also cases annotated under Code Ann. § 6-801, catchword, “Evidence,” sub catch phrase, “Documentary evidence and affidavits,” etc., and cases annotated under Code Ann. § 6-802, catchwords, “Agreed statement of facts.”
In the present case, although the two documents of evidence before the trial court—the alleged stipulation of facts and copy
The errors assigned in the defendant’s bill of exceptions being such as can not be determined from the record without a consideration of the alleged documentary evidence so sent up, the judgment of the court below in favor of the plaintiff must be affirmed. See Silvey & Co. v. Brown, 137 Ga. 104 (2), supra; Stewart v. Echols County, 89 Ga. App. 99 (78 SE2d 867; Whitney v. Birdsong, 216 Ga. 756 (119 SE2d 569) and cases cited.
Judgment affirmed.
070rehearing
On Motion for Rehearing.
Concurring Opinion
concurring specially. This was a case sub-
mitted to the trial court for decision which has come to this court by direct bill of exceptions. Code Ann. § 6-801 provides that in such case the movant shall incorporate the oral and docu
The writer is in perfect sympathy with the plaintiff in error, and notes with satisfaction that these two Code sections are the first two listed among repealed statutes in the new Appellate Procedure Act (Ga. L. 1965, p. 18), but recognizes that this is cold consolation for the able counsel in this case and for their clients. This court continually realizes to its chagrin that the Constitutional mandate marking the perimeter of its jurisdiction as a court for the correction of errors of law only under applicable statutes delineating procedural prerequisites has on more than one occasion kept it from doing justice; that no procedural system is perfect, and that the good resulting from order, clarity and consistency under the rules is the only justification that may be urged against the occasional inequity resulting from the same source. 219 Georgia, the latest published volume of the Supreme Court, shows approximately 3 per cent of cases dismissed or
The situation arising in this case, where a stipulation is filed in the trial court to be used by the trial judge in making his decision, is not specifically dealt with. Under subsection (e) of Section 10, a transcript of the evidence prepared by the court reporter shall have the certificate of the reporter but does not need the certificate of the trial judge. Subsection (g) comprehends a situation where evidence was presented but no transcript made, in which case an agreement of the parties entitles the agreed statement to be recorded. This might logically include an agreed statement of facts signed by both counsel and used by the trial court in deciding the case, but there might also arise a question of whether the stipulation did in fact include all of the evidence considered by the trial court. Additionally, Sections 13 and 14 contemplate the making of rules by the appellate courts, and it should be pointed out that where failure to follow the procedure indicated in the statute or the rules cannot, under Section 13, result in dismissal, it might yet have the effect of keeping the court from a consideration of some or all of the errors enumerated, which would result in an affirmance of the case. If I did not feel bound by the present law on the exact point made by the defendant in error’s motion to dismiss this case I would vote that it should be considered on its merits.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- SECURED INSURANCE COMPANY v. WHITLEY CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published