Matter of Estate of Vogler
Matter of Estate of Vogler
Opinion of the Court
This is an action to recover damages for wrongful
The case never proceeded beyond the pleading stage and the only questions presented relate to rulings upon motions and a demurrer. Appellants filed a petition on appeal, with allegations of their representative capacity, their status as heirs of the deceased, her death resulting from the wrongful act, neglect, or default of Jeffrey R. Vogler, deceased, and damage to them by reason thereof. A motion to make the allegation of the wrongful act, neglect, or default more definite and certain was sustained. In a first amended petition, appellants added a narrative of the circumstances alleged to have occurred during the period from the evening of September 15, 1974, and ending with the discovery of the body of the decedent 5 days later together with a statement of the suspicions and conclusions of the appellants and their argument that such matters constituted a circumstantial showing that Jeffrey R. Vogler, deceased, had committed some wrongful act. A motion to strike was sustained, ordering in part that paragraph 4 (f) relating to statements of Jeffrey R. Vogler be stricken. A second amended petition was then filed and a general demurrer thereto was sustained. Next, a motion to strike was filed against a third amended petition and sustained as to an allegation of a dollar amount
Following the rulings as to each of the motions to strike, the appellants proceeded to file further amended petitions and complied with the orders of the court by not repeating the stricken allegations. No further action was taken by the court in this connection and none was necessary. An order sustaining a motion to strike some of the allegations of a pleading, without further judicial action, is not a final order and is not appealable. Barry v. Wolf, 148 Neb. 27, 26 N. W. 2d 303; State ex rel. Sorensen v. State Bank of Omaha, 131 Neb. 223, 267 N. W. 532. No assignment of error will lie against the rulings.
Turning next to the question of the sufficiency of the allegations of the fourth amended petition to state a cause of action, it should be noted that the appellants repeated in each of their amended petitions the basic allegations concerning their capacity to sue, their status as next of kin to the deceased, her death by the wrongful act, neglect, or default of Jeffrey R. Vogler, deceased, and the damage to them by reason of such wrongful death. It is true that a lengthy narration of evidence, some of which would have been of dubious admissibility, together with argument concerning the probative effect of the evidence had been added by amendment. This material, being poorly pleaded, was probably not admitted by the demurrer. The rule is usually stated that a general demurrer admits all the allegations of fact of the pleading to which it is ad
The appellee had other alternatives available in addition to the general demurrer to the fourth amended petition. It would have been proper to move to strike the allegations which amounted to mere evidence, argument, or conclusions of fact or law. A motion to strike the petition or to dismiss the action for failure to comply with the orders of the court sustaining the motions to make more definite and certain might have been filed. As it was, appellee elected to demur generally and thereby waived any right which she had to insist that the allegations of the petition be made more
In City of Friend v. Burleigh, 53 Neb. 674, 74 N. W. 50, it was held that a petition for recovery under the Lord Campbell Act which alleged that the defendant by his wrongful act, neglect, or default caused the death of a person, whose personal representative acts in behalf of the next of kin who were damaged, stated a cause of action against a general demurrer. The ultimate facts alleged in the pleadings in this case meet this standard. The general demurrer should not have been sustained and the petition should not have been dismissed. When the issues have been made up and the actual evidence has been submitted, it will then be an appropriate time to decide any questions of the adequacy or sufficiency of the evidence.
The judgment is reversed and the cause is remanded to the trial court with directions to overrule appellee’s general demurrer and to proceed in accordance with this opinion.
Reversed and remanded with directions.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
The fourth amended petition alleged the plaintiffs’ decedent died on September 15, 1974, as the result of a massive skull fracture. The circumstances alleged in the petition support an inference that Jeffrey R. Vogler may have been present at the time the fatal injury occurred.
In paragraph 5 the petition alleged: “5. Claimants allege that Marcia D. Gilbert died as a result of the wrongful act, neglect or default of Jeffrey R. Vogler. The exact manner in which said Jeffrey R. Vogler caused the death of Marcia D. Gilbert is not known to the petitioners. But whether her death was caused by the willful and malicious act of Jeffrey R. Vogler or other wrongful neglect or default on the part of Jeffrey R. Vogler the claimants assert that the conduct of the said Jeffrey R. Vogler, coupled with the circum
It seems to me the petition alleged only a conclusion that Jeffrey R. Vogler caused the death of the plaintiffs’ decedent and did not allege the facts as to how he caused her death. In my opinion the demurrer was properly sustained.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In Re Estate of Jeffrey R. Vogler, Deceased. Lawrence D. and Virginia E. Gilbert, Co-Administrators of the Estate of Marcia D. Gilbert, Deceased, Appellants, v. Sharon L. Vogler, Administratrix of the Estate of Jeffrey R. Vogler, Deceased, Appellee
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- 7 cases
- Status
- Published