Bradford v. Bradford, Unpublished Decision (3-28-2005)
Bradford v. Bradford, Unpublished Decision (3-28-2005)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} The parties were married on March 26, 1999. No children were born as issue of the marriage. On March 20, 2003, appellee filed a complaint for divorce, along with a motion for a restraining order and a motion for exclusive occupancy. Appellee further filed interrogatories and a request for production of documents. On the same day, a process server personally served appellant with the aforesaid pleadings.
{¶ 3} On March 27, 2003, the court issued an order restraining appellant from coming to appellee's place of residence at 1521 Township Road 184 in Junction City, Ohio. On April 21, 2003, appellant filed a copy of a suggestion of automatic stay, signed by his bankruptcy attorney, indicating appellant had filed a Chapter 7 petition in federal court.1 Appellant otherwise filed nothing in response to the divorce action prior to judgment thereon. On September 29, 2003, the trial court sua sponte scheduled an uncontested divorce hearing for October 27, 2003. The notice was apparently sent to the aforesaid Junction City address, which was appellant's last known address. The hearing proceeded, and the court granted a divorce on December 3, 2003.
{¶ 4} On January 6, 2004, appellant filed a motion for relief from judgment, citing Civ.R. 60(B)(3). The trial court overruled same on May 4, 2004.
{¶ 5} On May 7, 2004, appellant filed a notice of appeal, and herein raises the following sole Assignment of Error:
{¶ 6} "I. The trial court abused its discretion in overruling appellant's motion for relief from judgment based upon a misapplication of the standards set forth in GTE Automatic Elec. Inc. v. ARC Indus., Inc.
(1976),
{¶ 8} In order to prevail on a motion brought pursuant to Civ.R. 60(B)," * * * the movant must demonstrate that (1) the party has a meritorious defense or claim to present if relief is granted; (2) the party is entitled to relief under one of the grounds stated in Civ.R. 60(B)(1) through (5); and (3) the motion is made within a reasonable time, and, where the grounds of relief are Civ.R. 60(B)(1), (2) or (3), not more than one year after the judgment, order or proceedings was entered or taken." Argo Plastic Products Co. v. Cleveland (1984),
{¶ 9} Civ.R. 60(B) represents an attempt to "strike a proper balance between the conflicting principles that litigation must be brought to an end and justice should be done." Colley v. Bazell (1980),
{¶ 10} The crux of appellant's 60(B) motion was that appellee engaged in misconduct by not refusing the notice of hearing addressed to appellant at the Junction City address. However, appellee averred as follows in her response to appellant's motion:
{¶ 11} "The Defendant [Appellant] was sent notice of the uncontested Divorce Hearing pursuant to Notice of Hearing filed September 29, 2003. Said Notice of Hearing was sent to the last known mailing address of the Defendant, that being 1521 Township Road 184, Junction City, Ohio 43748." Appellee further averred, with reference to postal documentation: "In fact, Defendant did not give the Junction City Post Office a forwarding address until April 15, 2004. * * * Plaintiff vacated 1521 Township Road 184, Junction City, Ohio months before the uncontested Divorce Hearing was scheduled. Plaintiff did not remove any mail from the mailbox of the Defendant at 1521 Township Road 184, Junction City, Ohio. Plaintiff informed the Junction City Post Office of her new mailing address months before the Notice of Hearing was mailed out, and therefore, Plaintiff had no reason to enter the mailbox of the Defendant at 1521 Township Road 184, Junction City, Ohio." Mary E. Bradford Affidavit at 2.
{¶ 12} Appellant also provides scant support for the proposition that a party engages in misrepresentation or misconduct, for the purposes of Civ.R. 60(B)(3), by declining to take responsibility for updating a trial court on the current address of an opposing pro se party. Indeed, inLundstrom v. Lundstrom, Geauga App. No. 2001-G-23812002, 2002-Ohio-7127, the Eleventh District Court of Appeals, in affirming the denial of an appellant's 60(B) motion, stated: "* * * [A]ppellee is not under any duty to ensure that appellant's current address is on record with the court. On the contrary, it remains appellant's obligation to appear in the action and provide the court with current address information." Id. at ¶ 23.
{¶ 13} Moreover, appellant's reliance on our decision in Green v.Green (June 8, 1998), Fairfield App. No. 97CA34, is misplaced. In that case, we held that an appellant, who had relied on an insufficient notice from the court regarding a particular hearing, was entitled to relief from judgment based on excusable neglect because her absence had not demonstrated a "blatant disregard for the judicial system." Id. Appellant in the case sub judice urges that he likewise did not demonstrate a complete disregard for the judicial system. However, Green was focused on the concept of "excusable neglect," which falls under Civ.R. 60(B)(1), not Civ.R. 60(B)(3), the subsection addressing "misrepresentation or misconduct," upon which appellant herein relied in his motion for relief from judgment.
{¶ 14} It is well-established that an appellate court need not consider an error which was not brought to the trial court's attention. See Restivo v. Fifth Third Bank of Northwestern Ohio, N.A. (1996),
{¶ 15} Accordingly, under the facts and circumstances of this case, we hold the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying appellant's motion for relief from judgment and in deciding the matter without conducting an evidentiary hearing.
{¶ 16} Appellant's sole Assignment of Error is therefore overruled.
{¶ 17} For the reasons stated in the foregoing opinion, the judgment of the Court of Common Pleas, Fairfield County, Ohio, is hereby affirmed.
Wise, J., Gwin, P.J., and Hoffman, J., concur.
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