Nevares v. District Court of Mayagüez
Nevares v. District Court of Mayagüez
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
On July 3, 1942, Ramón Sánchez and others, pursuant to Act No. 10 of 1917 (Yol. II, p. 216) filed a complaint in the Municipal Court of San Germán, under Civil Case No. 356, against Francisco Nevares and Manuel Pereyó for the recovery of unpaid wages.
On that same day another complaint was filed by Pedro Linares and others in said municipal court under Civil Case No. 357 to the same end and against the same defendants.
A hearing was had of both cases on November 20, 1942, and on the following day judgments were rendered, respec
“Notify: Attorneys J. Martin Almodovar, San Germán, P. R.t H. González Blanes, San Juan, P. R. Sirs: Notice Of the above judgment is hereby served on you, complying, with the statutory provisions. San Germán, P. 31., December 21, 3042. (Signed) Pedro Legón Gutiérrez, Clerk, Municipal Court.”
And directly under it he set forth in his own handwriting :
“I certify: that today, December 12, 1942, I deposited in the mail of this city, duly stamped and registered a closed envelope containing an exact copy of this judgment addressed to Attorney II. Gonzalez Blanes at San Juan, P. R. and that there is regular mail •service between the city of San Germán and the city of San Juan. (Signed) Pedro Legón Gutiérrez, Clerk, Municipal Clerk.”
On December 28, 1942, Attorney González Blanes deposited in the post office 'of this city, in an envelope addressed to the clerk of said municipal court, two notices of appeal to the District Court of Mayagüez, of both judgments above referred to. Upon receipt of said envelope, the clerk of the municipal court sent the record of both cases to the District Conrt of Mayagüez on December 29, 1942. The plaintiffs in both cases filed a motion in the district court for the dismissal of both appeals on the ground that the appeals had been filed after expiration of the statutory period of five days provided by §8 of Act No. 10 of November 14, 1917, as amended by Act No. 40 of April 17, 1935 (Laws of 1935, p. 238). After the parties were heard, the district conrt dismissed both appeals for lack of jurisdiction. Thereupon the' defendants filed in this‘court two petitions for certiorari now before us to review said judgments of dismissal.
The notice of the judgment served by the Clerk of the Municipal Court of San Germán fully complied with the provisions of §2 of the Act of March 9, 1911. The fact that the written notice was served as .a footnote in the judgment and not on separate paper does not affect the legality of the service.
Normally the period of five- days within which to file an appeal should have elapsed on December 25,1942, but that "'as a holiday and the 26th was Saturday, and the court was closed, and since the 27th was Sunday, the term was extended until December 28, 1942. Rey Gangas v. Domínguez Alvares, decided on February 17, 1944 (per curiam decision).
It is an uneontroverted fact that the envelope containing the notices of appeal was deposited in the post of
For the reasons stated the orders of October 25, 1943, rendered by the respondent court in the two cases involved herein must be reversed and the cases remanded to the lower court for their reinstatement and for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.