Trotti v. Kinnear
Trotti v. Kinnear
Opinion of the Court
On June 10, 1908, J. B. Kin-near recovered a judgment against W. E. Trotti in the district court of Jasper county for $1,717.26. No entry of the judgment was made in the minutes of the court. On December 30, 1910, Kinnear filed a motion in said court to have this judgment entered nunc pro tune as of the date of its rendition, setting up the fact of its rendition, and that the clerk, through negligence or inadvertence, failed to enter the judgment in the minutes, without fault of plaintiff, and that it is impossible to set out an exact copy of the judgment so rendered, but, in lieu thereof, a substantial copy is attached to the petition or motion for such entry nunc pro tunc.
Defendant, Trotti, who had been duly cited, appeared and contested such motion on the following grounds: First. That no sufficient notice had been given. Second. By general demurrer and special exception that the motion was insufficient to substitute lost papers, and showed no sufficient grounds for entry nunc pro tunc; that the same failed to show, on the face of the motion, that verdict and judgment were in fact rendered. Defendant further answered by general denial, and specially that the judgment, if one was evér rendered, was rendered 2% years before the filing of the motion, and that the same was long since dormant; that the failure to enter said judgment, if any was in fact rendered, was by the gross and inexcusable negligence of plaintiff, and he prayed that the motion be dismissed. This answer was filed December 20, 1910. On December 31, 1910, the following judgment on this motion was duly made and entered:
“In the District Court of Jasper County, Texas, December 31, A. D. 1910. J. B. Kinnear v. W. E. Trotti. No 1,165. On this day came on to be heard the plaintiff’s motion to enter judgment nunc pro tunc ' in the above-entitled and numbered cause, and the defendant’s exceptions thereto and his motion to dismiss said motion to enter nunc pro tunc, which exceptions and motion to dismiss being duly considered by the court are hereby overruled, to which action of the court the defendant duly excepts. And it appearing to the court that the said defendant, W. E. Trotti, has been duly served with notice herein, and it further appearing to the court, both from the memory of the judge thereof and from the entry made by said judge on the docket of the court in this said cause, as follows, to wit: ‘6/10/08. Both parties ready. Jury impaneled and sworn. Verdict in favor of plaintiff for 1717 26/100 dollars, and judgment accordingly’— that the plaintiff recovered a judgment in said cause for the sum of $1,717.26, and all costs in said cause expended, and for execution, against the said W. E. Trotti, and it further appearing that from oversight, negligence, or inadvertence of the clerk of the court that said judgment was never entered on the minutes of the court, it is therefore considered by the court, and so ordered, adjudged, and decreed that judgment be now entered on the minutes of the court in said cause as of the 10th day of June, A. D. 1908, to take effect as of that date, as follows, to wit: In the District Court of Jasper County, Texas, the 10th day of June, A. D. 1908. J. B. Kinnear v. W. E. Trotti. No. 1,165. On this day came the parties in person and by their attorneys, and thereupon came a jury of twelve good and lawful men, who, being duly impaneled and sworn, upon their oaths do say that they find for the plaintiff, and assess his damages at the sum of one thousand seven hundred seventeen and 26/100 dollars ($1,717.26). It is therefore considered and ordered by the court that the said plaintiff, J. B. Kinnear, do have and recover of the said defendant, W. E. Trotti, the sum of one thousand seven hundred seven *328 teen and 26/100 dollars ($1,717.26), with, interest thereon at the rate of six (6) per cen-tum per annum, together with his costs in this behalf expended and that he have his execution. And that plaintiff pay all costs in this, the motion to enter now for them, expended, to which judgment of the court the defendant then and there, in open court, duly excepts and gives notice of appeal to the Court of Civil Appeals of the First Supreme Judicial District, at Galveston, Texas, and the statutory time is hereby granted in which to make up and file statement of facts land bills of exception in this cause.”
This appeal is prosecuted by defendant, Trotti, from this judgment. We find in the record a statement of facts, duly signed and approved, of the facts in the original case, filed in the district court, July 27, 1908. There is no statement of facts showing what evidence was heard in the trial of the motion.
In a note to the text, the following cases are cited: Nabers v. Meredith, 67 Ala. 333; Fuller v. Stebbins, 49 Iowa, 376; Long v. Long, 85 N. C. 415; Donne v. Lewis, 11 Vesey, Jr., 601; Lawrence v. Richmond, 1 Jac. & W. 241.
In the c'ited cases of Fuller v. Stebbins, the court says: “Courts possess- the inherent authority to enter judgment nunc pro tunc, and lapse of time will not bar its exercise. Such power is not taken away, nor-is the time within which it may be exercised affected by the provisions of the statute with regard to proceedings to correct mistakes in the proceedings of the clerk. Therefore, where the judgment had in fact been rendered by the court as shown by the-minutes in the judge’s calendar, but had not been entered up by the clerk, a motion three-years and six months afterwards for the-entry of judgment nunc pro tunc was proper.”
In Risser v. Martin, 86 Iowa, 392, 53 N. W. 270, it was held that the statute of lim- *329 Rations lias no application with regard to the court’s exercise of its right to enter judgments nunc pro tunc. Burnett v. State, 14 Tex. 456, 65 Am. Dec. 131. It is further said, however, that such entries will not be allowed to prejudice the rights of third parties who are without notice of the original judgment. 18 Ency. Pl. & Pr. 466.
“In proceedings to obtain entry of a judgment nunc pro tunc, no pleadings are required; nor can the sufficiency of a motion for this purpose be tested by demurrer on motion to strike out. The entry of a judgment nunc pro tunc may be ordered by the court of its own motion.” Id. 469.
While the delay in making the motion in this case is rather extraordinary, the court in its judgment finds that the failure to enter was due to the oversight, negligence, or inadvertence of the clerk, and we must assume, in favor of the judgment on the motion, that there was no laches on the part of appellee, such as would bar him of the right to have the entry made. No rights of third parties can he affected. The fact that the judgment was dormant, when entered, if in fact this be the result, cannot, we think, affect appellee’s right. It is not disputed by appellant, nor could it be, that the judgment was in fact rendered, as claimed by appellee. The assignment must be overruled.
None of the assignments of error and propositions thereunder present any ground of reversal, and they are severally overruled, and the judgment is affirmed.
Affirmed.
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