Monson v. Monson
| Citation | 583 N.W.2d 825 |
| Decision Date | 15 September 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 980006CA,980006CA |
| Parties | 1998 ND APP 9 Renae L. MONSON, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Ronald L. MONSON, Defendant and Appellant. Civil |
| Court | Court of Appeals of North Dakota |
Patti Jo Jensen, of Lindquist, Jeffrey & Jensen, East Grand Forks, MN, for plaintiff and appellee.
Thomas V. Omdahl, Grand Forks, for defendant and appellant.
¶1 Ronald L. Monson has appealed "from the Judgment entered by the trial court on the 20th day of November, 1997," 1 in a divorce action filed by Renae L. Monson. We affirm.
¶2 The parties were married in 1977. Renae sued for divorce in 1995. Hearings were held on January 21, August 6, and October 10, 1997. The judgment granted Renae a divorce and custody of the parties' two minor children, ordered Ronald to pay child support of $600 per month, and divided the parties' marital property. Ronald appealed, raising the following issues: 2
I. To determine whether the Defendant was given notice of trial as required by North Dakota Rules of Civil Procedure.
II. To determine whether the Defendant was given an opportunity to make his defense.
III. To determine whether the court was clearly erroneous in determining child support.
¶3 Ronald Monson did not participate in the hearing on August 6, 1997. Ronald contends he was not served with notice of the trial scheduled for August 6, 1997, in accordance with N.D.R.Civ.P. 5, which requires service of papers upon a party or upon an attorney representing a party, because his attorney had withdrawn and he was not represented by counsel when the notice of hearing was issued.
¶4 In requesting a new trial and a new judge at the hearing afforded him on October 10, 1997, Ronald's attorney stated: "But Mr. Monson's position is that he never received the notice." He did not then rely, as he does now, on N.D.R.Civ.P. 5. Thus, Ronald did not give the trial court an opportunity to rule on the issue of compliance with N.D.R.Civ.P. 5, and he may not now raise this new issue for the first time on appeal. See, e.g., Medd v. Fonder, 543 N.W.2d 483, 487 (N.D.1996); Wingerter v. North Dakota Dep't of Transp., 530 N.W.2d 362, 365 (N.D.1995). We will, however, review the trial court's determination that Ronald did, in fact, receive notice and knowledge of the trial scheduled for August 6, 1997.
¶5 Knowledge is generally a question of fact. Burr v. Kulas, 1997 ND 98, p 11, 564 N.W.2d 631; Zettel v. Licht, 518 N.W.2d 214, 215 (N.D.1994). Under N.D.R.Civ.P. 52(a), we will not reverse a trial court's finding of fact on appeal unless it is clearly erroneous. Peterson v. Ramsey County, 1997 ND 92, p 7, 563 N.W.2d 103. A finding of fact is clearly erroneous if induced by an erroneous view of the law, if there is no evidence to support it, or if, although there is some evidence to support it, on the entire evidence the reviewing court is left with a definite and firm conviction a mistake has been made. Gierke v. Gierke, 1998 ND 100, p 15, 578 N.W.2d 522.
¶6 The first day of trial in this case was on January 21, 1997. The trial was continued. By letter of May 7, 1997, Ronald's attorney, Shirley A. Dvorak, requested the matter "be re-scheduled to a later date," because of flood damage in her Grand Forks office. On June 26, 1997, the trial court issued a notice to appear stating that a hearing was scheduled for August 6-8, 1997. By letter of June 29, 1997, sent to Ronald at his Leonard, Minnesota, address, 3 Attorney Dvorak informed Ronald that the court had signed an order permitting her to withdraw as counsel and advising Ronald to tell her "who your new counsel is so that you do not have a lapse in representation." By letter of July 1, 1997, sent to Ronald at his Leonard, Minnesota, address, Attorney Dvorak wrote Ronald:
¶7 Section 31-11-03(24), N.D.C.C., provides a disputable presumption "[t]hat a letter duly directed and mailed was received in the regular course of the mail." A letter duly directed and mailed is presumed received in the regular course of business. Myra Found. v. Harvey, 100 N.W.2d 435, 438 (N.D.1959). Although she had recently withdrawn as Ronald's counsel, Attorney Dvorak, nevertheless, sent a letter and notice of the trial date to Ronald at his Minnesota address. The letter is presumed to have been received in the regular course of the mail. As in First Bank v. Neset, 1997 ND 4, p 18, 559 N.W.2d 211, Ronald "has wholly failed to rebut that presumption."
¶8 At the hearing on October 10, 1997, the trial court addressed Ronald's knowledge of the August 6, 1997 hearing:
We had contact from Mr. Thompson, who was an attorney that Mr. Monson was going to hire. Mr. Thompson asked us to postpone the pretrial conference because they were just working on him hiring Mr. Thompson. Within that context, Mr. Monson would have had to know that a trial was proceeding. I mean, he was the one that contacted Mr. Thompson.
....
I am satisfied that he had sufficient service.... [H]e had sufficient notice that this trial was taking place.
And it is quite remarkable that he calls--the very day that the trial is coming, he calls up the Court and says, "I knew nothing about this."
....
I just don't believe the fact that he did not know that the trial was going to take place. That's the bottom line.
The trial court made the following supplemental findings of fact:
On August , 1997, there was a bench trial held before the Honorable Donovan Foughty, District Court Judge, in the Law Enforcement Center Courtroom, Grafton, North Dakota. On this date the Defendant called and spoke with me claiming that he had no notice of the trial. Plaintiff's Exhibit # 14 shows that he did in fact have notice from his counsel, Shirley Dvorak.
Further to establish that fact, Neil Thompson, Attorney at Law contacted Plaintiff's Attorney and this Court on July 16, 1997 requesting that a pretrial conference be postponed for July 17, 1997, because he and Mr. Monson were in negotiations for the purpose of Mr. Thompson being hired as counsel. This supports the proposition that notice was given. Mr. Monson never did hire Mr. Thompson. Thompson did convey to the Court that although he could not recall the date of trial, he was aware a trial date was set.
In his appellate brief, Ronald's present attorney acknowledges Ronald consulted Neil Thompson about representing him, says Ronald did not retain Thompson, and notes that "the trial court did not indicate whether Neil Thompson had informed Ronald Monson of the trial date." However, one reasonable inference the trial court could draw from the contact with Thompson is that Thompson learned of the trial date from Ronald.
¶9 There is evidence supporting the trial court's findings about Ronald's notice and knowledge of the trial scheduled for August 6, 1997. We conclude that the findings are not clearly erroneous. Furthermore, any deficiency in notice there may have been was cured when the trial court granted Ronald's request for an additional hearing in October 1997 after Ronald had declined to participate in the August 1997 hearing.
¶10 Ronald contends he was not afforded an adequate opportunity to present his case, arguing:
Ronald Monson was not given a full and fair opportunity to present his case. He was not allowed to cross-exam his wife, Renae Monson, nor cross exam her witnesses. He was not afforded enough time to present his case and his witnesses. The trial court limited the direct testimony of Ronald Monson. Transcript at 11. The trial was "a very one-sided affair." Transcript at 14 line 8. The trial court was biased against Mr. Monson.
We are not persuaded the record supports Ronald's conclusory assertions.
¶11 Ronald has not drawn our attention to any evidence from the October 10, 1997, proceeding demonstrating that he was not allowed to cross-examine his wife or any of the witnesses she had called in the earlier proceedings. Other than Ronald, his attorney did not subpoena or call any witnesses, including Renae Monson. When the court asked if he would be calling any witnesses, Ronald's attorney said, "No, Your Honor." Near the end of the hearing, the trial court said, "If nothing else, we're off the record." Ronald's attorney replied, "Okay." The following colloquy occurred between court and counsel at the end of the hearing:
Anything else?
¶12 Ronald presented no offer of proof of additional evidence he wished to introduce to create a record permitting informed appellate review. See, e.g., Wilhelm v. Wilhelm, 543 N.W.2d 488, 490 (N.D.1996); N.D.R.Ev. 103(a)(2). The Explanatory Note following N.D.R.Ev. 103(a)(2) "clearly directs the parties to create a record which will permit informed appellate review." Gorsuch v. Gorsuch, 392 N.W.2d 392, 394 (N.D.1986). One of the touchstones for an effective appeal on any proper issue is that the matter was appropriately raised in the trial court so the trial court could intelligently rule on it. Beavers v. Walters, 537 N.W.2d 647, 652 (N.D.1995). A party's failure to object waives any evidentiary challenges. Reinecke v. Griffeth, 533 N.W.2d 695, 702 (N.D.1995). "Thus, in the absence of an objection below, we will not consider the issue on appeal." Sabot v. Fargo Women's Health Org., 500 N.W.2d 889, 894 (N.D.1993).
¶13 The October 10, 1997, hearing lasted all day. Ronald did not object to the amount of time given to present his case, did not assert he needed more time, agreed to abide by the court's time limit, did not tell the court he wanted to call more witnesses or cross-examine any witnesses who had previously testified, and offered nothing further when, at the end of the hearing, the court asked, "Anything else?" Under these circumstances,...
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