City of Brookings v. Martinson

Decision Date15 August 1932
Docket NumberNo. 7337.,7337.
Citation243 N.W. 915,60 S.D. 127
PartiesCITY OF BROOKINGS v. MARTINSON.
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Appeal from Circuit Court, Brookings County; W. W. Knight, Judge.

Suit by the City of Brookings against Charles Martinson. From the judgment in favor of defendant, plaintiff appeals. On motion to dismiss the appeal.

Motion denied.Walter M. Cheever and Herbert E. Cheever, both of Brookings, for appellant.

B. H. Schaphorst, of Brookings, for respondent.

CAMPBELL, P. J.

Respondent above named has moved to dismiss the appeal herein upon the grounds that all questions involved have become moot.

Conceding that an appeal should be dismissed when the controversy between the parties has ceased to exist, and there is no subject-matter upon which the judgment of the appellate court could operate (Dickson v. Lord [S. D.] 238 N. W. 21), and where the only judgment which could be rendered by the appellate court would be ineffectual for any purpose (Chicago, M. & St. P. R. Co. v. Commissioners, 28 S. D. 471, 134 N. W. 46), yet such power should be cautiously exercised and should be employed only in those cases where it appears clearly and beyond controversy that a judgment of the appellate court would be an idle act so far as concerns any rights involved in the litigation (Smith v. Lyle, 54 S. D. 385, 223 N. W. 318;State ex rel. Coolsaet v. City of Veblen, 56 S. D. 394, 228 N. W. 802).

Without reciting the facts or the contentions of the parties on this motion, it is sufficient to say that we are not fully persuaded that such situation exists in the instant case, and we are consequently of the opinion that the case ought not to be disposed of on a summary motion for dismissal of the appeal. The motion is therefore denied.

WARREN and RUDOLPH, JJ., concur.

POLLEY and ROBERTS, JJ., absent and not participating.

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4 cases
  • City of Brookings v. Martinson
    • United States
    • South Dakota Supreme Court
    • February 21, 1933
    ...the City of Brookings, S. D., against Charles Martinson. From a judgment dismissing the action, plaintiff appeals. Affirmed. See, also, 243 N. W. 915.Herbert E. Cheever and Walter M. Cheever, both of Brookings, for appellant.B. H. Schaphorst, of Brookings, for respondent.POLLEY, Judge. This......
  • Dodds v. Bickle, 9590
    • United States
    • South Dakota Supreme Court
    • October 7, 1957
    ...Smith v. Lyle, 54 S.D. 385, 223 N.W. 318; State ex rel. Coolsaet v. City of Veblen, 56 S.D. 394, 228 N.W. 802; City of Brookings v. Martinson, 60 S.D. 127, 243 N.W. 915.' It does not appear that defendant has established that a situation exists in this case to warrant the dismissal requeste......
  • City of Brookings v. Martinson
    • United States
    • South Dakota Supreme Court
    • August 15, 1932
  • Scovel v. Pennington Co., 8148
    • United States
    • South Dakota Supreme Court
    • March 7, 1938
    ...Clarke et al. v. Beadle County, 169 N.W. 23; State ex rel. Coolsaet et al. v. City of Veblen et al., 228 N.W. 802; City of Brookings v. Martinson, 243 N.W. 915. The motion is therefore All the Judges concur. ...

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