Cotton v. Veterans Cab. Co., Inc., 49110

Decision Date23 March 1977
Docket NumberNo. 49110,49110
Citation344 So.2d 730
PartiesRobert L. COTTON v. VETERANS CAB COMPANY, INC.
CourtMississippi Supreme Court

Scales & Scales, Fred T. Rucker, III, Jackson, for appellant.

Tighe & Tighe, B. Stirling Tighe, Jackson, for appellee.

Before GILLESPIE, C.J., SMITH and WALKER, JJ., and MORGAN, Commissioner.

CLARENCE E. MORGAN, Commissioner for the Court: 1

Robert L. Cotton sued Veterans Cab Company and its driver Frank L. Taylor for personal injuries sustained in an automobile accident. At the conclusion of the case the court entered judgment for Veterans Cab Company, Inc., and provided in the judgment that a mistrial was declared as to the part of the case between Cotton and Taylor. Cotton gave notice of appeal and filed an appeal bond designating Veterans Cab Company, Inc. as the appellee. The bond also recited that the judgment in favor of Veterans Cab Company was a final judgment and recited 'that the same judgment declared a mistrial of said cause as between plaintiff and defendant Frank L. Taylor.'

Appeals to the Supreme Court from the circuit court lie only from a final judgment. Mississippi Code Annotated § 11-51-3 (1972) provides in part as follows: 'An appeal may be taken to the supreme court from any final judgment of a circuit court in a civil case . . .'. This Court has repeatedly held that there is no interlocutory appeal from a judgment of a circuit court except where the sole ground of an order for a new trial is the excessiveness or inadequacy of damages. See Miss.Code Ann. § 11-7-213 (1972). Bradley v. Holmes, 242 Miss. 247, 134 So.2d 494 (1961) was a case precisely in the same status as the one now before the Court. We held that an appeal is not a matter of right but must fall within statutory provisions and that the basic requirement is that the appeal must be from a final judgment; and a judgment is not final which settles the cause as to a part only of the defendants. In sum, the judgment is final only when it settles all issues as to all parties.

The statutory scheme is designed to prevent the splitting of appeals. The Court of its own motion takes note of its lack of jurisdiction. Farrar v. Phares, 232 Miss. 391, 99 So.2d 594 (1958). The appeal is dismissed.

APPEAL DISMISSED.

GILLESPIE, C.J., PATTERSON and INZER, P. JJ., and SMITH, ROBERTSON, SUGG, WALKER, BROOM and LEE, JJ., concur.

1 Sitting pursuant to Chapter 430, Laws of 1976. The above opinion is adopted as the...

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  • Beckwith v. State, 91-IA-1207
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • December 16, 1992
    ...an order granting a new trial on damages, no interlocutory appeal was ever granted from a circuit court order. Cotton v. Veterans Cab Co., Inc., 344 So.2d 730 (Miss.1977). Interlocutory appeals from chancery court were governed solely by Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 11-51-7 (Supp.1992). The same rul......
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    • United States
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    • September 5, 2002
    ...the controversy which settles all the issues as to all the parties. Hindman v. Bridges, 185 So.2d 922 (Miss.1966); Cotton v. Veterans Cab Co., Inc., 344 So.2d 730 (Miss.1977). Sanford v. Board of Supervisors, 421 So.2d 488, 490-91 (Miss.1982). As defined by M.R.C.P. 54, a judgment includes ......
  • Barrett v. State, 95-M-01240-SCT
    • United States
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    • December 21, 1995
    ...a new trial has been resolved. Miss.R.App.Pro.Rules 4(d)-(e); Beckwith v. State, 615 So.2d 1134, 1142 (Miss.1992); Cotton v. Veterans Cab Co., 344 So.2d 730, 731 (Miss.1977). In Bucklew v. State, 192 So.2d 275 (Miss.1966), a public official was found guilty of attempted embezzlement of city......
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