Davis v. Eachus, 2004 Ohio 5720 (OH 10/22/2004)
| Citation | 2004 Ohio 5720 |
| Decision Date | 22 October 2004 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 04CA725. |
| Parties | Robin K. Davis, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. William N. Eachus, et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | Ohio Supreme Court |
Rick L. Brunner and D. Chadd McKitrick, The Brunner Law Firm Co., L.P.A., 545, East Town Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, Counsel for Appellant.
Jerome D. Catanzaro, Catanzaro & Rosenberg, P.O. Box 26, Waverly, Ohio, 45690, Counsel for Appellee, Donald Davis.
James L. Mann, Mann & Preston, L.L.P., 280 Yoctangee Parkway, Chillicothe, Ohio, 45601, Counsel for Appellee, Mary Bone-Kunze.
Paige J. McMahon, Spetnagel & McMahon, 42 East Fifth Street, Chillicothe, Ohio, 45601, Counsel for Appellees, David D. Seif, Jr., Kelly P. Seif & Cindy 45601, L. McGuire.
Michael J. Collins, John C. Nemeth & Associates, 21 East Frankfort Street, Columbus, Ohio 43206, Counsel for Appellee, David Seif.
DECISION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY
{¶ 1} This is an appeal from a Pike County Common Pleas Court summary judgment that dismissed all remaining parties in an action brought by Robin K. Davis, plaintiff below and appellant herein.
{¶ 2} Appellant assigns the following errors for review:
i. First assignment of error
ii. "The trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of defendant mary bone-kunze, thereby dismissing her from the action, when she failed to move the trial court for summary judgment[.]"
iii. Second assignment of error
iv. The trial court erred and abused its discretion in changing venue from the franklin county common pleas court to the pike county common pleas court[.]"
v. Third assignment of error
vi. "The trial court erred in setting the period for discovery at only two months despite this being an action based on a professional tort[.]"
vii. Fourth assignment of error
viii. "The trial court erred in granting the non-attorney defendants, david seif, david seif, jr. kelly seif, cindy McGuire and Donald Davis', motions for summary judgment[.]"
ix. Fifth assignment of error
x. "The trial court erred in finding that the appellants' claims in this action could be considered to be frivolous[.]"
{¶ 3} This appeal is another installment in the divorce saga of Appellant Robin K. Davis and her ex-husband, Donald Davis, the defendant below and appellee herein. Although the parties divorced in 1998, events which transpired in their marriage and subsequent divorce spawned three additional civil suits and three appeals spanning two different counties. A brief review of the facts are as follows.
{¶ 4} The couple married on July 2, 1993. In 1996, Donald Davis approached Appellee David Seif for help in financing the purchase of approximately 66 acres of land. Seif put Davis in contact with his sons, appellees David Seif, Jr. and Kelly Seif, who agreed to front the purchase price if Davis and the appellant would then convey one-half of their interest to them and execute a note to pay one half of the purchase price. On March 1, 1996, a warranty deed was filed for record with the Pike County Recorder that transferred the 66 acres to the appellant and Donald Davis. That same day, the couple purportedly executed a deed conveying a one-half interest in the property to the Seif brothers. The Seif deed, for some reason, was not recorded for several years.
{¶ 5} Appellant filed for divorce the following year in Davis v. Davis, Pike County Common Pleas No. 287 CIV D 97 (Davis I). On April 17, 1998, while the divorce was pending, the Seif deed was recorded. Three days later, the appellant and Davis appeared in court and agreed to a property settlement that called for their one-half interest in the property to be sold at auction. The trial court explicitly asked the appellant if she thought that this was a fair agreement and she responded in the affirmative.
{¶ 6} Nevertheless, on November 17, 1998, the appellant filed a "proffer of evidence" and claimed that her signature on the deed to transfer the one-half interest to the Seif brothers was fraudulent and that she signed the deed under duress.1 Appellant asked that the trial court revisit the property division in light of such fraud. The trial court apparently rejected her "proffer" and, on December 7, 1998, issued a judgment that, inter alia, granted a divorce on grounds of incompatibility, designated Donald Davis as the primary residential parent of the parties' minor child and adopted the parties' property agreement.
{¶ 7} Appellant appealed the trial court's judgment and asserted no fewer than twelve assignments of error that challenged, among other things, the court's adoption of the property settlement in light of her allegations of fraud and duress. We rejected that argument on grounds that the appellant (1) did not proffer any evidence of duress, and (2) knew of the alleged fraud several months before the court hearing and property settlement, but nevertheless agreed, in open court, to the division of property. We affirmed the divorce decree in toto. See Davis v. Davis (Sep. 5, 2000), Pike App. No. 99CA630 (Davis IA).
{¶ 8} On March 20, 1999, the parties' one-half interest in the 66 acre parcel was sold at auction and acquired by Donald Davis for $5,000. Appellant objected to the sale and claimed that the sales price was grossly inadequate. Consequently, the trial court held a hearing over several days to determine if the sale should be confirmed. During that time, the appellant again raised the issue of whether her signature on the 1998 Seif deed was properly witnessed and notarized. The court nevertheless confirmed the sale. Appellant appealed that decision. Once again, we affirmed the trial court's judgment. See Davis v. Davis (Jun. 7, 2002), Pike App. No. 01CA668 (Davis IB).
{¶ 9} On March 18, 1999, the appellant filed a lawsuit against her ex-husband and alleged that he obtained her signature on the deed with threats of bodily harm, told her that the transfer of the property was necessary to settle marital debts that did not exist and that, in any event, she signed the document outside the presence of any witnesses or notary. She asked for damages, in the amount of $25,000, "liquidated damages" in an amount equal to three times the fair market value of the one-half interest plus attorney fees and costs. Davis v. Davis, Pike County Common Pleas No. 105 CIV 99 (Davis II). Appellant dismissed the action on November 12, 1999.
{¶ 10} On April 6, 2000, the appellant filed another lawsuit, this time pro se and against Appellee David Seif rather than her ex-husband, and set out essentially the same allegations. Again, the appellant asked for $25,000 in compensatory damages, liquidated damages and punitive damages. Davis v. Seif, Pike Common Pleas Court No. 126 CIV 00 (Davis III). She dismissed this lawsuit on April 10, 2000.
{¶ 11} Appellant commenced the present action in Franklin County on October 6, 2000. Her complaint, spanning more than twenty pages and one hundred paragraphs, set out ten "claims" against eighteen defendants. These defendants can be grouped into the following categories: those parties who allegedly participated in the alleged original fraud (appellant's exhusband Donald Davis, David D. Seif, David D. Seif, Jr., Kelly Seif, Cindy McGuire and Brenda Adams2), the attorneys who represented appellant during her divorce and were allegedly negligent for their failure to request a restraining order before the property was transferred and then failed to seek to have that conveyance set aside (William Eachus, Mary Bone Kunze and Deborah Douglas Barrington), various "John Doe" and "Jane Doe" entities who may claim an interest in the premises and the Waverly uilding & Loan Co.3 Davis v. Eachus, Franklin County Common Pleas No. 00CVA 10-8982 (Davis IV).
{¶ 12} Appellant's three page prayer for relief asks, in essence, for "reformation" of the deed, the transfer of the property to her, a "cleansing" of title, $25,000 in compensatory (and unspecified punitive) damages from her ex-husband and every defendant with the last name of "Sief," $25,000 in compensatory damages from Deborah Douglas Barrington, $25,000 in compensatory damages from Mary Bone Kunze and William Eachus, jointly and severally4 together with an award of attorney fees.
{¶ 13} In the months that followed, various parties filed motions to transfer the case from Franklin County to Pike County.
Although the complaint listed most of the parties as Pike County residents, (except for Mary Bone-Kunze from Jackson County and Deborah Douglas Barrington from Ross County), the appellant alleged that William Eachus was both registered to vote and had a vehicle registered in Franklin County. Thus, she opted to commence the action in Franklin county. The various motions to transfer the case to Pike County argued that Davis II was still technically pending and, thus, the Pike County Common Pleas Court had jurisdiction over these issues.5 William Eachus also filed a motion to change venue accompanied by an affidavit that noted that although he owns property in Franklin County, his residence and law practice are both in Gallipolis, Ohio.
{¶ 14} On January 8, 2001, the Franklin County Common Pleas Court granted the motions and ordered the case transferred to Pike County. Several days later, the court reconsidered its decision on grounds that it had not considered the appellant's memorandum contra before it granted the motions. On January 31, 2001, the court again granted the motions and ordered that the case be transferred to Pike County. Appellant filed an appeal with the Tenth District Court of Appeals but her case was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. See Davis v. Eachus (Mar. 30, 2001), Franklin App. No. 01AP-160 (Davis IVA).
{¶ 15} After the transfer to Pike County, most of the named defendants filed answers and denied liability. Appellees David Seif, Jr. and Kelly P. Seif also filed a counterclaim and alleged...
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