Marsh v. Aljoe

• Decision Date: 21 September 1931
• Docket Number: 1712
• Citation: 3 P.2d 103,43 Wyo. 345
• Parties: MARSH, GUARDIAN v. ALJOE, ET AL
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

3 P.2d 103

43 Wyo. 345

MARSH, GUARDIAN v. ALJOE, ET AL

No. 1712

Supreme Court of Wyoming

September 21, 1931

ERROR to the District Court, Natrona County; CYRUS O. BROWN, Judge.

Heard on motions to dismiss proceedings for failure to file record within the time required by law.

For the motion there was a brief by James A. Greenwood, Attorney General, Richard J. Jackson, Deputy Attorney General and George W. Ferguson, Assistant Attorney General, all of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and by Edwin Barrett and Edward S. Arentz of Casper, Wyoming, and oral argument by Mr. Jackson.

This case has twice before appeared in this court. Marsh v Aljoe, 41 Wyo. 119, 41 Wyo. 220. The record in the present proceeding was not filed in time, and deprives the court of jurisdiction. Krivokapich v. Coal Co., 41 Wyo. 9; Reintsma v. Standard Oil Co., 37 Wyo. 471; Iven v. Jessup, 20 Wyo. 90, 6376 C. S. Where a bill of exceptions is presented more than one hundred twenty days after the final order, it must be stricken. Jones v Parker, 38 Wyo. 26; Burnett v. Giblin, et al., 38 Wyo. 421, 6384 C. S. Without a bill of exceptions there is no reviewable error before the court. Lethbridge v Lauder, 13 Wyo. 9. Motion for new trial was not filed within the ten day period. 5872 C. S. The statutory requirements are mandatory. Kent v. Upton, 3 Wyo. 44; Boswell v. Bliler, 9 Wyo. 277; Todd v. Peterson, 13 Wyo. 513; Blonde v. Merriam, 21 Wyo. 513; Hall Oil Co. v. Barquin, 33 Wyo. 92; Kowlak v. Company, 41 Wyo. 20. The motion for new trial not having been filed in time, there is nothing before the court except the record proper. Megown v. Fuller, 37 Wyo. 1; Dow v. Bryant, 28 Wyo. 508. The motion for a new trial discloses that there is no appeal from the judgment in favor of Aljoe. The proceedings in error should be dismissed.

In opposition to the motions to dismiss there was an oral argument by I. G. McCann, of Casper, Wyoming. No brief.

OPINION

Per Curiam.

This case is under the Workmen's Compensation Act, and was here once before on appeal from an order denying the application of the state treasurer for a reopening of the case. The order appealed from was reversed (41 Wyo. 220, 284 P. 260, 261), and the case reopened and retried in the District Court. The trial was to a jury who returned a verdict awarding compensation. The employer and the state treasurer filed separate motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The motions were sustained and judgment denying compensation was entered August 23, 1930. Complaining of that judgment, claimant commenced this proceeding in error. Defendants in error have filed separate, similar motions to dismiss.

September 2, 1930, the claimant filed a motion for a new trial on the ground that the court erred in sustaining the state treasurer's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and in entering the judgment. The motion for a new trial was overruled October 23, 1930. We need not decide whether that motion was necessary to preserve for review the exception to the order sustaining the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. We shall assume that it was, and that October 23, 1930, the date when it was overruled, is the date from which should be computed the time for presenting the bill of exceptions to the trial court and for filing the petition in error and record in this court.

Section 4328, C. S. 1920, provides that orders of the District Court, in compensation cases shall be reviewable by the Supreme Court on proceedings in error "in the manner prescribed by the code of civil procedure; provided, however, that the petition in error, bill of exceptions and record on appeal must be filed in the Supreme Court within 30 days from the date of decision or order on motion for new trial by a court or judge, unless the time be extended by order of court or judge, * * *."

This statute is mandatory, and compliance therewith is necessary to give this court jurisdiction. Reintsma v. Standard Oil Co., 37 Wyo. 471, 263 P. 619; Lion Coal Co. v. Contas, 42 Wyo. 59, 289 P. 368.

In the case at bar the statutory 30-day period for filing the petition in error and record in this court was extended by...