Pridemore v. Napolitano

• Decision Date: 27 February 1997
• Docket Number: No. 95-630-A,95-630-A
• Citation: 689 A.2d 1053
• Parties: Robert F. PRIDEMORE et al. v. Stephen J. NAPOLITANO et al. ppeal.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 1053

689 A.2d 1053

Robert F. PRIDEMORE et al. v. Stephen J. NAPOLITANO et al.

No. 95-630-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

Feb. 27, 1997.

Steven Aaron Robinson, Providence, for Plaintiff.

Richard D. Riendeau, David A. Salvatore, Providence, for Defendant.

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

This case came before a panel of the Supreme Court on January 14, 1997, pursuant to an order that directed the plaintiff here, Steven P. Kazanjian, ¹ and the defendants, Stephen T. Napolitano, in his capacity as treasurer of the city of Providence (city), and Thomas Blessington (Blessington), to show cause why this appeal should not be summarily decided. The defendants have appealed from a Superior Court order granting the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment.

After hearing the arguments of counsel and reviewing the memoranda filed by counsel for the parties, this Court concludes that cause has not been shown, and the case will be decided at this time.

It is undisputed that plaintiff suffered injuries while riding as a passenger in a car that was struck by a vehicle owned by the city and operated by its employee Blessington, a Providence police officer, who was on his way to work. A verdict in favor of plaintiff in the amount of $3,085 was obtained in District Court on November 3, 1993. At that point, a dispute arose concerning the imposition of prejudgment interest, and a separate hearing was held on that issue on November 12, 1993. The docket entry on that date indicated that "P is denied pre trial interest." Counsel for plaintiff then presented an order stating that plaintiff was not entitled to an award of interest against the city. The order also stated that judgment may issue against the city for $3,085 plus costs and against Blessington for $3,085 "plus interest " and costs. ² (Emphasis added.) The order was entered by the trial justice on November 29, 1993, and on the same day two judgments, also presented by plaintiff's counsel, were entered in favor of plaintiff, one against the city for "$3,085.00 plus costs in the amount of $66.00 for a total of $3,151.00," and the other against Blessington for "$3,085.00 plus prejudgment interest in the amount of $1,974.40, plus costs in the amount of $45.00 for a total of $5,104.00, plus statutory interest." (Emphasis added.) The defendants did not appeal these judgments.

In March 1994, pursuant to Rule 60 of the District Court Rules of Civil Procedure, defendants filed a motion for relief from the judgment against Blessington, arguing that the judgment and order presented by plaintiff's attorney did not conform to the decision of the trial justice on the issue of prejudgment interest. The motion was heard and granted by the trial justice on April 5, 1994, and the resulting order stated that plaintiff "is denied pre-trial interest" against both defendants. The plaintiff filed a timely appeal of that order to the Superior Court and moved for summary judgment. That motion was granted by the Superior Court, which ordered that judgment against Blessington would enter in the amount of $3,085 plus costs and prejudgment interest. The defendants timely appealed to this Court.

On appeal, defendants argued first that plaintiff's appeal to the Superior Court from the granting of the motion to vacate was not timely because plaintiff had failed to appeal the trial justice's oral decision of November 12, 1993, denying plaintiff prejudgment interest. In essence, defendants have argued that the November 12 decision was adverse to plaintiff and that plaintiff was required to appeal it prior to entry of judgment, which occurred on November 29, 1993. We disagree. The proper time for filing the appeal to the Superior Court under G.L.1956 § 9-12-10 was within two days (exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays) of entry of judgment on November 29, 1993, not within two days of the oral decision. See Russell v. Kalian, 414 A.2d 462, 464 (R.I.1980) (appeal from Superior Court filed after oral decision but before entry of judgment not timely, although defect not fatal). In this case, however, the judgment against Blessington was in plaintiff's favor on the issue of prejudgment interest. Clearly, plaintiff was under no obligation to appeal a favorable judgment.

The defendants also contended that the District Court's order on the motion for relief was interlocutory in character and could not be appealed to the Superior Court. The defendants maintained that the statutory basis for appeals from District Court to Superior Court under § 9-12-10 does not provide an avenue of appeal from "interlocutory orders vacating superfluous judgments." See also Dist.R.Civ.P. 73. Although it is true that only final judgments may be appealed under § 9-12-10, Burns Electronic Supply Co. v. Westmoreland, 116 R.I. 332, 339, 356 A.2d 479, 482 (1976), this Court has previously held that a District Court order denying a motion to vacate a judgment "possesses all the attributes of finality" and is thus subject to appeal under § 9-12-10. Murphy v. Charlie's Home Improvement Co., 117 R.I. 324, 325, 366 A.2d 809, 810 (1976). We are of the opinion that this reasoning applies with equal force to the District Court's granting of defendants' motion for relief, and therefore, the appeal to the Superior Court under § 9-12-10 was proper.

In a related argument, defendants contended that plaintiff's appeal to Superior Court was improper because plaintiff had failed to obtain certification pursuant to Dist.R.Civ.P. 54(b), which applies in cases involving multiple claims or multiple parties, for the judgments entered in November 1993. According to defendants, under Rule 54(b) these judgments are still subject to revision and cannot be regarded as final for purposes of appeal. Because defendants failed to raise this issue in the Superior Court, we shall not address it. It is well settled that issues not brought to the attention of the trial justice cannot be raised for the first time on...