Williams v. Bragg, A02A2338.
| Decision Date | 19 March 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. A02A2338.,A02A2338. |
| Citation | 579 S.E.2d 800,260 Ga. App. 377 |
| Parties | WILLIAMS v. BRAGG. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Zena E. McClain, Savannah, for appellant.
Brannen, Searcy & Smith, Jordon D. Morrow, Savannah, for appellee.
In this appeal, Joseph L. Williams challenges the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Shaun C. Bragg in Williams's action stemming from a vehicular collision. The primary issue in this case is whether service, accomplished after the expiration of the statute of limitation, related back to the time of filing the complaint. The trial court concluded that it did not. We agree and affirm.
The collision in issue occurred on April 15, 1998. According to Williams's attorney, before initially filing the complaint in the State Court of Chatham County on April 13, 2000, she "verified" Bragg's address "with the Bloomingdale Police Department/Recorder's Court," which informed her that Bragg resided in Chatham County. On May 10, 2000, when she had not received the sheriff's return of service, she telephoned the state court and learned that service had not been accomplished. She telephoned the Chatham County Sheriff's Department and learned that Bragg's address was "on the Chatham/Effingham county line and that Chatham County did not service his area." She then mailed the complaint and summons to the Effingham County Sheriff's Department for service. When that sheriff's department had not served Bragg by May 16, 2000, she retained a private process server, who served Bragg on May 21, 2000.
Williams contends the trial court abused its discretion and erred as a matter of law in failing to find that he was reasonably diligent. He points out correctly that when the statute of limitation expires between the date of filing and the date of service, whether that service relates back is dependent upon the length of time and the diligence of the plaintiff. Wade v. Whalen, 232 Ga.App. 765(1), 504 S.E.2d 456 (1998).
The correct test must be whether the plaintiff showed that he acted in a reasonable and diligent manner in attempting to insure that a proper service was made as quickly as possible. A reasonable rule must be that in such case the trial judge should look at all the facts involved and ascertain whether the plaintiff was in any way guilty of laches.... The plaintiff has the burden of showing lack of fault.
(Punctuation and footnote omitted.) Id. Determining whether this burden has been met is in the trial court's discretion, and the trial court's finding will not be disturbed absent an abuse of discretion. Mann v. Atlanta Cas. Co., 215 Ga.App. 747, 749, 452 S.E.2d 130 (1994).
It is well established that Cantin v. Justice, 224 Ga.App. 195, 196, 480 S.E.2d 250 (1997). Accord Robison v. Green, 228 Ga.App. 27, 29, 491 S.E.2d 95 (1997). This is particularly true when the statute of limitation expires almost immediately after the complaint is filed. Here, the statute of limitation expired on April 15, 2000. OCGA § 9-3-33. The complaint was filed two days before its expiration. Yet the record does not show that Williams consulted any readily available references to ensure that the suit against Bragg was being filed in the proper county. Robison, supra; Nee v. Dixon, 199 Ga.App. 729, 730-731, 405 S.E.2d 766 (1991). Williams apparently relied upon misinformation from the Bloomingdale Police Department, when he was Walker v. Hoover, 191 Ga.App. 859, 861, 383 S.E.2d 208 (1989). Williams "cannot excuse [his] lack of diligence by attempting to place responsibility on others." Id.
Moreover, the Chatham County Sheriff's return of...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Tillman v. Georgia
...is diligent in perfecting service. Childs v. Catlin, 134 Ga.App. 778, 781, 216 S.E.2d 360 (1975); see also Williams v. Bragg, 260 Ga.App. 377, 378, 579 S.E.2d 800 (2003). If the plaintiff complies with (1) or (2), the service relates back to the date the suit was filed, which then controls ......
-
Flood v. City of Jacksonville
...Tillman , 466 F.Supp.2d at 1314–15(citing Childs v. Catlin , 134 Ga.App. 778, 781, 216 S.E.2d 360 (1975), and Williams v. Bragg , 260 Ga.App. 377, 378, 579 S.E.2d 800 (2003) ). Because jurisdiction over the state law claims was based on supplemental jurisdiction, as opposed to diversity jur......
-
Van Omen v. Lopresti
...plaintiff becomes aware of a problem with service such as from a sheriff's return of service non est. See, e.g., Williams v. Bragg , 260 Ga. App. 377, 379, 579 S.E.2d 800 (2003) (greatest possible diligence required after plaintiff learned from return of service that address was not in coun......
-
Griffin v. Stewart
...trial court's finding will not be disturbed absent an abuse of discretion.(Citations and punctuation omitted.) Williams v. Bragg , 260 Ga. App. 377, 378, 579 S.E.2d 800 (2003), overruled on other grounds by Van Omen v. Lopresti , 357 Ga. App. 9, 14 (2), 849 S.E.2d 758 (2020). Here, the tria......
-
Trial Practice and Procedure - Jason Crawford, Matthew E. Cook, J. Clay Fuller, Michael A. Eddings, and Dustin T. Brown
...date the waiver of service request was due before forwarding the complaint to the sheriff for service on defendant); Williams v. Bragg, 260 Ga. App. 377, 378, 579 S.E.2d 800, 801 ("when a plaintiff is aware of a defendant's correct address, he must also determine the correct county in which......