Case Title: Creel v. Gator Leasing, Inc.

Citation: 544 So. 2d 936

Docket Number: 

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 1989-04-28T00:00:00Z

Document:
544 So. 2d 936 (1989)
Leland CREEL
v.
GATOR LEASING, INC.
87-983.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
April 28, 1989.
*937 Mayer W. Perloff of Reid, Friedman & Perloff, Mobile, for appellant.
Timothy M. Grogan, Mobile, for appellee.
ALMON, Justice.
On August 8, 1987, Gator Leasing, Inc., filed an action against Leland Creel, alleging that Creel owed Gator Leasing $7,126.58 on a promissory note. Gator Leasing served Creel by certified mail at an address in Gulfport, Mississippi. The certified letter was delivered on August 24, and Creel, pro se, filed the following "Answer to Complaint" on September 14, 1987:
The case action summary sheet reflects "motion denied" on September 28, 1987.
Gator Leasing filed an amended complaint on March 7, 1988. The trial court notified Creel that the case was set for trial on April 7. On April 6, Creel filed a motion for continuance and a document styled "Defendant's Special Appearance and Answer to Amended Complaint with Affirmative Defenses and Motion to Dismiss." On April 7, Creel did not appear in court, and the court denied his motion to dismiss, denied his motion for continuance, and entered the following judgment: "Judgment by Court by default for plaintiff and against the defendant, for the sum of $10,752.68, and costs of Court. (Defendant failing to appear.)"
On April 22, Creel, appearing for the first time through an attorney, filed a motion to set aside the default judgment. The court denied that motion on May 13, and Creel filed this appeal.
"It is well established that if the defendant is properly within the jurisdiction of the court, and if he has notice of the trial date and does not appear and defend, the court has no choice but to enter judgment for the plaintiff." Roberts v. Wettlin, 431 So. 2d 524, 526 (Ala.1983) (citations omitted); see also Knight v. Davis, 356 So. 2d 156 (Ala.1978). This statement of the law starts, of course, with the premise that the court has jurisdiction over the defendant.
Prior to the adoption of the Rules of Civil Procedure, the law was that a general appearance waived the right to make a special appearance to contest jurisdiction over the person. Ex parte ACK Radio Supply *938 Co. of Georgia, 283 Ala. 630, 219 So. 2d 880 (1969); W.S. Fowler Rental Equip. Co. v. Skipper, 276 Ala. 593, 165 So. 2d 375 (1963).
The present law on the subject stems from the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 12(b) reads, in pertinent part:
Rule 12(h) provides for "Waiver or preservation of certain defenses":
Thus, a defense of lack of jurisdiction over the person may be made in a motion or answer raising other defenses that formerly would have constituted a general appearance.
Although not phrased in precise language, Creel's first "answer to the complaint" effectively raised a claim of lack of jurisdiction over the person. It stated that Creel was a resident of Mississippi and that the note was executed in Mississippi. Creel's "special appearance and answer to amended complaint" enlarged upon these allegations, alleging, for example, that "this court lacks jurisdiction over the person of Leland Creel" and that "[t]he minimal contacts with the State of Alabama are insufficient to make this Defendant amenable to process or jurisdiction of this court."
This was sufficient to raise a defense of lack of jurisdiction over the person, and nothing in the complaint, the amended complaint, or anything else submitted by Gator Leasing gives any indication of where the transaction at issue took place or of any other basis for subjecting Creel to the jurisdiction of the court. Therefore, on the face of the record before us, it was error for the court to grant a default judgment for Gator Leasing.
This Court enunciated the standard for ruling on a motion to set aside a default judgment, in Kirtland v. Fort Morgan Auth. Sewer Serv., Inc., 524 So. 2d 600, 605 (Ala.1988):
See also Jones v. Hydro-Wave of Alabama, Inc., 524 So. 2d 610 (Ala.1988). Kirtland and Jones were announced on April 1, 1988, and the trial court in the instant case denied the motion to set aside the default judgment on May 13, 1988.
*939 Applying the three tests of Kirtland, we hold that it was an abuse of discretion to deny the motion to set aside the default judgment. As we have shown above, the defense of lack of jurisdiction over the person appears to be meritorious; Gator Leasing has shown no prejudice of the kind discussed in Kirtland; and Creel's conduct, although initially unsuccessful in presenting his asserted defenses, was far from culpable. Therefore, the judgment is due to be, and it is hereby, reversed, and the cause is remanded.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
HORNSBY, C.J., and MADDOX, ADAMS and STEAGALL, JJ., concur.