Title: Perkins v. Coker

State: louisiana

Issuer: Louisiana Supreme Court

Document:

404 So. 2d 902 (1981) Louis PERKINS v. Howard L. COKER, Jr. No. 81-C-2045. Supreme Court of Louisiana. September 28, 1981. *903 John P. Navarre, Oakdale, for defendant-relator. Perrell Fuselier, Oakdale, for plaintiff-respondent. PER CURIAM. This an application to review the dismissal of an appeal by the Court of Appeal. The writ is granted. Defendant appealed from a judgment decreeing the ownership of immovable property in a petitory action. The Third Circuit dismissed the appeal for failure of defendant to file his brief within sixty days of the lodging of the transcript with the Court of Appeal. The issue presented is whether the appellate court properly dismissed the appeal as abandoned. An appeal may be dismissed as abandoned only when there is strong evidence of an intent to abandon the appeal. Courts of appeal have the power to dismiss appeals as abandoned under C.C.P. 2162. This power has been limited in its application by C.C.P. 561 that provides, "[a]n appeal is abandoned when the parties fail to take any step in its prosecution or disposition for the period provided in the rules of the appellate court, not to be less than one year." (Emphasis added). In the case at bar the transcript was lodged in the Third Circuit on March 16, 1981, and the brief was filed May 17, 1981. The brief was filed prior to the date set for oral argument, but the court below dismissed the appeal as abandoned. The dismissal was contrary to C.C.P. 561 and Rule VII, § 5(b) of the Uniform Rules, Courts of Appeal, that provides: We find the harsh sanction of the Third Circuit inappropriate in this case. Careful consideration must be made before intent to abandon an appeal is found. The scope of § 5(b) of Rule VII of the Uniform Rules, Court of Appeal, was explained in Walker v. Jones, 253 La. 908, 913, 221 So. 2d 44, 46 (1969): Walker was relied upon to reinstate "abandoned" appeals in Messer v. Department of Corrections, 349 So. 2d 1273 (La. 1977); Mills v. Adams, 353 So. 2d 1339 (La. 1978) and Wilson v. Schwegmann Brothers, 373 So. 2d 1309 (La. 1979). The dismissal of the appeal herein by the Third Circuit Court of Appeal is set aside, and the case is remanded to that court for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.