Case Name: SMITH v. SOUTHERN PACIFIC CO.
Court: Supreme Court of Nevada
Jurisdiction: Nevada
Decision Date: 1928-01-07
Citations: 50 Nev. 377
Docket Number: No. 2797
Parties: SMITH v. SOUTHERN PACIFIC CO.
Judges: 
Reporter: Nevada Reports
Volume: 50
Pages: 377–382

Head Matter:
SMITH v. SOUTHERN PACIFIC CO.
No. 2797
January 7, 1928.
262 P. 935.
Edw. C. Short, Geo. S. Green and A. Grant Miller, for Movant:
Brown & Belforcl, for Appellant:

Opinion:
OPINION
By the Court,
Coleman, J.:
This case is before the court on the motion of the plaintiff to dismiss the appeal which was taken from the order denying the defendant's motion for a new trial.
The ground of the motion is that the appeal was not taken within six months from the rendition of the judgment in the case. It is conceded that the appeal was taken within 60 days from the entry of the order appealed from.
The time within which an appeal may be taken is fixed by section 5329, Rev. Laws (section 387, Civ. Code), as amended by chapter 91, Stats. 1913, which reads:
"An appeal may be taken:
"1. From a final judgment in an action or special proceeding commenced in the court in which the judgment is rendered, within six months after the rendition of the judgment.
"2. From an order granting or refusing a new trial, or granting or refusing to grant or dissolving or refusing to dissolve an inj unction, or appointing or refusing to appoint a receiver, or dissolving or refusing to dissolve an attachment, or changing or refusing to change the place of trial, and from any special order made after final judgment, within sixty days after the order is made and entered in the minutes of the court.
<<g
"4. »
The ground for the motion is:
"That the final judgment in said action was rendered on the 3d day of May, 1926; that the said appeal was not taken until the 1st day of September, 1927; that appellant did not make its motion for a new trial of said action in said Second judicial district court of the State of Nevada in and for the county of Washoe until the 26th day of May, 1927; and that said appeal was not taken within the time allowed by law."
The order denying the motion for a new trial was entered July 6, 1927, and the appeal was taken September 1, 1927.
Counsel for movant state their contention as follows:
"The point which we desire to present to the court in this motion is that the pendency of the motion for a new trial does not extend the period of appeal, and that the time for appeal to bring any case to this court in this state is limited to six months, and that the motion for a new trial provided by a later act must be heard and determined within the six months' period in order to give them an appeal at all."
Counsel apparently base their contention chiefly upon the theory that the statute provides that the appeal "must" be taken within the period of six months after the rendition of the judgment, for such statement was made several times during the argument.
The word "must" is not used, nor is it contended that it is; nor is it said that the word "may" should be construed to mean must. If it were, it would not change the intent of the statute so far as the situation presented is concerned.
We are unable to find any language in the section quoted which is susceptible of the contention made. The section in question is so clear to our minds that we find it difficult to elucidate. Its purpose is to authorize an appeal by a party when he finds himself in one or more of the classes mentioned, and the right to appeal when the circumstances bring him within one class is entirely independent of the right given in either of the other classes. In fact, it is clear that, if the circumstances bring him within two of the classes mentioned, he has two separate and distinct grounds of appeal.
The section quoted, so far as it is material here, is substantially the same as it was adopted in 1869 (Stats. 1869, p. 248), and during all of these years it has been uniformly construed by bench and bar to authorize an appeal from an order denying a motion for a new trial within sixty days from the denial of the motion, regardless of how long a time has elapsed between the rendition of the judgment and the making of the order.
The question is not a doubtful one, but, if it were, the construction so long accepted would not be lightly overturned.
This court quoted with approval from Stuart v. Laird, 1 Cranch, 308, 2 L. Ed. 115, in which the construction of a certain federal law was in question, as follows:
"To this objection, which is of recent date, it is sufficient to observe that practice and acquiescence under it for a period of several years, commencing with the organization of the judicial system, affords an irresistible answer, and has indeed fixed the construction. It is a contemporary interpretation of the most forcible nature. This practical exposition is too strong and obstinate to be shaken or controlled. The question is at rest, and ought not now to be disturbed." State v. Glean, 18 Nev. 44, 1 P. 186.
While we do not wish to be understood as holding that a construction adopted by bench and bar is conclusive, it is certainly persuasive in any case in which it has uniformly been indulged so long, and, unless such construction is clearly contrary to the legislative intent, it will not be overthrown.
If the statute were doubtful, it would be the duty of the court to adopt that construction which would be the least likely to produce mischief. Arnold et al. v. Stevenson, 2 Nev. 234; Haydon v. Board, etc., 2 Nev. 371; O'Neil v. N. Y. & S. P. Co., 3 Nev. 141; State v. Brodigan, 37 Nev. 255, 141 P. 988.
For the reasons given, it is ordered that the motion be denied.