Opinion ID: 453582
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the denial of the preliminary injunction

Text: 38 The final issue before us is the propriety of the district court's denial of Cable Holdings' June 24, 1983 motion for a preliminary injunction. The district court denied this motion for the same reason that it granted the partial summary judgment and dissolved the preliminary restraint, namely, the erroneous belief that the superior court's judgment had res judicata effect and that Cable Holdings' exclusive franchises thus were invalid as a matter of law. Our rejection of the district court's reasoning, however, does not mean that Cable Holdings was entitled to the preliminary injunction. 39 On the same day that Cable Holdings filed its motion for a preliminary injunction, the district court denied a request for a temporary restraining order, directed to the same parties and intended to serve the same purpose as the preliminary injunction, because Cable Holdings had failed to demonstrate a substantial likelihood of success on the merits. On September 27, 1983, the district court denied another request for a temporary restraining order, in part because Cable Holdings still had not demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits. Two weeks later, the court issued an order explaining its September 27 ruling in greater detail, and extensively discussing the merits of the case. All of this preceded the superior court's April, 1984 judgment. 40 As is the case with a temporary restraining order, a party seeking a preliminary injunction must show a substantial likelihood of success on the merits. See Harris v. Wilters, 596 F.2d 678, 680 (5th Cir.1979). It is apparent, therefore, that the district court ultimately would have denied Cable Holdings' June 24, 1983 motion for a preliminary injunction even absent the erroneous reliance on the superior court's judgment. Consequently, although the district court denied the motion for the wrong reason, we cannot say that the denial constituted an abuse of discretion. See id. (Only in rare instances is the issuance of a mandatory preliminary injunction proper.... The denial of such a remedy will not be reversed on appeal except for an abuse of discretion.). Instead, we affirm the denial on the alternative ground that Cable Holdings had not demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits. See Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 475 n. 6, 90 S.Ct. 1153, 1156 n. 6, 25 L.Ed.2d 491 (1970) (The prevailing party may, of course, assert in a reviewing court any ground in support of his judgment, whether or not that ground was relied upon or even considered by the trial court.). 20