Opinion ID: 1849825
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: The Propriety of Granting Summary Judgment After A Jury Is Empaneled

Text: On the morning of trial, after a jury had already been selected and empaneled and the parties had both made opening statements, the trial court heard and granted Southwest's motion for summary judgment. This unusual sequence of events requires us to reflect upon the timing of summary judgment hearings in light of the underlying purposes of such proceedings. The summary judgment procedure represents a compromise between litigants' constitutional right to trial by jury and the judicial system's need to streamline its crowded dockets. See Brown, 444 So.2d at 362-63; see also 6 Moore's Federal Practice § 56.15 (1982). Since a constitutional right is at stake, however, motions for summary judgment should be granted with great caution. Brown, 444 So.2d at 363. Trial judges must be sensitive to the notion that summary judgment may never be granted in derogation of a party's constitutional right to trial by jury. Miss. Const. art. 3, § 31 (1890)... . If there is to be error at the trial level it should be in denying summary judgment and in favor of a full live trial. Brown, 444 So.2d at 362-63 (quoting 6 Moore's Federal Practice § 56.15[1]-[2] (1982) (emphasis added). In the case before us, we find that the trial court's action served few, if any, of the pragmatic rationales for summary judgment. The court had already set aside a block of time in which to try this case, and it was much too late to substitute another case. The parties, along with their witnesses, were present and prepared to proceed with the trial. The daily routine of the veniremen had already been interrupted; the jury was empaneled and ready to hear the evidence. The advance in judicial economy resulting from the trial court's grant of summary judgment was thus minuscule at best, and the benefits of granting Southwest's motion clearly failed to outweigh the Hursts' right to have a full jury trial on the merits of their claims. We hold that the commencement of trial closes the season for granting motions for summary judgment. Where trial has already begun, it is far preferable to allow the plaintiff to present his case in chief and then, if the plaintiff has failed to meet his burden of proof, direct a verdict in favor of the defendant. E.