Opinion ID: 2630864
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Jury trial on quo warranto claim

Text: ¶ 41 Smith next claims that the Arizona Constitution guarantees him the right to a jury trial on the Attorney General's request for a writ of quo warranto to remove him from office. We review such legal questions de novo. See U.S. West Commc'ns, Inc. v. Ariz. Corp. Comm'n, 201 Ariz. 242, 244, ¶ 17, 34 P.3d 351, 353 (2001). ¶ 42 The Attorney General is authorized to bring a quo warranto action to oust from office any person who usurps, intrudes into or unlawfully holds or exercises any public office ... within the state. A.R.S. § 12-2041(A) (2003). On October 20, 2005, sixteen days after the Commission denied Smith's request for a rehearing, after the time for filing a complaint for judicial review of the Commission's final administrative decision had run, the Attorney General filed a petition for a writ of quo warranto to have Smith removed from his public office. At that time, the administrative review process was final. The Commission's findings of fact were conclusive, as was the Commission's legal determination that Smith must forfeit his office. ¶ 43 In response to the Attorney General's complaint, Smith asserted a right to a jury trial pursuant to Article 2, Section 23 of the Arizona Constitution, which guarantees that [t]he right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate. This court recently observed, however, that Arizona's jury trial provision merely preserves a right to jury trial if such a right existed at common law; it does not create a right where none existed before. See Derendal v. Griffith, 209 Ariz. 416, 419, ¶ 8, 104 P.3d 147, 150 (2005). As the court of appeals correctly concluded, that right has never extended to civil cases that turn on uncontested facts. Smith v. Ariz. Citizens Clean Elections Comm'n, 1-CA-SA 05-0292A, slip op. ¶¶ 65, 67-68 (Ariz.App. Jan. 19, 2006) (mem.decision); see also K.B. v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 189 Ariz. 263, 268, 941 P.2d 1288, 1293 (App.1997) (stating that the rules of civil procedure do not require jury trial if no facts are in dispute). ¶ 44 In this case, we must resolve only whether Smith timely appealed, a matter controlled by law. See A.R.S. § 16-957(B). As a matter of law, when the deadline passed without Smith having filed a timely complaint for judicial review, he lost his right to appeal. See State v. Dawson, 164 Ariz. 278, 280, 792 P.2d 741, 743 (1990). Because no fact question arises from these circumstances, there is no right to a jury trial. See Preston v. Denkins, 94 Ariz. 214, 221, 382 P.2d 686, 690 (1963). While contested facts might arise if we were determining whether Smith overspent, Smith's failure to timely appeal removes that question from the case. ¶ 45 Smith cites State ex rel. Bullard v. Jones, 15 Ariz. 215, 222, 137 P. 544, 547 (1914), in support of his quest for a jury trial, incorrectly stating that this court held that one is entitled to a jury trial in quo warranto proceedings. More correctly, the court observed, in dictum, that  issues of fact arising in quo warranto proceedings were triable by jury. Id. (emphasis added) (quoting II BAILEY ON HABEAS CORPUS § 328). That statement is correct. But, as noted, there are no facts extant here for a jury to decide. ¶ 46 Smith's demand for a jury trial therefore fails.