Opinion ID: 1856311
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: whether the trial court erred in admitting into evidence an affidavit filed after the hearing on the motions for summary judgment.

Text: Rule 56(c) of the M.R.C.P. states that motions for summary judgments may be served within ten days of the time fixed for the hearing on the motion for summary judgment. Adverse parties may serve affidavits prior to the day affixed for the hearing. Rule 6(d) of the M.R.C.P. provides that when a motion is supported by an affidavit, the affidavit shall be served with the motion, and opposing affidavits may be served not later than one day before the hearing, unless the court has given permission to serve them at some other time. In the case sub judice the plaintiffs raise the issue of whether or not the trial court should have accepted an affidavit from John McCaskill, Jr. regarding the subsurface conditions at the construction site. That affidavit was sworn on May 18, 1993 and filed on June 1, 1993. The hearing on the Motions for Summary Judgment was held on March 11, 1993, more than two months before the affidavit was sworn or filed. Whether Howard was acting as the moving party or was acting in response to the plaintiffs' Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment, the affidavit was late and is not allowed under either Rule 6(d) or Rule 56(c) of the M.R.C.P. Howard claims that the trial court requested briefs and proposed findings of fact after the hearing date, and that the only reason that the affidavit itself was sworn and filed was that the plaintiffs' brief raised several arguments which were not made at oral arguments. Even if that were the case, the transcript of the oral argument is not a part of the record for consideration before us. As a result, this Court cannot consider what may or may not have been a basis for oral argument juxtaposed against the briefs submitted by either party. Howard further argues that Rule 56(e) of the M.R.C.P. allows for the trial court to consider supplemental affidavits. While that may be true, Rule 56(e) does not allow for such supplemental affidavits to be submitted after the time set out in Rule 56(c) or in Rule 6(d). In Richardson v. APAC-Mississippi, Inc., 631 So.2d 143, 146 (Miss. 1994), we upheld a trial judge's order striking affidavits of a party opposing summary judgment on the grounds that they were not filed until the day of the hearing. That decision was based in part upon Lujan v. National Wildlife Federation, 497 U.S. 871, 895-97, 110 S.Ct. 3177, 3192-93, 111 L.Ed.2d 695 (1990), wherein the United States Supreme Court held that under Rule 6(b) of the Fed.R.Civ.P., upon which the M.R.C.P. are based, an affidavit which was filed late must be for cause shown, and only after cause has been shown may a judge invoke his discretion in accepting or rejecting the late submission. There being no cause shown as to the reasons why this affidavit was filed after the allowable time set forth in the rules, the affidavit should not have been accepted by the trial judge. Nevertheless, for the reasons set forth in part II of this memorandum, the affidavit would not alter the determination of whether Howard had a duty to Cooley because, as was stated earlier, Howard was an agent of Jones County, the true owner of the property. As a result, Howard, as agent for Jones County, had given over possession of the property to McCaskill Brothers and the other contractor who were to complete the expansion. Thus, the trial court's consideration of the affidavit was harmless error.