Opinion ID: 1155426
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: A.R. 14(a) states, in part:

Text: Any appeal as a matter of right from the district court may be made only by physically filing a notice of appeal with the clerk of the district court within 42 days from the date evidenced by the filing stamp of the clerk of the court on any judgment, order or decree of the district court appealable as a matter of right in any civil or criminal action. The time for an appeal from any civil judgment, order or decree in an action is terminated by the filing of a timely motion which, if granted, could affect any findings of fact, conclusions of law or any judgment in the action (except motions under Rule 60 of the Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure or motions regarding costs or attorney fees), in which case the appeal period for all judgments, orders and decrees commences to run upon the date of the clerk's filing stamp on the order deciding such motion. In this case, the trial court granted Pike's summary judgment motion, which the clerk of the court file stamped on March 16, 1990. Thompson filed an I.R.C.P. 59(e) motion to alter or amend the judgment on May 17, 1990. I.R.C.P. 59(e) requires that [a] motion to alter or amend the judgment shall be served not later than fourteen (14) days after entry of the judgment. The trial court determined that the I.R.C.P. 59(e) motion was timely pursuant to the requirements of I.R.C.P. 77(d), which states, in part: Immediately upon the entry of an order or judgment the clerk of the district court, or magistrate's division, shall serve a copy thereof, with the clerk's filing stamp thereon showing the date of filing, by mail on every party affected thereby by mailing or delivering to the attorney of record or each party ... The clerk shall make a note in the court records of the mailing. Such mailing is sufficient notice for all purposes for which notice of the entry of an order is required by these rules ... Lack of notice of entry of an order or judgment does not affect the time to appeal or to file a post-judgment motion, or relieve or authorize the court to relieve a party for failure to appeal or file a post-trial motion within the time allowed, except where there is no showing of mailing by the clerk in the court records and the party affected thereby had no actual notice. The trial court found that the clerk of the district court had not mailed a file stamped copy of the order to Thompson. In ruling that Thompson did not have actual knowledge of the entry of final judgment, the court relied on the affidavit submitted by the secretary to Thompson's attorney, in which the secretary stated that on May 3, 1990, the trial judge's clerk told her that judgment would not be entered until after the hearing on May 29, 1990. The trial court then denied Thompson's motion to alter or amend the judgment, and Thompson appealed within forty-two days. Pike argues that our holding in City of Preston v. Baxter, 120 Idaho 418, 816 P.2d 975 (1991) controls. In Baxter, the Court stated: The only question presented is whether the trial court's memorandum, decision and order included a specific direction as to the judgment to be entered. Id. This question was posed by the appellant in response to an order of the clerk of this Court stating that the notice of appeal was not timely with respect to the memorandum, decision and order and inviting the appellant to respond. The appellant's brief in response to this invitation stated only one issue: Does the Memorandum Decision and Order filed August 8, 1990, meet the requisites of Rule 58, I.R.C.P., and decisional law as a final, appealable judgment? It was this question, and this question only, that the Court addressed and decided in Baxter. In this case, the evidence is undisputed that the trial court's law clerk sent a copy of the summary judgment order to Thompson the day before the district court clerk placed the clerk's filing stamp on the order, and that the trial court records do not show that the clerk of the district court ever sent Thompson a copy of the order bearing the filing stamp. Under I.R.C.P. 77(d), this leaves us with the question of when Thompson had actual notice. As we read the rule, this must be actual notice of the entry of the summary judgment order. I.R.C.P. 58(a) provides: The placing of the clerk's filing stamp on the judgment constitutes the entry of the judgment. The summary judgment order dismissing Thompson's claims is very similar to the order in Baxter. The placement by the clerk of the district court of the filing stamp on the summary judgment order on March 16, 1990, constituted the entry of judgment. Baxter, 120 Idaho at 420, 816 P.2d at 977. If Thompson had actual notice of the placement of the clerk's filing stamp on the summary judgment order more than fourteen days prior to the filing of the motion to alter or amend the judgment, the motion would have been untimely under I.R.C.P. 59(e) and 77(d). In support of its conclusion that Thompson's motion to alter or amend the judgment was timely, the trial court referred to the affidavit of the secretary to Thompson's attorney and found that Thompson had no actual notice of the entry of judgment because [Thompson's] counsel was misled by the information he received from the clerk's office. Even though the trial court's finding that Thompson had no actual notice was apparently based solely on the affidavit of the secretary to Thompson's attorney, and not on any oral testimony presented to the trial court, we will not substitute our impressions gained from the written record considered by the trial court for the finding of the trial court unless we are convinced the finding is clearly erroneous. Cf. Shelton v. Diamond Intern. Corp., 108 Idaho 935, 937-38, 703 P.2d 699, 651-52 (1985). We conclude that the trial court's finding that Thompson did not have actual notice of the entry of judgment dismissing Thompson's claims is not clearly erroneous. The affidavit of the secretary to Thompson's attorney provides substantial and competent evidence to support the finding. Although the contents of the affidavit contained significant hearsay, the record discloses no objection by Pike to the consideration of the contents of the affidavit, and Pike has not raised this issue on appeal.