Opinion ID: 1631680
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Circuit Court Ruling.

Text: ¶ 10. The trial court held: The term forthwith is not specifically defined in the statute, but has been judicially construed to mandate prompt filing of a petition in the Circuit Court by the aggrieved party. The term has been interpreted to mean as little as four days (e.g., Shannon v. Henson, 499 So.2d 758 (Miss.1986)) or as many as forty-one days ( Smith v. Deere, 195 Miss. 502, 16 So.2d 33, 35 (1943)), depending on the circumstances of the case. Pearson v. Parsons, 541 So.2d 447, 450 (Miss.1989). The trial court then set-out the arguments by Brown and Cook. The argument by Cook was that his case was similar to Smith because Cook filed his petition less than 41 days after the decision by the Democratic Executive Committee. See Smith, 195 Miss. 502, 16 So.2d at 33. The trial court held: A review of Smith v. Deere reveals that the factual scenario in that case is unlike the instant action. In Smith v. Deere , the petitioner's delay in pursuing his action in Circuit Court was attributed, in part, to his need to obtain a Writ of Mandamus from the Circuit Court, and other intervening circumstances, which reasonably delayed the filing of the petition. In the instant matter, no intervening circumstances are alleged which modified that substance of Cook's basis for protesting the primary election. Cook argued that it took more time than he had anticipated to obtain the two required signatures from disinterested attorneys, which is a requirement for proceeding with the petition in Circuit Court, and that the conducting of his own independent investigation slowed the filing of his petition. However, the Court finds that the petition filed with the Committee and the petition filed with this Court do not evidence a new or independent investigation of any elaborate nature subsequent to the adverse decision by the Committee which would have delayed the filing of a petition for nearly forty (40) days. Therefore, based on the foregoing, the Court finds that this matter was not filed forthwith as that term is defined in the law of this State, and the instant petition is therefore dismissed.