Opinion ID: 2641038
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: we lack appellate jurisdiction over

Text: THE APPEAL BECAUSE THE SO-CALLED APPELLANTS ARE NOT PARTIES TO THE CASE ¶23 Weber County and the purported appellants spend the entirety of their appellate briefs addressing four issues: adequacy of service of process, procedural due process, substantive due process, and attorney fees. But we see a more fundamental problem with this appeal. Specifically, the so-called appellants (Roman Hernandez, Chase Aeschlimann, Jesse Aeschlimann, Samuel Parsons, Jamie Gomez, and Willie Rodriguez) are not parties to the action and thus are not entitled to appeal the Injunction. ¶24 In Utah Down Syndrome Foundation, Inc. v. Utah Down Syndrome Association, we held that we lacked appellate jurisdiction over the case because the individual attempting to appeal was not a party and thus did not have the right to appeal. 2012 UT 86, ¶ 1, 293 P.3d 241. We explained that the appropriate vehicle through which he could challenge the district court’s order was a petition for extraordinary writ. Id. ¶ 12. ¶25 In that case, the district court “issued an order and judgment purporting to affect the interests of a nonparty,” Mr. Gilbert. Id. ¶ 13. Mr. Gilbert never filed a motion to intervene, but sought to appeal the judgment. Id. We held that “[b]ecause he was never a party . . . Mr. Gilbert does not have an appeal as of right, and his attempt to appeal was improper.” Id. We therefore concluded that we lacked jurisdiction and were required to dismiss the case. Id. ¶ 26 In this case, the only named defendant is Ogden Trece. The only person or entity that attempted to intervene was the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). But its motion to intervene was denied and it has not appealed that ruling. None of the socalled appellants in this appeal were named as parties to the action and none sought to intervene. Rather, their attorneys simply 7 WEBER CO. v. OGDEN TRECE Opinion of the Court showed up to court hearings and were somehow allowed to be heard, despite the fact that they were technically mere spectators. Indeed, when entering their appearances in the hearings, the attorneys were careful to note that they were representing individual alleged gang members and not the gang. For example, in one instance, Michael Studebaker introduced himself as counsel “for Samuel Parsons, Jaime Gomez, and Willie Rodriguez and nobody else, and no[t] the gang in itself.” Another attorney, Randall Richards, stated, “I represent Roman Hernandez, Chase Aeschlimann, and Jesse Aeschlimann. . . . Oh, and by the way, I do not represent the gang, whatever that happens to be.” Michael Boyle stated he was representing “Emmanuel Montoya, Andrew Callahan. And again, I don’t represent Ogden Trece or Centro City Locos.” ¶27 Although Jesse Aeschlimann never actually moved to intervene, the district court raised and then rejected the possibility of intervention in a memorandum decision. It stated: Jesse Aeschlimann has failed to file a motion to intervene as required under [r]ule 24, URCP. The [c]ourt finds Jesse Aeschlimann should not be permitted to intervene as a matter of right or as a permissive intervenor. The interests of Ogden Trece are already being adequately represented by two attorneys. Many of the issues raised by Jesse Aeschlimann in his memorandum were addressed by the [c]ourt in two memorandum decisions on April 4, 2011. Allowing permissive intervention for Jesse Aeschlimann would cause undue delay and require the [c]ourt to revisit issues already ruled on. Permissive intervention would require the [c]ourt to restart the litigation. . . . The [c]ourt will deny Jesse Aeschlimann’s motion to intervene. ¶28 Since none of the so-called appellants are parties to the case, they are not entitled to an appeal as of right. See, e.g., Utah Down Syndrome, 2012 UT 86, ¶ 9 (stating that the appellant “as a nonparty, is not entitled to appeal”); Brigham Young Univ. v. Tremco Consultants, Inc., 2005 UT 19, ¶ 46, 110 P.3d 678 (noting that “nonparties . . . cannot appeal the [court] order”). “Under our rules, it is the service of process, the affirmative act of filing suit, or the act of seeking to intervene as a party that subjects one to the jurisdiction of the court and puts him on notice that he is subject to ongoing court proceedings.” Utah Down Syndrome, 2012 UT 86, ¶ 18. Mere notice of or appearance in proceedings is not enough. Even though 8 Cite as: 2013 UT 62 Opinion of the Court the district court allowed the so-called appellants to be heard, they were not named parties and never filed motions to intervene. They were therefore not entitled to appeal and we lack appellate jurisdiction over the appeal. Id. ¶ 12.