Court Opinion

ID: 9707194
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 02:04:52.267979+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:29.004268
License: Public Domain

BURMAN, J., dissenting: I think this matter should be reversed and remanded for a new trial. A careful examination of the record reveals to me that the granting of divorce and other relief was at variance with the pleadings to a degree which should not be condoned by this court, and that defendant was not given fully his day in court. The complaint alleged acts of physical cruelty which were supposed to have taken place on two specified dates. The decree was based upon findings of cruelty which took place on those two and numerous other dates. Aside from the sufficiency of the evidence relating to the other occasions, I found the evidence concerning the dates specifically alleged to be of doubtful sufficiency. It is a primary rule, always enforced and sustained by numberless decisions, that the allegations of the bill, the proof and the decree must correspond; that facts disclosed by the evidence which would warrant relief will not sustain a decree where the facts are not alleged in the bill. (Citation omitted.) (Higgins v. Higgins, 219 Ill 146, 153, 76 NE 86.) I do not feel that defendant was properly informed by specific averments in the complaint, as he has the right to be, of the charges he was expected to meet at trial. Moreover, plaintiff did not at any time attempt to amend the pleadings. I consider this error in a contested divorce proceeding too serious to be overlooked. This divorce hearing was begun on Friday, February 5, 1960, and at the end of the day, and on his own motion, the trial judge recessed the trial until the afternoon of Tuesday, February 9, 1960. On the latter date, at the beginning of proceedings, the defendant told the trial judge he was discharging his attorney. That attorney, who was then present, willingly bowed out of the case. Stating that he was not seeking a new trial and was willing to proceed from that point in the trial, defendant asked for a reasonable continuance for the purpose of obtaining new counsel. Plaintiff’s counsel objected and stated that he was going to move for a decree on the evidence as it had been heard to that point. To this the trial judge replied that the point was well taken. During the ensuing discussion the trial judge continually criticized the defendant and advised: “you are in a rut, and you’re getting deeper every minute. If you want to reconsider, I’ll give you ten minutes, and you can go out and get Mr. Hulbert and get on with this.” The court evidently was attempting to compel defendant to rehire his attorney. Defendant was given a few minutes during which he tried to locate a new attorney. When he returned to the courtroom he informed the trial judge that he was expecting some phone calls to come through hut that he did not yet have an attorney to represent him. The trial judge thereupon required defendant to proceed with the presentation of virtually his entire defense pro se. The defendant proceeded to call witnesses who, in most instances, had been plaintiff’s witnesses. Time and again the court sustained objections to the questions defendant propounded. Obviously defendant was not in a position to know how properly to ask questions and present his side of the case. Instead of being lenient the trial judge simply warned defendant that it was detrimental to his cause to call plaintiff’s witnesses as his own, and said: “I have admonished you previously and continuously Mr. Kijowski, that you are digging yourself deeper and deeper into the mire.” It is the established rule that a litigant has the right to discharge his attorney at any time with or without cause. (People v. Franklin, 425 Ill 514, 516, 114 NE2d 661; Savich v. Savich, 12 Ill2d 454, 147 NE2d 85.) I realize that the trial court has in its discretion the power to deny a party the right to substitute attorneys where such conduct would unduly prejudice the other party or interfere with the administration of justice. I conclude, however, that to deny defendant that right here was an abuse of discretion which prevented defendant from presenting his evidence. I think the trial court was disturbed by the unusual situation and inadvertently became prejudiced against the defendant. It must be remembered that this was a bench trial and that the court in the first instance and of its own initiative continued the hearing for several days. I fail to see any reason why the court would have been greatly inconvenienced, or the plaintiff prejudiced, by the granting of another short continuance. I think plaintiff should have been given leave to amend her complaint and defendant given reasonable time to answer and be properly represented by counsel. It seems to me that the lack of fairness in this case extends also to its monetary aspects. The evidence does not indicate to me that plaintiff was entitled to the entire balance in one of the joint bank accounts, and especially is this true since she did not seek such relief by specific allegation in the complaint. (Ward v. Sampson, 395 Ill 353, 365, 70 NE2d 324.) Moreover, the allowance of alimony to the plaintiff was improper in view of the fact that she earns sufficient money to maintain herself (the evidence showed, and the decree found, that plaintiff is earning at least $50 per week), and in view of the fact that the combination of alimony and child support requires defendant to pay total sums entirely out of proportion to his take home pay. Finally, the allowance of attorney’s fees in the amount of $2,000 was excessive and out of proportion to the assets of the parties and their earnings. The matter of fees was brought out by plaintiff’s counsel only in final argument and he explained his services in only a general way. This may be satisfactory where an attorney is requesting just the usual minimum fee. Where, however, a large fee is sought, as in the instant case, sworn evidence and strict proof is required to show the reasonableness thereof. (Czarnecki v. Czarnecki, 341 Ill 629, 173 NE 752.) The record here reveals that the judge arrived at the allowed figure quite arbitrarily.