Court Opinion

ID: 9741121
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:49:42.962415+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:22.393267
License: Public Domain

*900ERICKSTAD, Chief Justice
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent for the reason that I believe, as the California Courts apparently do, that it is better to permit the court of first instance to decide whether the convenience of the witnesses and the ends of justice would be promoted by retaining the case for trial in the place where it is first venued. Braunstein v. Superior Court, 225 Cal.App.2d 691, 37 Cal.Rptr. 666, 670 (1964). While Braunstein is predicated on specific statutory authority [Cal.Code of Civil Procedure § 369b (West 1973)], it reflects judicial declarations prior to the statute that allowed the trial court to retain the action if the convenience of the witnesses and the ends of justice required that the action be tried in the court where it was pending. Sheffield v. Pickwick Stages, Inc., 191 Cal. 9, 214 P. 852 (1923), and cases cited therein; Annot., 74 A.L.R.2d 16, 51 (1960).
The old practice which is today again approved by the majority of our court bifurcates and fragments the proceedings causing delay in the ultimate determination of the merits. Furthermore, it results in duplication of efforts and the unnecessary consumption of court time on procedural matters.
For these reasons I would remand this case to the trial court of Stark County so that an appropriate motion and affidavit may be filed setting forth specific reasons supporting retention of the cause and a hearing thereafter held on both the motion for a change of venue and the motion for retention.