Court Opinion

ID: 9739880
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:22:50.451022+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:14.464749
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE SCARIANO, specially concurring: I agree with the result in this case, but because I regard the inclusion of the second and third to the last paragraphs as unnecessary, I do not join in that portion of the opinion. Although I do not condone the entry of the ex parte order in the trial court, I view these paragraphs as inappropriate under the circumstances of this case. Every effort was made to secure the transcripts relating to the events of the crucial dates in this matter, but they are unavailable and are therefore not part of the record on appeal; consequently, we do not know what representations were made to the trial judge or under what other circumstances the order was entered. We know only through the city’s brief filed in this court that it served no notice on Adelman because it thought that none was necessary, a theory the city adheres to on appeal. This explanation, however, still does not tell us anything regarding the obtaining of the entry of the order by the trial judge. I fully agree that we should encourage all attorneys and judges to be acutely aware of ethical and due process considerations when affecting the rights of absent parties; however, we do not ourselves exemplify due process when we rebuke where there is no basis in the record for us to suggest that such considerations were willfully disregarded, especially by the trial judge. It would have been more appropriate for us to await a more proper instance to criticize — one reflected by the record.