Court Opinion

ID: 9854076
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:00:22.358213+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:54.380923
License: Public Domain

Gunter, Justice,
concurring.
I deem it appropriate to state my reasons for concurring in the majority opinion and the judgment.
This was an alimony actioii against a non-resident *510defendant; personal service was not obtained, and the defendant-appellant did not voluntarily submit to the jurisdiction of the court; on application of the plaintiff the court appointed a receiver to take charge of properties owned by the defendant which were within the jurisdiction of the court; notice of the pendency of the alimony action was given by publication once a week for four weeks; on September 26, 1975, the non-resident defendant, through his attorney, filed a plea to the jurisdiction of the court "prior to filing any other pleadings, and prior to submitting to the jurisdiction of this court”; and by judgment entered October 22, 1975, the trial court overruled the non-resident defendant’s plea to the jurisdiction.
On the 21st day of November, 1975, the last day for filing a notice of appeal, the non-resident defendant, again through his attorney, filed a notice of appeal "from the Order denying the Defendant’s Plea to Jurisdiction, dated the 21st day of October, 1975, and entered on October 22, 1975. The Clerk will please not omit any documents from the record on appeal. A transcript of evidence will not be filed for inclusion in the record on appeal as no evidence was taken at the hearing on the cause.”
Two days later, on November 23, 1975, the trial judge, after hearing evidence from the plaintiff and the receiver, entered a final judgment in the case awarding alimony to the plaintiff. The non-resident defendant made no appearance, the trial judge ruled that the court had no personal jurisdiction over him, but held that it did have in rem jurisdiction with respect to the defendant’s properties located within the jurisdiction of the court. The trial court’s forty-two page final judgment concluded: "This court makes no adjudication relative to any further rights of the plaintiff to additional alimony from the defendant since this court’s jurisdiction is limited to the property of the defendant in the jurisdiction of the court.”
So far as I can discern from this record, the defendant never submitted himself to the jurisdiction of the court, and the court, admittedly, never acquired personal jurisdiction over the non-resident defendant.
A notice of appeal from the final judgment was not *511filed. Had one been filed, it is my view that the non-resident defendant would have submitted himself to the jurisdiction of the court by filing the same with the Clerk of Court of Muscogee County. One cannot complain of an in rem judgment rendered against his property without submitting himself personally to the jurisdiction of the court.
It seems to me that the non-resident defendant in this case cannot have his cake and eat it too. He would not submit to the jurisdiction of the trial court, but he wants to complain in the Supreme Court of Georgia of a final in rem judgment rendered against his property located within the jurisdiction of the trial court.
I do not think that two enumerated errors complaining of the final judgment and filed in the Supreme Court on December 29, 1975, can give him standing to complain of the final judgment rendered against his property in the trial court.
I do not view this appeal as a "technical error appeal” that should be reviewed on its merits. Since the defendant never submitted himself to the jurisdiction of the trial court, he has no standing to seek review of its in rem judgment in an appellate court of this state.
From what I have said it should be apparent that I do not think that the dismissal of the appeal in this case is in any way in conflict with our recent decision in Gillen v. Bostick, 234 Ga. 308 (215 SE2d 676) (1975). I regret that two of our dissenting brothers think that I have exalted form above substance, because I, of course, think that I have exalted substance over form.
I join the majority opinion and the judgment of dismissal.
I am authorized to state that Justice Ingram joins in this concurring opinion.