Court Opinion

ID: 9854077
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:00:22.3605+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:54.382954
License: Public Domain

Hall, Justice,
dissenting.
The author of the majority opinion and the three justices who concur in it treat this case as an interlocutory appeal even though there is a final judgment in the record. Since this appeal is dismissed, no appeal from the final judgment can ever be made. The notice of appeal is dated November 21, 1975, and the final judgment was *512entered on November 23,1975. Two of the seven enumerations of error deal with the final judgment.
In my opinion, the dismissal is hypertechnical and is squarely in conflict with a very recent decision of this Court, Gillen v. Bostick, 234 Ga. 308 (215 SE2d 676) (1975). That case, exactly like this one, involved a notice of appeal filed prior to entry of the judgment, and we specifically rejected the argument that such notice was ineffective to vest jurisdiction in this court. We held that "After careful consideration, however, this court now concludes that Herrington v. Herrington, supra, and other cases with similar holdings, including Benton v. Smith, 226 Ga. 722 (177 SE2d 230); Gibson v. Hodges, 221 Ga. 779 (2) (147 SE2d 329); Luke v. Ellis, 201 Ga. 482 (2) (40 SE2d 85), must be overruled. Section 23 of the Appellate Practice Act of 1965 (Ga. L. 1965, pp. 18, 40; Code Ann. § 6-905) provides that the 'law shall be liberally construed so as to bring about a decision on the merits of every case appealed, and to avoid dismissal of any case or refusal to consider any points raised therein, except as may be specifically referred to herein.’ In considering an issue identical to the one presented here, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Markham v. Holt, 369 F2d 940, stated: 'This court has consistently adhered to the policy of exercising all proper means to prevent the loss of valuable rights when the validity of an appeal is challenged not because something was done too late, but rather that it was done too soon . . . The basic policy considerations underlying the limitation that a final judgment is a prerequisite to appealability are the excessive inconvenience and costs occasioned by piecemeal review on the one hand, and the danger of denying justice by needless delay on the other . . . The purpose of requiring the filing of a timely notice of appeal is to advise the opposing party that an appeal is being taken from a specific judgment, and such notice should therefore contain sufficient information so as not to prejudice or mislead the appellee ... The assumption of jurisdiction in the instant case, we are convinced, does not violate the spirit of the final-judgment rule nor the notice-of-appeal requirements. This circuit has long been committed to the rule that where, as in the instant case, it is obvious that *513the overriding intent was effectively to appeal, and no prejudice will result to the appellee, we are justified in treating the appeal as from a final judgment.’ (Cits, omitted.) The reasoning of that decision is persuasive, and it accords with the spirit of 9 Moore’s Federal Practice 119, § 110.08[2] (1974): 'There must be judgment and entry. But it must be remembered that the rule is designed to simplify and make certain the matter of appealability. It is not designed as a trap for the inexperienced... The rule should be interpreted to prevent loss of the right of appeal, not to facilitate loss.’ Cf. Chambers v. Peacock Construction Co., 115 Ga. App. 670, 674 (155 SE2d 704), affd. 223 Ga. 515 (156 SE2d 348). Accordingly, this court has jurisdiction of the appeal.” 234 Ga. 310.
It should also be noted that the 1965 Appellate Practice Act says: "Where it is apparent from the notice of appeal, the record, the enumerations of errors, or any combination of the foregoing, what judgment or judgments were appealed from or what errors are sought to be asserted upon appeal, the appeal shall be considered in accordance therewith notwithstanding that the notice of appeal fails to specify definitely the judgment appealed from or that the enumeration of errors fails to enumerate clearly the errors sought to be reviewed.” Code Ann. § 6-809 (d). If the appellate court finds some amendable error in the notice of appeal, the 1972 amendment to the Act provides that "If an error appears in the notice of appeal, the court shall allow the notice of appeal to be amended at any time prior to judgment to perfect the appeal so that the appellate court can and will pass upon the appeal and not dismiss it.” Code Ann. § 6-809 (b).
The four majority justices have exalted form above substance in dismissing this appeal and forever barring the appellant from any review of the judgment in the trial court. "Judges march at times to pitiless conclusions under the prod of a remorseless logic which is supposed to leave them no alternative. They deplore the sacrificial rite. They perform it, none the less, with averted gaze, convinced as they plunge the knife that they obey the bidding of their office. The victim is offered up to the gods of jurisprudence on the altar of regularity.” Cardozo, Growth of the Law, 66.
*514I am authorized to state that Justice Jordan concurs in this dissent.