Court Opinion

ID: 9707058
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 02:00:28.942451+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:27.444509
License: Public Domain

Concurring and Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Justice Roberts :
I concur with the opinion of the majority insofar as it affirms the substantive decision of the court below. I dissent, however, from that part of the majority’s ruling which appears to limit the choice of procedures open to the court below in disposing of this litigation. The majority in my view suggests neither reason nor authority for its view that the procedure it requires the court to adopt should be the exclusive method of completing this litigation, and I fail to see why the court below could not adopt the procedure it followed, the procedure outlined by the majority or any other proper alternative in disposing of this case.
The majority says, in effect, that the court below was incorrect in choosing to remit the computation of Scott’s tax liability to the Department of Revenue. This conclusion the majority purports to base on the exclusive power of the court below to enter a final judgment after a hearing de novo. I submit that the majority is proceeding upon a misunderstanding. The action of the court below in remitting the computation to the Department for resettlement in no way detracts from or interferes with its power to enter a final judgment and in furtherance thereof to hold any addition*455'al hearings it deems necessary. Indeed, for the court below to do otherwise than to remit to the Department for resettlement would involve it in the mechanics of an intricate and detailed computation for which it, like this Court, is probably not particularly well equipped. Thus, where, as in the instant case, the computation to be made entails accounting rather than legal questions, I think the court below acted both permissibly and wisely in remitting to the Department. Thus the procedural ruling of the majority’s opinion not only lacks any basis in authority, but also in reason.
Mr. Chief Justice Bell and Mr. Justice Eagen join in this concurring and dissenting opinion.