Court Opinion

ID: 9559530
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:30:48.572622+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:10:12.979865
License: Public Domain

WAHLQUIST, District Judge
(dissenting).
I dissent.
The general rule is that the record should be studied with the intent to determine whether there is adequate support in the record for the trial court’s ruling. It is my belief that this record does support the trial court.
At the hearing on the motion the attorney for Harris argued that his client was in a dilemma because of the delays caused by Benton’s lack of prosecution of this action. Benton had filed an action alleging that he owned certain rights in a right-of-way and that Harris, incidental to some excavation work, had interfered with that right-of-way. Another person, Haddad, had also filed a similar action alleging rights in the same right-of-way and seeking damages from Harris for the same diggings. Trial in the Haddad matter was to be forthwith. *1138The proof in the two cases, except for damages and possible proof of ownership of the right-of-way, would be identical. Harris wanted the trial court either to dismiss Benton’s action with prejudice or to join it with the Haddad matter. Gibbons and Reed and other defendants had never been served in the Haddad matter and they objected to appearing in it, but they did join in the motion to dismiss the Benton complaint for lack of activity. There is no doubt that if Harris tried both cases, he would be compelled to present a great deal of evidence twice. During Harris’ attorney’s statement to the court, he stated:
Now, at that time, at that point in time, Defendant Harris, on April the 28th, 1975, pursuant to Utah Code Annotated 78-51-36, filed a notice requesting that Mr. Benton either enter an appearance personally in behalf of Utah Oil Company or that he retain counsel and ask counsel to make an appearance. That was April 28th, 1975. Now, since that time, Your Honor, neither plaintiff has taken any action to pursue this matter to an ultimate conclusion.
Now, I’d like to indicate to the Court, and in fairness to Mr. Benton, he came to my office, Your Honor — and this is not in the affidavit, I failed to put it there and it should be made part of the record — he came to my office probably in late June or early July of 1975, as I recall, and discussed this matter with me. At that time I indicated to him that he ought to get an attorney to represent him and have that attorney file an entry of appearance, particularly in light of my notice to appoint successor counsel. We talked about settlement at that time, and I told him that I could see no way that this case could be settled unless it were settled coincident with and as a part of any settlement with the Haddad case. He indicated to me he would talk to Mr. Haddad and get back to me. I sent him a letter dated August 25, 1975, indicating to him that it’s my understanding he was going to talk to Mr. Haddad and get back to me, and then I put on the bottom of that letter a P.S. indicating that in any event he should obtain counsel and have that counsel make an entry of appearance.
Now, that letter was dated August 25th, 1975. Since this time, Your Honor, I have heard absolutely nothing from the plaintiff, or from any attorney who indicated to me that that attorney was representing the plaintiff.
The new attorney for Benton, Mr. Barker, did not appear at this hearing, but Mr. Ivins appeared and stated that he would represent Mr. Barker. Mr. Ivins did not challenge any of the statements made by the attorney for Harris, or imply that his client had been misled in any way. Mr. Ivins simply argued that 16 months of inactivity did not justify a dismissal.
The trial court was led to believe that Benton’s inactivity for the past 16 months was without justification of any sort, and that it had put others to unnecessary expense. The court orally granted the motion to dismiss.
Mr. Barker, attorney for Harris, filed a motion requesting that the court reconsider its ruling. The hearing was duly set for 10:00 a. m. on a certain date. On that date, attorneys for the defendants appeared on time. Mr. Barker did not appear at the scheduled hour. Mr. Ivins was again in the courtroom and assured the court that Mr. Barker was on his way. The court continued the matter from time to time throughout the morning. At 11:30 a. m. attorney for Gibbons and Reed firmly requested that the matter be disposed of. The spectacle of the defense attorneys for the various parties waiting to be heard on the matter and the moving party not appearing was certainly an unpleasantness. This failure to appear remains unexplained. The trial court then permitted the earlier ruling to remain.
One of the greatest criticisms of the court system is made by the litigants who insist that our tolerances for unreasonable delays unnecessarily require increased costs and emotional trauma. I see no abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court in this matter.