Court Opinion

ID: 9574330
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:04:10.418507+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:44:22.901776
License: Public Domain

BURNETT, Justice,
specially concurring:
This case presents another close encounter with the “abuse of discretion” standard of appellate review. The court holds that a district judge did not abuse his discretion in ordering a new trial, despite his failure to state the particular reasons upon which this discretionary decision was based. I am impelled to accept this result because our Supreme Court has held that such statements of reasons are unnecessary. I also note that the trial judge in this case has retired, diminishing the likelihood that a remand, to obtain a statement of reasons, would prove beneficial.
However, I believe that more judicial and scholarly attention should be focused upon the “abuse of discretion” standard. By writing separately today, I hope to encourage the view that this standard can be given greater meaning if we require trial judges to state their reasons for discretionary decisions. I further urge that this view be applied to orders for new trial.
I
“Discretion” has been defined as a power or privilege to act unhampered by legal rule. Black’s Law Dictionary at 553 (rev. 4th ed. 1968). However, “judicial discretion” is a more restrained concept. Lord Coke is said to have defined judicial discretion as an inquiry into “what would be just according to the laws in the premises.” Id. Judicial discretion “requires an actual exercise of judgment and a consideration of the facts and circumstances which are necessary to make a sound, fair, and just determination, and a knowledge of the facts upon which the discretion may properly operate.” 27 C.J.S. Discretion at 289 (1959). Discretion which violates these restraints is discretion abused.
Therefore, to determine whether discretion has been abused, an appellate court must ascertain whether the trial judge has correctly perceived the “law in the premises” and has demonstrated due “consideration of the facts and circumstanc*888es.” In Lisher v. Krasselt, 96 Idaho 854, 857, 538 P.2d 783, 786 (1975), our Supreme Court said:
We decline to ascribe a definitive meaning to the amorphous phrase “abuse of discretion” solely for the purposes of this case, but it will suffice to say, that where the trial court has exercised such discretion after a careful consideration of the relevant factual circumstances and principles of law, and without arbitrary disregard for those facts and principles of justice, we will not disturb that action.
The clear import of Lisher is that an appellate court should not substitute its discretion for that of a trial court. This may seem a statement of the obvious, but it carries a profound implication. Appellate review of judicial discretion should not be result-oriented. An appellate court should not focus primarily upon the outcome of a discretionary decision below, but upon the process by which the trial judge reached his decision. In order for the appellate court to perform this function properly, it must be informed of the reasons for the trial court’s decision. Unless those reasons are obvious from the record itself, they must be stated by the trial judge. Where the reasons are neither obvious nor stated, the appellate court is left to speculate about the trial court’s perception of the law and knowledge of the facts. As a practical matter, the appellate court finds itself locked into a result-oriented review.
I do not suggest that every discretionary act must be accompanied by a statement of reasons. Many discretionary acts relate to the management of litigation, and do not directly affect the outcome of litigation. Examples of management discretion include the calendaring of cases, supervision of voir dire examinations of jurors, setting reasonable limits upon rebuttal testimony, and the like. These discretionary functions are seldom reviewed on appeal. When they are, we customarily uphold the trial court’s action because appellate interference would unduly disturb the efficient operation of the trial courts. The exercise of such management discretion ordinarily does not carry with it an obligation to state particular reasons of record.
My greater concern is with the exercise of adjudicative discretion — discretion which determines or directly affects the outcome of litigation. Criminal sentencing, and child support, visitation and custody, are areas where discretion determines the outcome of a case. Granting relief from a default judgment and granting a new trial are examples of discretion which directly affects the outcome of litigation. Such acts of adjudicative discretion frequently are subjected to appellate review. Our deference to trial court action in these cases usually is based upon a recognition that the trial judge has actively participated in the proceedings below. E.g., Smith v. Great Basin Grain Co., 98 Idaho 266, 561 P.2d 1299 (1977). The trial judge is in a better position than are we to evaluate the peculiar circumstances of each case, and to select among the available legal alternatives. A statement of reasons for the trial judge’s decision — unless otherwise obvious — is necessary to justify such appellate deference.
II
I believe the time has come to require that a trial judge provide a statement of reasons when he grants a motion for a new trial. This exercise of adjudicative discretion has a substantial impact upon the litigants. It deprives the prevailing party of the benefit of victory, and it relieves the losing party of the burden of defeat. It confronts the parties with the prospect of investing considerable time, effort and money in a second trial. When a second trial does occur, it consumes the limited resources of our courts and disrupts the private lives of another set of jurors. Although an order for a new trial may not infringe upon trial by jury in a constitutional sense, it certainly represents a judicial invasion of the province of the first jury which sat in the case. See Comment, Ruling on the New Trial Motion: What Standard for the Trial Judge, 17 IDAHO L.REV. 249 (1981).
*889Discretion in ordering new trials cannot be eliminated by imposing rigid rules. Discretion is necessary to enable the trial judge to individualize his decision with respect to each unique case. See generally Rosenberg, Judicial Discretion of the Trial Court, Viewed from Above, 22 SYRACUSE L.REV. 635 (1971). When reviewing a decision to grant a new trial, an appellate court needs to know more than the result and the provision of a rule or statute which authorized the result. The appellate court should not be compelled to guess at the trial court’s reasoning. Moreover, the process of identifying and articulating reasons for granting a new trial is a healthy discipline for trial judges. It is, perhaps, our best safeguard against “abuse of discretion.”
It might be contended that requiring judges to state their reasons is an undue demand upon the time of a busy trial judge. However, where proceedings at trial clearly have gone awry, the reasons for granting a new trial can be readily identified and stated. In cases where the proceedings outwardly seem regular, but the judge nevertheless feels that an injustice has been done, it may be more difficult to identify and to state the reasons. However, these hard cases are precisely the cases where the discipline of stating reasons is most needed.
Alternatively, it might be contended that a trial judge can always find some reason to justify his decision, and the statement of such a reason would serve little purpose. However, I believe that Idaho trial judges are conscientious. They are unlikely to advance bogus reasons for their actions. In any event, the rare judge who is disposed to act arbitrarily will better be restrained by a requirement that he state reasons for his actions than by the present practice of condoning failure to state any reasons at all.
A requirement that reasons be stated would represent a logical culmination of Idaho law concerning orders for new trial. More than seven decades ago, our Supreme Court, in Penninger Lateral Co. v. Clark, 20 Idaho 166, 167, 117 P. 764, 765 (1911), said that “a trial judge ought always to state in his order granting a new trial the grounds on which the order is made.” At that time, the Supreme Court’s primary concern was not to prevent abuse of discretion, but to make appellate review more efficient by focusing upon certain grounds for granting a new trial rather than considering all conceivable grounds for such action. The Court noted that, “[mjuch time and labor would be saved if this request was complied with.” McAllister v. Bardsley, 37 Idaho 220, 224, 215 P. 852, 853 (1923).
Today, this efficiency objective has been accomplished. I.R.C.P. 59(a) sets forth the general “grounds” upon which a new trial can be sought and granted. A moving party must identify the grounds upon which he relies; and, if those grounds include the insufficiency of the evidence or an allegation that the verdict is contrary to law, a more particular statement is required. Our Supreme Court has complemented Rule 59(a) by holding that a trial judge must indicate the general grounds upon which a new trial is granted. E.g., Tibbs v. City of Sandpoint, 100 Idaho 667, 603 P.2d 1001 (1979). Rule 59(d) also requires that such grounds be identified when the court orders a new trial on its own motion.
However, the overriding objective, preventing abuse of discretion, remains largely unserved. The Supreme Court has declined to require that a trial judge explain why he believes the general grounds recited under Rule 59(a) are applicable to the particular case at hand. E.g., Deshazer v. Tompkins, 93 Idaho 267, 460 P.2d 402 (1969). A mere recital of grounds under Rule 59(a) does not adequately explain the trial court’s exercise of adjudicative discretion. Such a recital simply identifies the legal authority upon which the trial court proceeds. It tells an appellate court nothing about the particular facts or circumstances which the trial judge weighed in arriving at his decision. Moreover, a recital of grounds provided by rule does not impose upon a trial judge the healthy discipline which would be invoked by requiring an explanation of why those grounds are applicable.
*890As noted in our principal opinion today, the Supreme Court has on several occasions encouraged trial judges to go beyond mere recital of grounds, and to state their reasons for granting new trials. We do the same in this case. However, the fact that such encouragement repeatedly has been given in the past indicates that encouragement alone is not enough. If we are to preserve sound judicial discretion at the trial court level, and to avoid result-oriented appellate review of such discretion, we should now take the final step and require particular reasons to be stated.
I am authorized to say that WALTERS, C.J., and SWANSTROM, J., share the views expressed in this opinion.