Court Opinion

ID: 9643731
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 20:39:12.943333+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:17.794774
License: Public Domain

ROBERT L. BROWN, Justice, concurring. This is a particuXxJarly difficult case, because it is obvious that a clerical error was committed by the trial court in the original decree. But that is no reason for this court to reverse its interpretation of its own rules and throw precedent to the four winds. To do so simply dilutes the common law and places this court in the posture of deciding cases involving our rules on an ad hoc basis. I would not reverse the long line of recent authority on the point that the ninety-day time limit set out in Rule 60(b) applies to clerical errors in Rule 60(a). My preference would be to correct the clear error in the decree at this level by interpreting the obvious ambiguity. For that reason, I concur in the result. Rule 60(a) and (b) read: (a) Clerical Mistakes. Clerical mistakes in judgments, orders or other parts of the record and errors therein arising from oversight or omission may be corrected by the court at any time on its own motion or on the motion of any party and after such notice, if any, as the court orders. During the pendency of an appeal, such mistakes may be so corrected before the appeal is docketed in the appellate court and thereafter while the appeal is pending may be so corrected with leave of the appellate court. (b) Ninety-Day Limitation. To correct any error or mistake or to prevent the miscarriage of justice, a decree or order of a circuit, chancery or probate court may be modified or set aside on motion of the court or any party, with or without notice to any party, within ninety days of its having been filed with the clerk. Ark. R. Civ. P. 60(a) and (b). That this court is disregarding its precedent is beyond dispute. Since 1991, there have been six cases handed down where we referred to the fact that the ninety-day time limit in Rule 60(b) applied to the correction of clerical mistakes in judgments. See Ross v. Southern Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co., 333 Ark. 227, 968 S.W.2d 622 (1998); United S. Assur. Co. v. Beard, 320 Ark. 115, 894 S.W.2d 948 (1995); Pugh v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 317 Ark. 304, 877 S.W.2d 577 (1994); Ingram v. Wirt, 314 Ark. 553, 864 S.W.2d 237 (1993); Reis v. Yates, 313 Ark. 300, 854 S.W.2d 335 (1993); Phillips v. Jacobs, 305 Ark. 365, 807 S.W.2d 923 (1991). (Even the dissenters in this case agreed that the inherent power of the trial courts to amend their judgments was limited to ninety days from judgment). The court of appeals has understood this and followed our decisions. See, eg., Tyer v. Tyer, 56 Ark. App. 1, 937 S.W.2d 667 (1997). This interpretation of Rule 60(a) and (b) is so established that it has found its way into former Justice David Newbern’s treatise, ARKANSAS Civil Practice & Procedure § 16-4, ¶ 2.1. (Supp. 1998). That “clerical mistake” in Rule 60(a) is what is embraced within “any error” in Rule 60(b) is perhaps best stated in United S. Assur. Co. v. Beard, supra: Under Rule 60(b), a party may move to correct any error or mistake or to prevent the miscarriage of justice by requesting the trial court to set aside its decree or order within ninety days of its having been filed. This court has narrowly interpreted Rule 60(b) to apply only to those situations provided in Rule 60(a), namely, to correct clerical mistakes in judgments, orders or other parts of the record and errors arising from oversight or omissions. See Pugh v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 317 Ark. 304, 877 S.W.2d 577 (1994); Ingram v. Wirt, 314 Ark. 553, 864 S.W2d 237 (1993); Jackson v. Arkansas Power & Light, 309 Ark. 572, 832 S.W.2d 224 (1992); Phillips v. Jacobs, 305 Ark. 365, 807 S.W.2d 923 (1991). Here, Southern failed to assert in its Rule 60(b) motion a clerical mistake, error or omission referred to in Rule 60(a), and for that reason alone, Southern’s motion should have been denied by the trial court. Cf. Pugh, 317 Ark. at 308, 877 S.W.2d at 579. 320 Ark. at 118, 894 S.W.2d at 950. In addition, in Ross v. Southern Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co., supra, we said: There is some doubt whether the error in this case is properly characterized by the parties as “clerical.” 'Whether it was a clerical error or some other type of oversight, Rule 60(b)’s ninety-day limit on modification applies, and the Trial Court lost jurisdiction to amend the order of dismissal ninety days after the September order was entered. 333 Ark. at 231, 968 S.W.2d at 624. The majority today has now reversed this interpretation of Rule 60(a) and (b) and given open-ended jurisdiction to the trial courts to correct clerical errors. While that might have been an alternative route of interpretation in 1991, our caselaw now runs counter to it. We, of course, could interpret the trial court’s decree at this level and resolve the ambiguity. The decree at issue in this case is inherently contradictory. It begins with findings against the defendants which correspond to the trial court’s previous letter opinion. It then substitutes “plaintiffs” for “defendants” and enters judgment against the plaintiffs. That this is merely a clerical error is supported by the fact that it is the defendants who appealed from the decree. There is no doubt that this court has the authority to interpret ambiguous judgments. See, e.g., Magness v. McEntire, 305 Ark. 503, 808 S.W.2d 783 (1991). In Magness, as in the present case, the judgment of the trial court was ambiguous. There, it was difficult to determine whether the judge’s order was an order of summary judgment or a dismissal order. We said: How then are we to interpret the ambiguous order of the trial court dated June 22, 1989? As a general rule, judgments are construed like any other instruments; the determinative factor is the intention of the court, as gathered from the judgment itself and the record. We have followed this general rule stating that judgments should be reviewed by looking to the judgment itself, pleadings, and any evidence presented. Webb v. Herpin, 217 Ark. 826, 233 S.W.2d 385 (1950); Young v. Gurdon, 169 Ark. 399, 275 S.W. 890 (1925); Nakdimen v. Brazil, 137 Ark. 188, 208 S.W. 431 (1919). Most recently, this court has applied this rule in Arkansas State Bank Comm’r v. Bank of Marvell, 304 Ark. 602, 804 S.W.2d 692 (1991). There, we stated that in interpreting a lower court’s order, “[w]hile we look to the language in which [the] order is couched, we also look to whether the evidence supports [the] ruling....” Arkansas State Bank Comm’r, 304 Ark. at 607, 804 S.W.2d at 694 (citing Nakdimen v. Brazil, 137 Ark. 188, 208 S.W. 431 (1919)). 305 Ark. at 506, 808 S.W.2d at 784-785. I would follow the direction of Magness and interpret the decree to read as the trial court obviously intended. It is dangerous to disregard the principle of stare decisis for rule interpretation because we have a difficult case to decide. That destabilizes the common law and wreaks havoc on practicing attorneys who seek guidance from precedent and strive to follow our rules. I would follow precedent and interpret the ambiguous decree at this level. For these reasons, I concur in the result.