Court Opinion

ID: 9535211
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:46:48.792309+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:33:11.666561
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE RYAN, specially concurring: While I concur in the result reached by my colleagues, I do not agree with the discussion in the opinion concerning a prima facie case. In my opinion, in a nonjury trial, in passing on a motion by the defendant at the close of the plaintiff’s case under section 64(3) of the Civil Practice Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 110, par. 64(3)), the court does not consider whether or not the plaintiff has made out a prima facie case. The court, instead, must view the case in the same manner as it would have had the defendant rested at the close of the plaintiff’s case. The court is not concerned in either situation whether the plaintiff has offered some evidence as to each element necessary to support recovery. The court, as the trier of fact, must weigh the evidence, consider the credibility of the witnesses, and determine whether the plaintiffs case is supported by the preponderance or greater weight of the evidence. If it is not, the court should grant the defendant’s motion regardless of whether or not the plaintiff has made out a prima facie case. In Jackson v. Navik (1976), 37 Ill. App. 3d 88, cited in the majority opinion, the appellate court inferentially questioned the advisability of using the term “prima facie case” in connection with a defendant’s motion under section 64(3) of the Civil Practice Act and noted that under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) a judge may grant a motion for dismissal of a nonjury case at the close of the plaintiffs evidence, even where such evidence is sufficient in quantum and quality to make out a prima facie case. (Jackson v. Navik (1976), 37 Ill. App. 3d 88, 91. See also 5 J. Moore, Federal Practice sec. 41.13(4), at 41 — 193 (1979).) In C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure, Civil, sec. 2371 (1971), it is stated that in passing on a defendant’s motion under Federal Rule 41(b), the court is not to concern itself with whether plaintiff has made out a prima facie case. In Ellis v. Carter (9th Cir. 1964), 328 F.2d 573, the court stated that a court sitting without a jury is not required to deny a motion to dismiss at the close of the plaintiff’s case even if the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, makes out a prima facie case, if, from the record, the court is convinced that the evidence preponderates against the plaintiff. I would eliminate all reference to the term “prima facie case” in discussing the determination of a motion by the defendant at the close of the plaintiff’s case under section 64(3) of the Civil Practice Act. If used in that context, the term obviously cannot have the meaning that it customarily conveys, and its use in connection with such a motion will only perpetuate the confusion alluded to in Jackson v. Navik.