Court Opinion

ID: 9584894
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:53:43.095828+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:21:09.269097
License: Public Domain

Hill, Presiding Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the majority opinion and judgment. I write to make two additional points.
First, in the criminal law we have seen a lack of finality which clogs the courts and discourages our law abiding citizens. This same lack of finality is increasing in civil cases in the form of complaints and motions to set aside judgments brought under Code Ann. § 81A-160 (d), (e). The filing of such complaints and motions naturally increases when the economy slows down. Although the interest rate on judgments was raised to 12% in 1980 (Ga. L. 1980, p. 1118; Code Ann. § 57-108), I believe the General Assembly should raise the interest rate on judgments so as to at least equal if not exceed the current market interest rate. Appellants, and complainants under Code Ann. § 81A-160, should not use the appellate courts as a place where they can save interest payments even though they lose on appeal.
Second, the complainant here refers several times in his brief to his right to have alleged genuine issues of material fact tried by a jury. This was a complaint in equity. We have recently held that there is no statutory right to trial by jury in equity cases, Cawthon v. Douglas County, 248 Ga. 760, 763 (286 SE2d 30) (1982) (but see Code § 37-1103 regarding findings of fact by auditors). Thiis, even if this case had been reversed on appeal, the validity of the judgment would have been decided by the court, not a jury, except in the unlikely event the court saw fit to submit it to a jury. Guhl v. Davis, 242 Ga. 356, 358 (249 SE2d 43) (1978); Code Ann. §§ 81A-139, 81A-149. In suits for injunction and in complaints to set aside judgments, counsel should consider not making motions for summary judgment, where the finding of a genuine issue of material fact following a time consuming appeal necessitates a trial. Because such suits are tried nonjury, time and expense can be saved by letting the trial court conduct the trial, decide a motion for “directed verdict” (motion for judgment), decide issues of fact (if any), and decide a motion jnov (if necessary). On appeal from a trial granting or denying an injunction, or granting or denying a complaint to set aside a judgment, the issue is whether there is any evidence to support the trial judge’s decision. On the other hand, on appeal from the grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment, the issue is whether there is any genuine issue of fact. These differences in the issues on appeal make a significant *395difference in the way an appeal is decided.
Similarly, to save time and expense in nonjury cases, trial judges hearing motions for summary judgment might consider suggesting to the attorneys that they submit the case for final decision, compare Code Ann. § 81A-165 (a)(2), rather than for decision on the motion for summary judgment. See Code Ann. § 81A-140 (b). This will expedite 'final resolution of the case.
I am authorized to state that Justice Weltner joins in this concurring opinion.