Court Opinion

ID: 9774117
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 18:09:10.480824+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:02.413957
License: Public Domain

George K. Cracraft, Chief Judge, dissenting. I dissent. My departure from the majority is brought about by a firm conviction that its conclusions are based on an entirely false premise, i.e., that the trial court vacated the judgment “[b]ased on a finding of fraudulent conduct on the part of appellant.” There was simply no such finding. On appeal, appellant argues, inter alia, that the court erred in finding clear evidence of fraud, and appellee contends that it offered sufficient proof. The evidence on the issue of fraud was conflicting. Although there was evidence that the bank did have some knowledge of the declaratory judgment action and challenge to the authority of Carter Higginbotham and David Mullen to control the corporation, whether that evidence was sufficient to justify a finding of fraud was an issue for the trial court to determine from the evidence. The majority perceives such a finding in the following statement of the court: In looking at the issues and reading the rule about five, six, seven times and listening to your arguments and reading your briefs, the Court is going to rule that the motion to set aside the judgment is going to be granted in that there is some evidence of fraud on the part of the bank. It does not mean fraud like we think of fraud, it means that there was a judgment submitted to me through David Mullen of which the bank or there’s evidence that the bank had some knowledge that this was not properly done. [Emphasis added.] The majority opinion is based on the premise that “[a]s indicated by these comments, the trial judge found that appellant had practiced a constructive fraud on the court. . . .’’Tome, the trial court’s remark has an entirely different meaning. It clearly indicates that the trial court had determined to set the judgment aside, not on finding fraud, but on finding some evidence of it. If any doubt remained, the following colloquy should have dispelled it: [APPELLANT’S COUNSEL]: ... I don’t think that you can make a finding of whether there is fraud without considering whether or not — ■ THE COURT: Oh, I’m making a ruling that there is evidence of fraud. [Emphasis added.] Rule 60 (c)(4) of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure contemplates that a final judgment will not be set aside except on a finding of fraud practiced on the court in procurement of the judgment. It does not authorize the setting aside of solemn judgments merely because a party presents “evidence of fraud” or “some evidence” of it. The rule contemplates that the trial judge will weigh the evidence of fraud on the court against that of fair and open dealing, determine from the whole record whether such fraud has been proved, and enter his order accordingly. Fraud is never presumed; it must be proved by clear, strong, and satisfactory evidence. See Arkansas State Highway Commission v. Clemmons, 244 Ark. 1124, 428 S.W.2d 280 (1968). Here, the trial judge made no such finding, and the order appealed from sets the judgment aside without reciting any grounds. Contrary to what the majority seems to think, I agree that a trial judge is not required to set out specific findings of fact in the absence of a request that he do so. In the ordinary case, we presume that a court acted properly and made the findings of fact necessary to support its judgment. However, this presumption will be indulged only in the absence of a showing to the contrary. See Kindrick v. Capps, 196 Ark. 1169, 121 S.W.2d 515 (1938); Hollingsworth v. McAndrews, 79 Ark. 185, 95 S.W. 485 (1906). The recognized limitations on the use of this presumption are set out in 5 C.J.S. Appeal and Error § 1564(8) (1958): A finding will not be implied where it would be clearly wrong to do so, as where it would be in contradiction of the record, or where the likelihood exists that, to do so would thwart the intention of the trial court, or where the counsel have agreed that there shall be no findings, or where the court has expressly refused to find the particular fact. Further, the doctrine of implied findings will not be applied as to matters on which the court has made a direct finding, or a finding which precludes the inference, or where the fact is not fairly inferable from the facts found; and it has been said that the appellate court will not search the record to supply a finding which the trial court should have made in the first instance. It will not be presumed that the trial court found a particular fact where to do so would result in a reversal of the judgment, or where the record shows that the judgment was expressly based on the findings made, where the finding presumed would be inconsistent with the findings made, where a special statute applicable to the case required certain facts to be set forth in the judgment, where the case is one in which no findings are required, or where the findings made are not within the pleadings. It is not presumed that the judge found facts sufficient to support the judgment entered where it is apparent that he acted under an erroneous conception of the applicable law. [Emphasis added. Footnotes omitted.] To me, one cannot escape the conclusion that there was in this case such a “showing to the contrary” as to completely negate the applicability of any presumption that the trial court found fraud. To presume that the trial court found that fraud on the court had been proved (as distinguished from having found that there was “some evidence” of it) would be in direct contradiction to, and wholly inconsistent with, the finding actually announced and concisely restated at the close of the hearing. The majority also accuses me of “creating] an issue for reversal out of whole cloth, an argument which is neither advanced nor addressed by the parties on appeal, or at the hearing.” It is true that appellant does not in its brief attack the trial court’s “finding” of fraud as being “deficient.” However, as the majority concedes, appellant does argue that the evidence is insufficient to support the trial court’s “finding” of fraud.1 That argument alone requires us to consider the issue raised in this dissent. As there was no finding of fraud on the court in the procurement of the judgment, and as it would be improper on the facts of this case for us to presume that such a finding was made, there is no finding for us to review. See Charleston School District No. 9 v. Sebastian County Board of Education, 300 Ark. 242, 778 S.W.2d 614 (1989); Des Arc Bayou Watershed Improvement District v. Finch, 271 Ark. 603, 609 S.W.2d 70 (1980). As there is no finding for us to review, I am at a loss as to how we can decide the sufficiency issue presented to us. See Des Arc Bayou Watershed Improvement District v. Finch, supra. As we do not review circuit court cases de novo on the record, we cannot make the missing finding ourselves on appeal; our function in this regard is simply to review the findings of the factfinder. See Charleston School District No. 9 v. Sebastian County Board of Education, supra. I am of the firm and abiding conviction that the majority opinion is dead wrong, and that the order appealed from should be reversed and the case remanded for the circuit court to make a finding, based on the record as it already exists, on the factual issue that was presented to it. I express no opinion as to the sufficiency of the evidence in this record to support a finding of fraud, if and when one is ever made. Cooper, J., joins in this dissent.   The majority opinion twice states that appellant does not “seriously” contest the sufficiency of the evidence as to fraud. Nevertheless, after stating the procedural history of the case, it takes the majoirty six typewritten pages to discuss that evidence and dispose of that very issue. Only one paragraph is devoted to the issues of ratification and estoppel.