Court Opinion

ID: 9599080
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 01:14:17.486578+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:01:44.020112
License: Public Domain

SEARS, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the judgment because, under the present statutory scheme, a jury trial may be demanded until the moment the case is called for trial, and thus the demand in this case was timely made. Insofar as that demand was not followed with a written or oral stipulation consenting to a bench trial, the trial court erred in proceeding without a jury. However, I call upon the legislature to reconsider the wisdom of allowing divorce litigants to wait until moments before the commencement of trial to demand that their cases be tried before a jury. The rule is subject to rife abuse by litigants and their attorneys, and frustrates the economic use of judicial and legal resources.