Court Opinion

ID: 9563956
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:51:09.501226+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:18:09.575956
License: Public Domain

SPENCE, J.
I concur in the judgment, as I believe that relief should have been granted under section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
My disagreement with the majority opinion results from its implication that Senator Desmond would have had an absolute right to have had the entry of judgment delayed under the provisions of sections 595 and 1054.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure in the event that he had timely shown that he was a member of the Legislature, and that he desired such delay until after the Legislature had adjourned. It must be remembered that the hearing on the demurrer to the first amended complaint had been had without objection, and that counsel received notice on May 11, 1953, that the demurrer had been sustained without leave to amend. Nothing remained to be done but the mere act of entering a judgment of dismissal. I find no provision giving counsel the absolute right to delay that act.
Section 595 deals only with the postponement of the "trial of any civil action” or the "hearing of any motion, demurrer, or other proceeding”; and it provides that when the Legislature is in session, the "action or proceeding shall not, without the consent of the attorney of record therein, be brought on for trial or hearing” until after a specified time. Section 1054.1 deals only with the extension of time to do an act when "the time allowed therefor” is "provided by law or rule of court.” Neither section provides for any absolute right of counsel to delay the entry of judgment after a hearing has been had without objection on a demurrer and the demurrer has been sustained without leave to amend. It would appear that the draftsman of these sections intention*720ally omitted any provision for delaying the entry of a judgment, as there are many instances involving emergency matters where the entry of a judgment should not be delayed after a cause is submitted following a trial or hearing held without objection.
On the other hand, it appears without dispute that Senator Desmond believed in good faith that he had such right, and that he attempted to communicate his request for a delay to the trial court by telegram. Under these circumstances, I am of the view that relief under section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure should have been granted.
I therefore join in the reversal of the orders.
Schauer, J., and McComb, J., dissented.