LAW.coLAW.co

Burch v. Dodge County et al.

Supreme Court of Georgia1942-05-21No. No. 14103
193 Ga. 890

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed the dismissal of the motion to set aside the prior final decree, holding that defects in pleadings that are subject to amendment do not support setting aside a judgment, and that a consent decree is valid absent fraud, accident, or mistake.

Burch sought to set aside a prior equity decree, arguing that the record showed the decree was void because it omitted essential facts and contradicted other necessary facts. The court rejected these arguments. Defects in pleadings that could be corrected through amendment do not render a judgment subject to being set aside under the applicable statute; only defects showing that no cause of action existed in fact will support such relief. The movant's ability to plead the absence of facts and support those claims with affidavits does not establish that such facts were undisputed or that the trial court actually found in the movant's favor.

Additionally, the prior decree had been entered with the written consent of both sides' counsel, which gave it substantial protection. A consent decree receives legal force unless the moving party demonstrates it resulted from fraud, accident, or mistake—none of which was shown here. The trial court properly dismissed Burch's motion to set aside on demurrer.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Standards for setting aside a judgment based on pleading defects
  • Effect of amendable defects in pleadings on judgment validity
  • Legal status and immutability of consent decrees in equity

Procedural posture

The trial court dismissed on general demurrer a motion filed after final judgment seeking to set aside a prior equity decree, and the movant appealed.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

Jenkins, Justice.

1. “Wien a judgment lias been rendered, either party may move in arrest thereof, or to set it aside for any defect not amendable which appears on the face of the record or pleadings.” Code, §■ 110-702. “If the pleadings are so defective that no legal judgment can be rendered thereon, the judgment will be arrested or set aside.” §- 110-704. “A judgment may not be arrested or set aside for any defect in the pleadings or record that is aided by verdict or amendable as matter of form.” § 110-705. Under the rule last stated, a petition, although defective and although subject to general demurrer, in that it omits to set forth all the necessary ingredients of a cause of action, will not render the judgment based thereon subject to be set aside on a motion made for that purpose, unless it be that the petition shows on its face, not only that no cause of action is set forth, but that a cause of action did not in fact exist. Merritt v. Bagwell, 70 Ga. 578 (3), 595; Stanford v. Bradford, 45 Ga. 97, 98; Fitzpatrick v. Paulding, 131 Ga. 693 (63 S. E. 213) ; Weems v. Kidd, 37 Ga. App. 8 (2, 3) (138 S. E. 863) ; Chapman v. Taliaferro, 1 Ga. App. 235, 238 (58 S. E. 128) ; So. Ry. Co. v. Morrison, 8 Ga. App. 647, 648 (70 S. E. 91); Rollins v. Personal Finance Co., 49 Ga. App. 365, 366 (175 S. E. 609), and cit.

2. The motion to set aside a final decree in equity asserts that the record of the original case, a copy of which is attached to the present motion, shows on its face that the decree as rendered was unauthorized and therefore void, in that certain facts essential to sustain the decree were omitted therefrom, and that other essential facts were negatived by the decree and the record. There is no merit in the first of these contentions, since the matters omitted were obviously such as could have been supplied by amendment; and under the statute governing the setting aside of judgments, if the decree could have been amended, it was in legal effect amended. Nor is there merit in the second contention, that the decree shows on its face that it could not have been legally rendered. The fact that in the former proceeding the movant may have pleaded the absence of essential facts, and may now support his pleading with affidavits, is not the equivalent of showing that such facts were undisputed, or that the court made a finding in his favor with respect thereto.

No. 14103.

May 21, 1942.

3. Moreover, irrespective of the preceding rulings, it appears that the equitable decree now sought to be set aside was entered upon the written consent of counsel on both sides. This being the case, the decree will be given force and effect in the absence of a showing that it was rendered through fraud, accident, or mistake, none of which appears. Goolsby v. Goolsby, 146 Ga. 763, 766 (92 S. E. 521) ; Howell v. Howell, 188 Ga. 803, 805 ( 4 S. E. 2d, 835), and cit.

4. Under the foregoing rulings, the court properly dismissed on general demurrer the motion to set aside the previous final decree.

Judgment affirmed.

All the Justices concur.

B. Berner Williams and G. H. Williams, for plaintiff.

Will Ed. Smith and Hal M. Smith, for defendants.