Alston v. Pope, et al.
| Docket Number: | 2010-CT-01760-SCT Linked Case(s): 2010-CA-01760-COA ; 2010-CA-01760-COA ; 2010-CT-01760-SCT |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 03-28-2013 Opinion Author: Pierce, J. Holding: Court of Appeals reversed; Circuit court reinstated and affirmed. |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 01-31-2012 Opinion Author: Russell, J. Holding: Reversed and remanded |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Personal injury - Written stipulation - Section 11-11-3(4)(b) - Statute of limitations Judge(s) Concurring: Waller, C.J., Randolph, P.J., Lamar, Kitchens, Chandler, King and Coleman, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Dickinson, P.J. Procedural History: Motion for Relief from Judgment Nature of the Case: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY Writ of Certiorari: yes Appealed from Court of Appeals |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 09-30-2010 Appealed from: Wayne County Circuit Court Judge: Robert Bailey Disposition: Dismissed the case on forum non conveniens. Case Number: CV2007 209 B |
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| Note: | The original Court of Appeals opinion can be found at http://courts.ms.gov/Images/Opinions/CO83418.pdf . | |
| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Shirley Alston and Robert Alston |
STEPHEN J. MAGGIO |
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| Appellee: | Justin P. Pope and T. K. Stanley, Inc. | B. STEVENS HAZARD STEVEN JAMES GRIFFIN |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Personal injury - Written stipulation - Section 11-11-3(4)(b) - Statute of limitations |
| Summary of the Facts: | Shirley and Robert Alston filed suit in the Wayne County Circuit Court against Justin Pope and T.K. Stanley, Inc., seeking damages they claim resulted from a motor-vehicle accident in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The circuit court dismissed the case on grounds of forum non conveniens. The Alstons then filed suit in Alabama. The suit was dismissed because Alabama’s statute of limitations for the claim had expired. The Alstons filed a motion for relief from judgment which the court denied. The Alstons appealed, and the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the matter for an adjudication on the merits. The Supreme Court granted certiorari. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | The Alstons asserted they were entitled to relief from the trial court’s order dismissing their complaint because the defendants never filed the required written stipulation pursuant to section 11-11-3(4)(b). The Court of Appeals held that section 11-11-3(4)(b) does not permit oral stipulations, and the filing of a written stipulation is a mandatory condition precedent to dismissal. At the time the Alstons originally filed suit in Mississippi, fifteen days remained before Alabama’s two-year limitation period expired on the Alstons’ tort claims. For purposes of section 11-11-3(4)(b), once the circuit court dismissed their suit in Mississippi, the Alstons had fifteen days to file suit Alabama. But they did not file suit in Alabama until approximately one year after the circuit court had dismissed their suit in Mississippi. As noted by Judge Roberts in the Court of Appeals dissent, section 11-11-3(4)(b) simply requires proof that the defendants have waived “any defense that the statute of limitations expired during the time that a claim was pending in the inconvenient forum or the period that remained on the statute of limitations after the tolling effect of the statute ends.” Such proof was established here with the circuit court’s filed written order, drafted by Defendants’ counsel and delivered to the Alstons’ counsel via fax and mail for preview, with no response or objection interposed from the Alstons’ counsel. |
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