Owens v. Mai
Docket Number: | 2002-CT-01338-SCT Linked Case(s): 2002-CA-01338-COA ; 2002-CT-01338-SCT ; 2002-CT-01338-SCT ; 2002-CA-01338-COA |
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Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 01-13-2005 Opinion Author: Graves, J. Holding: Reversed and Rendered |
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Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Wrongful death - Failure to serve process - Savings statute - Section 15-1-69 - M.R.C.P. 4(h) - Statute of limitations Judge(s) Concurring: Smith, C.J., Waller, P.J., Easley, Carlson, Dickinson and Randolph, JJ., Non Participating Judge(s): Diaz, J. Concurs in Result Only: Cobb, P.J. Procedural History: Dismissal Nature of the Case: CIVIL - WRONGFUL DEATH |
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Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 06-14-2002 Appealed from: Copiah County Circuit Court Judge: Lamar Pickard Disposition: The trial court dismissed the suit for defective service of process pursuant to Rule 4(h) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure. Case Number: 2001-0637 |
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Note: | THE JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF APPEALS IS REVERSED, AND THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COPIAH COUNTY IS AFFIRMED |
Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
Appellant: | Jackie Owens, Individually and on Behalf of All Other Death Beneficiaries of Terry Owens |
JOYCE W.C.N. FUNCHES
MICHAEL S. ALLRED
OTTOWA E. CARTER, JR. |
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Appellee: | Paul Mai d/b/a Crystal Springs Mobile Home Parks | WILLIAM E. READY, JR. |
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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. |
Topic: | Wrongful death - Failure to serve process - Savings statute - Section 15-1-69 - M.R.C.P. 4(h) - Statute of limitations |
Summary of the Facts: | Jackie Owens, a mobile home resident, filed a wrongful death suit against Paul Mai, the mobile home park owner. The court dismissed the suit for defective service of process. Prior to dismissal of the first action, Owens filed an identical second action which was dismissed by the court on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired. Owens appealed, and the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and held that the dismissal of the first action for lack of personal jurisdiction due to defective service fell within the purview of the savings statute and that dismissal of the second suit was improper. The Supreme Court granted certiorari. |
Summary of Opinion Analysis: | The Court of Appeals found that the savings statute, section 15-1-69, applies when a case is dismissed for failure to serve process because the ultimate point is one of jurisdiction, and lack of jurisdiction is a matter of form for purposes of the savings statutes. Dismissal of a suit for failure to serve process is not a jurisdictional matter for purposes of the savings statute. To allow otherwise would seriously undermine the legal effect behind M.R.C.P. 4 as well as the legislative intent of the savings statute since it would essentially allow plaintiffs who fail to serve process under Rule 4 to utilize the savings statute to preserve their claims and/or extend the life of their claims. Therefore, when a case is dismissed because a defendant was not properly served within 120 days as mandated by M.R.C.P. 4(h), such a dismissal is not a matter of form that comes within the intent of section 15-1-69. In addition, Owens’s failure to properly serve Mai with process caused the statute of limitations to resume running. Because of this, the statute of limitations some fourteen months prior to Mai’s motion to dismiss the first action and some nineteen months prior to Owens’s filing the second action. Thus, when Owens filed the second action, the three year statute of limitations had run. |
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