Fields v. City of Clarksdale


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Docket Number: 2008-CA-00316-COA

Court of Appeals: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 02-09-2010
Opinion Author: Ishee, J.
Holding: Reversed and remanded.

Additional Case Information: Topic: Employee termination - Abandonment of appeal - URCCC 5.05 - M.R.A.P. 2(a)(2) - Notice of deficiency
Judge(s) Concurring: King, C.J., Lee and Myers, P.JJ., Irving, Griffis, Barnes, Roberts and Maxwell, JJ.
Dissenting Author : Carlton, J., without separate written opinion.
Procedural History: Dismissal
Nature of the Case: CIVIL - OTHER; Dismissal

Trial Court: Date of Trial Judgment: 01-22-2008
Appealed from: Coahoma County Circuit Court
Judge: KENNETH L. THOMAS
Disposition: DISMISSED FIELDS’S APPEAL FOR FAILURE TO PROSECUTE
Case Number: 14-CI-07-0105

  Party Name: Attorney Name:   Brief(s) Available:
Appellant: BILLY J. FIELDS




DAVID NEIL MCCARTY, DEREK D. HOPSON, MELISSA SELMAN MARTIN, DREW MCLEMORE MARTIN



 
  • Appellant #1 Brief
  • Appellant #1 Reply Brief

  • Appellee: CITY OF CLARKSDALE, MISSISSIPPI CURTIS D. BOSCHERT, WILLIAM HARVEY GRESHAM, JR.  

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    Topic: Employee termination - Abandonment of appeal - URCCC 5.05 - M.R.A.P. 2(a)(2) - Notice of deficiency

    Summary of the Facts: Billy Fields was terminated from his position as a captain with the Clarksdale Fire Department. He appealed his termination to the Clarksdale Civil Service Commission, which affirmed the decision. Fields filed his notice of appeal to the circuit court which dismissed his appeal. Fields appeals.

    Summary of Opinion Analysis: Fields filed his notice of appeal on September 7, and on or about September 26, he learned of the cost of the transcript and that the Commission was under the impression that he was responsible for the cost of the transcript. Fields then waited until October 18, to file a motion with the circuit court requesting that the City pay for the transcript. Based on these facts, the circuit court found that Fields waited forty days before he requested the assistance of the court in compelling the Commission to file the transcript. Pursuant to URCCC 5.05, the circuit court found that this exceeded the allowable thirty days and that Fields had abandoned his appeal. Fields argues that URCCC 5.05 should be complementary to M.R.A.P. 2(a)(2). He argues that application of Rule 2(a)(2) to his appeal from the Commission requires that he be given notice of the deficiency and fourteen days to correct it. It was in error for the circuit court to have dismissed Fields’s appeal. Under Rule 2(a)(2), Fields was entitled to notice from the circuit clerk of the deficiency in his appeal and fourteen days to correct any deficiency. This ruling does not conflict with the language of Rule 5.05. The circuit court may still dismiss an appeal for which an appellant has failed to timely provide a record.


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