Appellate Law

Consolidated Appeals Dismissed; Underlying Judgments Void

Both of the consolidated appeals in Hayes v. Hayes were dismissed as from void judgments.  

The participants this custody/child support dispute appealled from judgments dated August 4, 2008 and August 28, 2008.  The court dismissed both of the appeals, however, finding that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to enter either of them.   

The August 4 judgment, which pertained to custody of the minor child, was entered following the father's July 8, 2008 "motion to clarify the order of June 19, 2008."  The June 19, 2008 order, in turn, constituted a modification of the trial court's May 27, 2008 judgment.  Likewise, the August 28, 2008 judgment appealled from was one which purported to further modify the trial court's May 27, 2008 judgment regarding child-support.      

The court reasoned that for both appeals, the May 27, 2008 judgment was the first significant  order.  After both parties filed postjudgment motions seeking amendment of that judgment and the trial court ruled on those motions in the June 19, 2008 order, the trial court lost jurisdiction to reconsider its decision.  Therefore, the trial court had no jurisdiction to enter the August 4, 2008 judgment, which sought to modify that May 27, 2008 judgment, because it had no jurisdiction to do so after June 19, 2008.  

A similar rationale and result obtained with respect to the August 28, 2008 judgment: the trial court was divested of jurisdciton following the June 19, 2008 order and the August 28, 2008 judgment which followed was a nullity.  Accordingly, the trial court dismissed both appeals as from void judgments.

Full post as published by Alabama Appellate Watch on February 14, 2009 (boomark / email).