Appellate Law

Court Applies De Novo Review When Parties Stipulate To Relevant Facts

In Yeager v. Winstead, No. 2060583 (Ala. Civ. App. August 8, 2008), a per curiam opinion, the plaintiff appealed from a trial court order denying her request for postjudgment interest on a lump sum alimony judgment from which the plaintiff appealed. The Court of Civil Appeals reviewed the trial court order de novo because the parties, “stipulated to the facts to be considered by the circuit court and presented exhibits in support of those stipulations; the court heard no oral testimony.”

Three judges found that the plaintiff should recover postjudgment interest, even though the defendant offered to pay the lump sum alimony award while the plaintiff's appeal was pending.  The plaintiff lost potential investment interest on the judgment while she waited to see if the appellate court would increase the alimony award. Had the plaintiff accepted the lump sum payment, she would have compromised her ability to collect additional sums that the appellate court may have ordered.

Full post as published by Alabama Appellate Watch on August 12, 2008 (boomark / email).