Appellate Law

Successive Post-Judgment Motions Not Allowed; Court Will Not Review Order Entered In Another Case

After deciding the main issues in a divorce proceeding, the Court of Civil Appeals in Washington v. Washington, [Ms. 2070718] (Ala. Civ. App. May 29, 2009), addressed some interesting appellate issues regarding certain post-judgment orders of the trial court.

First, the court found that a second post-judgment motion filed by the wife was improper, as "successive post-judgment motions by the same party, seeking essentially the same relief, are not allowed."  The trial court's entry of a judgment based on the second post-judgment motion was therefore void.

Second, the court refused to hear the husband's appeal of  an order in a contempt action between the parties.  The contempt order was in a separate action and was issued months after the notice of appeal was filed.  Because no notice of appeal had been filed in the separate contempt action, the Court of Civil Appeals could not hear the appeal of that order in conjunction with this case.

Full post as published by Alabama Appellate Watch on June 05, 2009 (boomark / email).