State ex rel. Small v. Circuit Court (Per Curiam Opinion)
Annotate this CaseTobby Small and James Ramsey were involved in a traffic accident. Small filed an action against Ramsey and others in federal court, and Ramsey filed an action against Small and others in circuit court. Small filed a motion to dismiss the federal case on the grounds that Ramsey failed to file a compulsory counterclaim. The circuit court ordered Ramsey to file a counterclaim in Small's federal case, and ordered Small not to object to Ramsey's motion to amend his answer so he could file a counterclaim. Ramsey eventually settled with Small, but the other defendants did not. After the jury returned a verdict in favor of Small, Small unsuccessfully filed a motion for summary judgment in Ramsey's circuit court case. The circuit court ruled that Small waived the asserted issues because he had disobeyed the court's order not to contest Ramsey's motion to amend his answer. Small then filed for this writ of prohibition. The Supreme Court granted the writ, holding (1) the circuit court exceeded its authority in prohibiting Small from raising a defense to Ramsey's counterclaim in the federal litigation and in sanctioning him for exercising his right to assert a defense; and (2) the doctrine of res judicata barred Ramsey's action against Small.
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