Morine W. Miller v. J. T. Miller
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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
OF THE
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 2001-CA-00840-COA
MORINE W. MILLER
v.
J. T. MILLER
DATE OF TRIAL COURT JUDGMENT:
TRIAL JUDGE:
COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED:
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT:
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE:
NATURE OF THE CASE:
TRIAL COURT DISPOSITION:
DISPOSITION:
MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:
CERTIORARI FILED:
MANDATE ISSUED:
APPELLANT
APPELLEE
05/16/2001
HON. JOHN C. ROSS JR.
ITAWAMBA COUNTY CHANCERY COURT
RHETT R. RUSSELL
GARY L. CARNATHAN
CIVIL - DOMESTIC RELATIONS
DISMISSED; BARRED BY RES JUDICATA
REVERSED AND REMANDED - 07/30/2002
8/8/2002; denied 10/1/2002
10/15/2002
BEFORE McMILLIN, C.J., MYERS, AND CHANDLER, JJ.
MYERS, J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1. This is an appeal from the Chancery Court of Itawamba County. Morine W. Miller filed an action to
partite the jointly owned property belonging to J.T. Miller and herself. The chancery court dismissed the
action ruling that the doctrine of res judicata applied. Morine now appeals raising several issues on appeal.
We have chosen to combine them for a more concise review.
1. Whether the lower court erred in concluding that the appellant's petition for partition of
jointly held property was barred by the doctrine of res judicata.
2. If so, did the court err in denying appellant's motion for default judgment?
FACTS
¶2. J.T. and Morine Miller were married in 1953. In 1998, Morine filed for divorce and sought an equitable
division of marital property incident to divorce. The chancellor denied the Millers' divorce in 1999, holding
that Morine did not prove the ground claimed in her complaint. Morine did not appeal that decision.
¶3. In September of 2000, Morine filed a complaint against J.T. seeking to statutorily partite jointly held
property under Mississippi Code Annotated §§ 11-21-3 and 11-21-71 (Supp. 2001). On May 16, 2001,
the Chancery Court of Itawamba County entered a judgment against Morine holding that she had no right
to partite the jointly held property because her divorce action was res judicata to the present action.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶4. In reviewing a chancellor's findings in a domestic matter, this Court has limited discretion. "This Court
will not disturb the findings of a chancellor unless the chancellor was manifestly wrong, clearly erroneous or
applied an erroneous legal standard." Sandlin v. Sandlin, 699 So. 2d 1198, 1203 (Miss. 1997) (quoting
Ferguson v. Ferguson, 639 So. 2d 921, 930 (Miss. 1994)). "We will not reverse a chancellor's findings
of fact where they are supported by substantial evidence in the record." Weigand v. Houghton, 730 So. 2d
581, 585 (¶14) (Miss. 1999). Courts of review are not to undermine trial court authority by replacing the
judgment with its own. Mullins v. Ratcliff, 515 So. 2d 1183, 1189 (Miss. 1987).
DISCUSSION
¶5. A final judgment on the merits bars further claims by parties or their privies based on the same cause of
action under the doctrine of res judicata. Four identities must be present for res judicata to apply: (1)
identity of the subject matter of the action; (2) identity of the cause of/civil action; (3) identity of the parties
to the cause of/civil action; and (4) identity of the quality or character of a person for or against whom the
claim is made.(1) Pro-Choice Mississippi v. Fordice, 716 So. 2d 645, 665 (¶70) (Miss. 1998), citing
Little v. V. & G. Welding Supply, Inc., 704 So. 2d 1336, 1338 (¶9) (Miss. 1997). When these four
elements are present a party will be barred from relitigating issues decided in a prior action or those that
should have been litigated. Dunaway v. W.H. Hopper & Assoc., Inc., 422 So. 2d 749, 751(Miss. 1982).
¶6. The chancellor ruled that the four identities of res judicata were met. Parties are precluded from
relitigating claims that were decided or could have been raised in a prior action. Baldwin v. Baldwin, 788
So. 2d 800, 811 (¶31) (Miss. Ct. App. 2001). He reasoned that the land in question was to be part of a
divorce settlement and therefore the same subject matter. In addition, he held that the identity of the civil
action, the parties and the identity of the quality or character against whom the claim has been made remains
the same.
¶7. Morine's assertion is that no division of property incident to divorce could occur when her complaint for
divorce was dismissed. She is correct. Where the chancellor denies a divorce, he is without the authority to
order a division of the property. Smith v. Smith, 656 So. 2d. 1143, 1147 (Miss. 1995). The chancellor
had no authority to equitably divide any property incident to a divorce as none was granted. Morine chose
not to appeal the chancellor's decision denying her divorce.
¶8. Morine cites Trigg v. Trigg, 498 So. 2d 334 (Miss. 1986) to support her argument that she should be
allowed her statutory right to partite jointly held land. In Trigg the supreme court held that the wife had a
statutory right to maintain her action for partition of property jointly held with husband even though they
remained husband and wife and the husband still lived on the property and claimed it as his homestead. Id.
at 335. Mrs. Trigg never filed for divorce. She moved out and then petitioned the court to statutorily partite
the land which was her only attempt to regain control over her property. Id.
¶9. In the present situation, Morine lives separately from her husband and wants to partite their jointly held
property. Morine's only recourse to recover her property is to file in the chancery court for partition. The
identity of the civil action for partition of jointly held property is not tantamount to divorce, thus the second
identity required for res judicata is not met.
¶10. THE JUDGMENT OF THE CHANCERY COURT OF ITAWAMBA COUNTY IS
REVERSED AND REMANDED. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO THE
APPELLEE.
McMILLIN, C.J., KING AND SOUTHWICK, P.JJ., BRIDGES, THOMAS, LEE,
IRVING, CHANDLER AND BRANTLEY, JJ., CONCUR.
1. Referring to requirement no. 2, Rule 2 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil procedure provides that
there shall be one form of action to be known as "civil action." Comments for Rule 2 state that the
purpose of rule 2 is to eliminate the term "cause of action" from the lexicon of Mississippi civil
practice.
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