Summary
In Nora v. Stanford, 93-3061 (La. 2/14/94); 633 So.2d 1209, in a per curiam opinion, the Louisiana Supreme Court held that an action was properly dismissed as abandoned for non-prosecution for five years where plaintiff; after presenting sufficient evidence to obtain a confirmation of a default judgment, failed to obtain a signed judgment for nine years.
Summary of this case from State v. RamosOpinion
No. 93-C-3061.
February 14, 1994.
APPEAL FROM THE TENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, PARISH OF NATCHITOCHES, W. PEYTON CUNNINGHAM, J.
Application granted.
When the plaintiff presents evidence sufficient for confirmation of a default judgment, but fails to present the formal judgment to the trial court for nine years, La. Code Civ.Proc. art. 561 applies, and the action is properly dismissed as abandoned because of nonprosecution of five years. This is a different situation than in Barton v. Burbank, 138 La. 997, 71 So. 134 (1916) and Bryant v. Travelers Ins. Co., 288 So.2d 606 (La. 1974), in which the case had been tried and the five-year abandonment period elapsed after trial while the parties were waiting on the trial court to render judgment. Absent from those cases, but a critical factor in the present case, was the failure on the part of the plaintiff to take steps in the prosecution of the action that was the responsibility of the plaintiff.
Accordingly, the judgment of the court of appeal, 625 So.2d 309, is set aside, and the judgment of the trial court is reinstated.
DENNIS, J., not on panel.