Hochheimer & Co. v. Superior Court

Certiorari. The purpose of this proceeding is to determine whether or not the superior court exceeded its jurisdiction in dismissing an appeal from the justice’s court; also whether or not the justice’s court exceeded its jurisdiction in the action pending before it in rendering a judgment on a counterclaim.

It appears that judgment was rendered against the plaintiff on a counterclaim in the justice’s court in the month of April, 1919; that shortly thereafter an appeal therefrom to the superior court was perfected by the plaintiff and the cause set for trial in the superior court on November 5, 1919, at which time, neither of the parties appearing in court, the cause went “off calendar.” Nothing further was done in the matter by anyone connected therewith until on or about October 1, 1923, at which time plaintiff’s attorneys served on defendants a notice of motion to set the cause for trial, and on the same day defendants’ attorneys served on plaintiff a notice of motion to dismiss the appeal on the ground that it had not been diligently prosecuted, which latter motion was granted by the court.

Section 980 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which deals with the powers of the…