Opinion

Sotelo v. Drew

  • 123 N.C. App. 464
  • 473 S.E.2d 379
  • 1996 N.C. App. LEXIS 700
Court
Court of Appeals of North Carolina
Filed
Aug 6, 1996
Status
Published
Author
Greene
On the bench
McGee, Wynn, Greene
Cited by
1 cases
Authority
More cited than 13.0%

The opinion

Judge Greene

dissenting.

I would not vacate the judgment of the trial court on the grounds that it was without subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate the Rule *469 60 motion. In my opinion, the trial court had jurisdiction. The majority’s opinion is based on the holding that the Attorney General, in the filing of the Rule 60 motion, took “on the role of a party to the action.” I disagree. The trial court found as a fact that the Rule 60 motion was filed by the “office of the Attorney General for the State of North Carolina, on behalf of the plaintiff,” Theresa L. Sotelo. Because neither party objected to this finding of fact, this Court is bound by it. Anderson Chevrolet/Olds v. Higgins, 57 N.C. App. 650, 653 , 292 S.E.2d 159, 161 (1982). It therefore follows that the Attorney General was not a party to the action. As such, because there is no dispute that Theresa L. Sotelo had standing to file the Rule 60 motion, the trial court had subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate the motion.

Whether the Attorney General had statutory authority to represent the plaintiff in the filing of the motion is not an issue properly before this Court, as neither the plaintiff nor defendant has raised this issue on appeal. N.C. R. App. P. 10.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.