Frericks v. Baines

ORTH, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. ³⁴⁴ By an amended declaration filed 19 June 1972 in the Circuit Court for Cecil County John Joseph Frericks (John) and Frank J. Frericks (Frank), plaintiffs-appellants, sued Walter Baines (Walter), Agnes Baines (Agnes), Ronald D. Baines (Ronald), defendants, and General Motors Corporation (General Motors), and Anchor Pontiac Buick, Inc. (Anchor), defendants-appellees. Case No. 1 claimed $750,000 in damages suffered by John, dependent for necessaries of life upon his father, Frank, while a passenger in an automobile driven negligently by Ronald while the agent of the owners, Walter and Agnes. Case No. 2 claimed $1,000,000 damages for the negligence of General Motors and Anchor, its dealer, in the design and construction of the automobile, in count 1, $1,000,000 for violation of an implied warranty by General Motors and Anchor in count 2, $1,000,000 for violation by them of expressed warranties in count 3, and $1,000,000 under their strict liability in tort in count 4. General Motors and Anchor demurred to the amended declaration and on 3 October 1972 the court below granted each demurrer without leave to amend as to case No. 1 and as to each count in case No. 2.

John and Frank appealed on 24 October. The record was received in this Court on 9 November and on 10 November and 13 November respectively General Motors and Anchor moved to dismiss the appeal pursuant to Maryland Rules 835 b (1) and 836,* 1 claiming that the appeal was premature under Rule 605 a. General Motors gave as further reason that it had filed a motion for a Protective Order on 30 October and “the pending of this premature appeal raises questions concerning the jurisdiction” of the court below to rule thereon. John and Frank answered the motions.

They alleged that they “entered into a settlement of their claim against the Defendants, Walter Baines, Agnes Baines and Ronald D. Baines, prior to the filing of the Order to Enter the Appeal on October 24, ³⁴⁵ 1972 and an Order of Satisfaction will be placed on record within the next 30 days. That upon the filing of the Order of Satisfaction in favor of the Baines, there will, in fact, be no other parties except the Appellees Anchor Pontiac Buick, Inc. and