Price v. Orrison

Digges, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. A former president, an attorney and eighteen other members of the Oxon Hill Vista Citizens Association have appealed from an order of the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County (Parker, J.) which denied their several motions to prevent the taking of depositions in aid of execution upon a judgment obtained only against the citizens association. None of the members except the appellant Price, who was exonerated by the jury of any liability, were parties to the slander action which resulted in that judgment. Their motions were “denied for failure to comply with the rules,” or so read the notation written on their proposed order to protect party and deponent and to quash the summonses.

The summonses, which were issued under Maryland Rules 401 and 403-415 as authorized by Rule 627, directed them to appear at a local attorney’s office for twenty examinations at fifteen minute intervals on July 24, 1970. We think that this appeal is premature and must be dismissed. We view Judge Parker’s order as interlocutory in nature and not falling within one of the statutory categories of appealable non-final orders. Code (1957, 1968 Repl.

Vol., 1970 Cum. Supp.) Art. 5, §§ 1A and 7. In Kardy v. Shook, J., 237 Md. 524, 534 , 207 A. 2d 83 (1965) we held that “ [o]rdinarily (and certainly in the absence of exceptional circumstances), an order of the trial court permitting the taking of pre-trial depositions is an interlocutory one, and not appealable. Montgomery Co. Coun. v. Kaslow, 235 Md. 45 .

Cf. Lee v. State, 161 Md.