Pro-Se Defendant Entitled To Amend Improper General Denial At Default Hearing
05/20/08
Plaintiff filed suit against defendant and defendant’s wife seeking to recover on an alleged counterfeit check drawn on plaintiff’s bank account. Defendant in response to the summons, sent a letter to the court clerk stating that his “plea . . . in this matter is NOT GUILTY.” Thereafter, plaintiff filed a motion for default alleging defendant’s letter was not sufficient to constitute an answer under the rules of civil procedure. At the default judgment hearing, defendant made an unreplied to request of the court for leave to file “a supplemental pleading.” In addition, defendant testified that he was out of state at the time the check was received and cashed and he knew nothing about the check other than what his wife had told him, as he and his wife were separated at the time. The court then entered default judgment against defendant husband, stating “the petition pleads that he received benefits of thse funds and demand has been made from him and the funds were retained.”
“A trial court’s entry of a default judgment and subsequent denial of a motion to set aside must be reversed, regardless of whether the defendant shows good cause and a meritorious defense, if the defendant has fild a timely answer.” “It is clear from the record that the only basis for the judgment and subsequent denial of the motion to set aside was the trial court’s determination that [defendant husband’s] letter did not constitute a valid answer.” Although the letter denial was “crude and nonprofessional,” Rule 55.33(a) provides that leave to amend a pleading “shall be freely given when justice so requires.” “Considering ‘the law’s distaste for default judgments and its preference for trials on the merits,’ . . . the court should have allowed [defendant husband] to amend his answer under these circumstances.” Everest Reinsurance Company v. Kerr, Docket No. WD68417 (Mo.Ct.App.W.D. May 20, 2008)
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