State of Missouri ex rel. Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, Relator v. The Honorable W. Stephen Nixon, Respondent.

This slip opinion is subject to revision and may not reflect the final opinion adopted by the Court. Opinion

Case Style: State of Missouri ex rel. Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, Relator v. The Honorable W. Stephen Nixon, Respondent. Case Number: SC86530 Handdown Date: 08/02/2005 Appeal From: Original Proceeding in Prohibition Counsel for Appellant: Juliet A. Cox, David S. Ladwig and Jerome T. Wolf Counsel for Respondent: Richard L. Rollings, Jr., Anthony M. Totta, Mark E. Parrish, Robert M.N. Palmer and William G. Petrus Opinion Summary:

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. seeks a writ of prohibition prohibiting enforcement of a judgment imposing obligations on it to maintain and index certain confidential documents. Cooper Tire also seeks to prohibit enforcement of the order of contempt respondent imposed on it because it failed to comply with that part of the judgment. Writ Made Permanent as Modified Court en banc holds: For the reasons expressed in Thera Oleta Lavelock, et al. v. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., et al. , __ S.W.3d __ (Mo. banc 2005) (No. SC86904, decided Aug. 2, 2005), this Court struck from the judgment the maintenance and indexing requirements that Cooper Tire challenges in this writ proceeding. A contempt judgment cannot be based on willful disobedience of an order not lawfully made by the trial court. The disposition of Cooper Tire's direct appeal renders this writ proceeding moot as to the obligation to maintain and index the subject documents. Respondent's issuance of an order of contempt was an abuse of discretion. The preliminary writ is made absolute as modified to prohibit enforcement of the order of contempt.

Citation: Opinion Author: PER CURIAM

Opinion Vote: Writ Made Permanent as Modified. Opinion:

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. ("Cooper Tire") seeks a writ of prohibition prohibiting enforcement of a judgment imposing obligations on it to maintain and index certain confidential documents. Cooper Tire also seeks to prohibit enforcement of the order of contempt Respondent imposed on it because it failed to comply with the judgment. (FN1) For the reasons expressed in Thera Oleta Lavelock, et al. v. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., et al. , __ S.W.3d __ (Mo. banc 2005) (No. SC86904, decided Aug. 2, 2005), Cooper Tire's direct appeal of the judgment, this Court struck from the judgment the maintenance and indexing requirements that Cooper Tire challenges in this writ proceeding. A contempt judgment cannot be based on willful disobedience of an order not lawfully made by the trial court. Mo. Elec. Power Co. v. City of Mountain Grove , 176 S.W.2d 612, 616 (Mo. 1944). The disposition of Cooper Tire's direct appeal renders this writ proceeding moot as to the obligation to maintain and index the subject documents. Respondent's issuance of an order of contempt was an abuse of discretion. The preliminary writ is made absolute as modified to prohibit enforcement of the order of contempt.

All concur.

Footnotes: FN1. The facts of this case are discussed in Thera Oleta Lavelock, et al. v. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., et al. , __ S.W.3d __ (Mo. banc 2005) (No. SC86904, decided Aug. 2, 2005).

Separate Opinion: None This slip opinion is subject to revision and may not reflect the final opinion adopted by the Court.