G.R. No. L-3120

FACTS:
Judgment was rendered against the plaintiff-appellant, Bryan, Landon Co., on October 28, 1905. The appellant did not take any action until November 18, 1905, when it filed a motion for a new trial on the ground that the judgment was contrary to law and the facts. The trial court denied this motion on the same day. The appellant then filed a bill of exceptions.

ISSUE:
Whether the appellant’s motion for a new trial, which was filed twenty (20) days after the judgment, was filed within a reasonable time so as to constitute a valid exception to the judgment.

RULING:
No. The Supreme Court dismissed the bill of exceptions. It held that a motion for a new trial based on errors of law or insufficiency of evidence, if presented immediately or within a reasonable time after notice of judgment, may be considered as an exception to that judgment. However, a period of twenty (20) days, without any justifying reason for the delay, was not considered a “reasonable time” based on established jurisprudence. Since no valid exception to the judgment was taken within a reasonable time, the bill of exceptions could not be sustained. Furthermore, the appellant’s exception to the order denying the motion for a new trial was invalid because the motion was not based on the ground of insufficiency of evidence, which is the only ground that, under the applicable procedural code, allows an exception to such an order.