Ginger Cove Common Area Co. v. Wiekhorst, 296 Neb. 416

Ginger Cove sued Wiekhorst and two others for unpaid annual assessments; service issues suggest the other two defendants were dismissed by operation of law.
Wiekhorst filed counterclaims alleging breach of fiduciary duty; Ginger Cove moved for discovery sanctions after claiming Wiekhorst failed to respond to discovery.
Timeline: case dismissed for lack of prosecution 9/29/2015; Ginger Cove filed motions to reinstate and for sanctions (noticed for an October 1 hearing); court reinstated the case 10/5/2015 and entered a sanctions order on 10/6/2015 striking Wiekhorst’s counterclaim for contempt.
Wiekhorst moved 1/14/2016 to vacate the sanctions; the court denied that motion 2/19/2016. The court later entered final judgment against Wiekhorst after a bench trial on 4/20/2016; Wiekhorst timely appealed.
Wiekhorst’s appellate claim challenges the denial of his motion to vacate the sanctions and asserts denial of procedural due process because he lacked timely notice of the reinstatement and sanctions proceedings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the court has jurisdiction to review Wiekhorst’s challenge to the Feb. 2016 order denying vacatur of sanctions	Wiekhorst waited until final judgment to appeal; the earlier orders are reviewable on that appeal	Ginger Cove: Feb. 2016 order was final and Wiekhorst’s failure to appeal it within 30 days bars review	The Oct. 2015 sanctions order and the Feb. 2016 denial were interlocutory; appeal from final judgment suffices, so appellate jurisdiction exists
Whether the district court erred in denying the motion to vacate sanctions (including due process claim for lack of notice)	Wiekhorst: transcript shows no proof he had timely notice of reinstatement or sanctions hearing; sanctions entered while case allegedly dismissed	Ginger Cove and court: record shows electronic service and the sanctions order states there was proper notice; appellant must produce contrary evidence	Court affirmed denial of vacatur: appellant failed to present a bill of exceptions or other proof contradicting the trial court’s journal entry, which imports verity; no reversible error shown

Guardian Tax Partners v. Skrupa Invest. Co., 295 Neb. 639, 889 N.W.2d 825 (jurisdictional principles on final orders)
Obad v. State, 277 Neb. 866, 766 N.W.2d 89 (standard for questions of law)
Deines v. Essex Corp., 293 Neb. 577, 879 N.W.2d 30 (definition of final order affecting substantial rights)
In re Adoption of Madysen S. et al., 293 Neb. 646, 879 N.W.2d 34 (final judgment requirement for appellate jurisdiction)
Big John’s Billiards v. State, 283 Neb. 496, 811 N.W.2d 205 (avoidance of piecemeal appeals)
Furstenfeld v. Pepin, 287 Neb. 12, 840 N.W.2d 862 (discovery orders generally not appealable interlocutorily)
Cattle Nat. Bank & Trust Co. v. Watson, 293 Neb. 943, 880 N.W.2d 906 (final-order analysis)
State v. Deckard, 272 Neb. 410, 722 N.W.2d 55 (journal entry verity)
Alder v. First Nat. Bank & Trust Co., 241 Neb. 873, 491 N.W.2d 686 (journal entry verity)
Pierce v. Landmark Mgmt. Group, 293 Neb. 890, 880 N.W.2d 885 (appellant’s duty to present record supporting assigned errors)