ANTONIO R. SANCHEZ-COREA et al., Plaintiffs, Cross-defendants and Appellants, v. BANK OF AMERICA, Defendant, Cross-complainant and Respondent; VIRGIL MCGOWEN, Defendant and Respondent.
S.F. No. 24709
Supreme Court of California
July 11, 1985
38 Cal. 3d 892 | 215 Cal. Rptr. 679 | 701 P.2d 826
Daniel M. Crawford, Donald T. Ramsey and Carroll, Burdick & McDonough for Plaintiffs, Cross-defendants and Appellants.
David B. Flinn and Leland, Parachini, Steinberg, Flinn, Matzger & Melnick for Defendant, Cross-complainant and Respondent.
No appearance for Defendant and Respondent.
OPINION
REYNOSO, J.---Plaintiffs Antonio and Lucille Sanchez-Corea and Edward Towers, trustee in bankruptcy, appeal from an order that vacated a $2.1 million judgment in their favor and granted defendant Bank of America‘s motion for new trial. We initially address the following question: Where the trial court fails to comply with the mandatory statutory requirement (
I
This case arises from a dispute over a commercial bank account maintained by the Sanchez-Coreas with the defendant Bank of America (Bank). In 1964, Antonio Sanchez-Corea formed Cormac in partnership with a third person, not a party here, who sold his interest in Cormac to Mr. Sanchez-Corea in 1971. Cormac was engaged in designing and installing electronic communications systems. From its inception, Cormac banked with defend
An embezzlement scheme was discovered by the Bank and suspicion later focused on McGowen. The Bank audited McGowen‘s records and discovered that he had embezzled funds from the Bank, including $246,000 which the Bank alleges was credited to Cormac‘s account. Prior to discovering the McGowen embezzlement scheme, the Bank had loaned Cormac $70,000. However, upon discovery of the alleged $246,000 debt, the Bank demanded payment and refused to extend further commercial credit to Cormac.
In 1972, Cormac had begun to move into the new and growing life safety systems field and in 1974, Cormac made loan arrangements for further development and growth in this area. Equity Financing of Chicago agreed to invest $150,000 in Cormac in exchange for a 20 percent stock interest. The plan was contingent upon the reduction of the Bank‘s claim to $180,000 payable over 10 years and upon a $100,000 loan from the Small Business Administration. The Bank would not agree to the reduction and informed the Small Business Administration that the Sanchez-Coreas might be charged with receiving stolen property. The deal with Equity Financing of Chicago was never completed.
In April 1974, Cormac filed for proceedings under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Act. The company went out of business in October 1974.
The Sanchez-Coreas and the trustee in bankruptcy (hereinafter the Sanchez-Coreas) sued the Bank and McGowen for breach of contract, fraud, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, disparagement of credit, interference with prospective economic advantage, promissory estoppel, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Sanchez-Coreas requested both general and punitive damages.
The Bank answered, denying the allegations, and filed a cross-complaint for recovery of both the $246,000 allegedly credited to the Cormac account by McGowen and the $70,000 debt from the final loan admittedly received by the Sanchez-Coreas.
After a three-week trial the jury returned a verdict awarding the Sanchez-Coreas $2,100,015.50 on the complaint, consisting (as explained in answers to special interrogatories (
The Bank timely moved for a new trial, asserting the following six grounds: (1) irregularity in the proceedings of the jury which prevented the defendant from having a fair trial; (2) misconduct of the jury; (3) excessive damages; (4) insufficiency of the evidence; (5) that the verdict was against law and (6) error in law to which defendant excepted during trial.
On November 27, 1979---exactly 60 days after notice of entry of judgment was mailed---the trial court granted the Bank‘s motion for new trial. The minute order entered by the clerk stated: “Defendants [sic] motion for new trial is granted. Specifications to follow.” No grounds for the new trial order were specified at that time. Neither party asserts that this omission was the result of clerical error. On December 4, 1979, the trial court filed an “Order Granting New Trial” vacating the judgment and granting the Bank‘s motion. This second order explained that the sole ground for granting the motion was insufficiency of the evidence.
The Sanchez-Coreas appeal. They contend that (1) the November 27 order was defective (but not void) for failure to state the ground (insufficiency of the evidence) on which the motion was granted (
As will appear below, we agree with plaintiffs.
This case is governed by sections 657 and 660, which impose limitations and requirements on consideration of motions for new trials. The power of the trial court to grant a new trial may be exercised only by following the statutory procedure and is conditioned upon the timely filing of a motion for new trial, the court being without power to order a new trial sua sponte. (Smith v. Superior Court (1976) 64 Cal.App.3d 434, 436; Healy Tibbitts Constr. Co. v. Employers’ Surplus Lines Ins. Co. (1977) 72 Cal.App.3d 741, 754.)
After the court is presented with a motion for a new trial, its power to rule on the motion expires at the end of the 60-day period provided by section 660. The period runs from the mailing of notice of entry of judgment by the clerk or the service of notice of entry of judgment, whichever is earlier, or if no such notice is given, from initial notice of intent to move for new trial. (§ 660.) If no determination is made within the 60-day period, the motion is deemed to have been denied. (Id.)
If the motion for new trial is granted, additional requirements are imposed by statute. In pertinent part, section 657 provides that whenever the motion is granted “the court shall specify the ground or grounds upon which it is granted and the court‘s reason or reasons for granting the new trial....” The section goes on, however, to distinguish between grounds and reasons. While the order passing upon and determining the motion “must state the ground or grounds relied upon by the court,” the order “may contain the specification of reasons.” (Italics added.) If the order stating the grounds does not also specify the reasons for the new trial, then “the court must, within 10 days after filing such order, prepare, sign and file such specification of reasons in writing with the clerk.” Thus, under section 657, the grounds for the new trial must be stated in the order. The reasons may also be stated in the order, but the trial court has the option of filing a statement of the reasons at a later time.
Section 657 also specifies guidelines for appellate review. It provides that an order granting a new trial “shall be affirmed if it should have been granted upon any ground stated in the motion, whether or not specified in the order or specification of reasons....” One qualification to this rule is that the appellate court cannot affirm on the grounds of insufficiency of the evidence or of excessive or inadequate damages unless such ground was specified in the trial court‘s order. (§ 657.)
In the case at bench, the trial court stated both the grounds and the reasons only in its second order. The Sanchez-Coreas contend that the trial court‘s
The absence of any specification of grounds in the first order made it defective but not void under section 657. In People ex rel. Dept. Pub. Wks. v. Hunt (1969) 2 Cal.App.3d 158, the Court of Appeal, noting that the trial court had failed to specify grounds as required by section 657, stated that “[w]here no grounds or reasons are specified in the order the burden is on the movant to advance any grounds upon which the order should be affirmed, and a record and argument to support it.” (Id., at p. 162.) Similarly, in In re Marriage of Beilock (1978) 81 Cal.App.3d 713 the husband argued that an order granting the wife‘s motion for new trial without specification of either grounds or reasons was void for failure to comply with section 657. The Court of Appeal acknowledged that “the trial judge is admonished to state his grounds and reasons, whatever they are, and this is not limited to the [insufficient] evidence and [excessive or inadequate] damages grounds. But if the text of the order made does not fulfill the statutory requirements, then the reviewing court, according to other provisions of [section 657], must affirm the order if it should have been granted on some other ground stated in the motion.” (Id., at p. 727, second italics added.)
Our conclusion that the order is defective but not void is also supported by closely analogous decisions of this court. In Mercer v. Perez (1968) 68 Cal.2d 104 (opn. by Mosk, J.), this court considered the effect of a new trial order which stated only that “‘The motion for a new trial is granted. The court is of the definite opinion, after analyzing the evidence in this case, that there has been a definite miscarriage of justice. The court is of the opinion that the jury trying this case should have rendered a verdict for the plaintiffs, and against the defendants.‘” (Id., at p. 108.) Although cautioning that “we are not to be construed as giving our approval to this or any other failure to comply unambiguously with the statutory mandate that ‘the court shall specify the ground’ on which the
However, we went on to reverse the order for failure to specify reasons as required by statute, rejecting the argument that the order was void. The opinion notes that “an order granting a new trial is in excess of jurisdiction and void if, for example, it is made in a proceeding in which the remedy of new trial is not available [citation], or on a ground not prescribed by statute [citations], or upon a notice of intention that is filed prematurely [citations], or too late [citation] or is not served on an adverse party [citation], or if the court purports to grant the motion after expiration of the statutory time for ruling [citation.]” (Id., at p. 118.)
In Mercer as in the case at bench, no such jurisdictional defect existed. The order was not void, rather the trial court “simply did not specify the reasons for which it granted the new trial....” (Ibid.) Thus, the order was reversed not because it was void, but because “the record does not support the order.” (Id., at p. 119.)
In Treber v. Superior Court (1968) 68 Cal.2d 128, this court considered the effect of a new trial order which stated the ground relied upon was “errors in law” but which failed to state reasons for the determination. Writing for a unanimous court, Justice Mosk noted that the motion was timely filed pursuant to section 660 and again rejected the argument that the order was void, stating that “although the [trial] court did not specify the reasons for the ruling, it was timely made upon a proper motion served on the adverse parties. As we explained in Mercer, such an order is not in excess of jurisdiction.” (Id., at p. 133.) Because section 657 requires the appellate court to affirm the order upon any ground stated in the motion, whether or not specified in the order, “[i]t follows that a failure of the trial judge to specify any ground-and a fortiori any reason for a ground actually stated-cannot be held to render the order void from its inception.” (Id., at p. 134, italics in original.)
We conclude that the initial order of November 27, 1979, was defective, but not void and turn to the trial court‘s second order, which was filed on December 4, 67 days after notice of entry of judgment, and specified both the ground (insufficient evidence) and reasons for the new trial. The Bank contends that the initial order‘s failure to state the grounds for the new trial, was cured by the second timely filed order, because the latter order was and stated the ground and reasons relied upon by the trial court. For timeliness, the Bank relies on language in section 657 which states that where “an order granting [a new trial] motion does not contain such specification of reasons, the court must, within 10 days after filing such order, prepare, sign and file
Section 657 clearly distinguishes between grounds and reasons. If the motion for new trial is granted the order “must state the ground or grounds relied upon by the court” and “may contain the specification of reasons.” If the initial order does not contain the specification of reasons, then the court must prepare, sign and file such specification within 10 days. There is no indication in section 657 that any grounds for ordering a new trial may be initially set forth by the trial court during that 10-day period.
The Bank‘s position ignores “the separate and distinct meaning of the word ‘reason‘” as used in section 657. (Mercer v. Perez, supra, 68 Cal.2d 104, at p. 112.) The statute clearly allows only grounds to be stated in the initial order, and only reasons to be stated within 10 days thereafter. We reject the construction proposed by the Bank because it vitiates the distinction between grounds and reasons and is contrary to the duty of this court “not to insert what has been omitted, or to omit what has been inserted” in a statute. (§ 1858.)4
The limited cure for failure to state grounds recognized in La Manna is inapplicable here. In La Manna the motion for new trial was made solely on one ground---insufficiency of the evidence. Here, the Bank alleged six grounds for a new trial and there is no way for this court to infer which ground or grounds were relied on in the initial order granting the new trial. Reliance on the second order stating the ground of insufficient evidence would conflict with the statutory requirement that the initial order state the ground or grounds, subject only to the trial court‘s power to make a specification of reasons---but not a statement of ground or grounds---at a later date.
The Bank‘s position may be viewed as a substantial compliance argument, similar to that which we expressly rejected in La Manna. In that case, the trial court timely issued only an oral specification of reasons, whereas section 657 requires that the specification be in writing. Because that statutory directive---like the statutory mandate involved in the instant matter---was clear, we held that an oral specification of reasons “no matter how thoroughly it may have been prepared, cannot amount to compliance in any degree, ‘substantial’ or otherwise, with a statutory directive that such a statement be in writing.” (13 Cal.3d at p. 423.)
To the extent the second order, entitled by the trial court “Order Granting New Trial,” purports to rule on the motion and state insufficient evidence as the ground therefor, it is defective as in excess of the 60-day jurisdictional period. (Siegal v. Superior Court (1968) 68 Cal.2d 97, 101.) The order ruling on the motion must be entered within the 60-day period (§ 660) and must itself state the ground for granting a new trial. (§ 657.) The trial court‘s second order, stating the ground of insufficiency of evidence was not filed until the 67th day. As
The Bank claims that the trial court‘s power to state the ground or grounds for a new trial within 10 days after an initial order is recognized by the following dicta in Siegal: “In Malkasian v. Irwin [1964] 61 Cal.2d 738, where the order entered by the clerk in the minutes failed to state that the new trial was granted on the ground of insufficiency of the evidence, and the court, within 10 days of the entry of the order, did not correct this error, it was held that the conclusive presumption of section 657 [that the order was not based on such grounds] applied.” (68 Cal.2d at pp. 102-103.) The statute interpreted in Malkasian, however, was former section 657, as amended in 1939 and prior to the 1965 and 1967 amendments, which stated: “When a new trial is granted, on all or part of the issues, upon the ground of the insufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdict or decision, the order shall so specify this in writing and shall be filed with the clerk within ten days after the motion is granted.” (Stats. 1939, ch. 713, p. 2234.) Thus, while the former statutory provision allowed the trial court to state grounds in an order at a later date, the present version of section 657 does not permit such late filing of a statement of the ground or grounds.
The Bank also cites San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District v. Fremont Meadows, Inc. (1971) 20 Cal.App.3d 797 for the proposition that the initial ruling on the new trial motion need not comply with section 657. But, there, “the formal order granting a new trial was timely filed on December 23, 1968.” (Id., at p. 801, italics added.) Ten days earlier, on December 13, the trial court had made a minute order, which read: “‘This action comes on regularly this day for hearing on defendant‘s motion for new trial. Oral argument [was] presented by respective counsel and said matter is submitted. The court orders that the motion for new trial will be granted unless plaintiff files an additur to the judgment within ten (10) days. Said matter is continued to December 23, 1968 for further hearing.‘” (Id., at p. 801.) The Court of Appeal held that “[c]ompliance [with section 657] in this initial [December 13] minute order is unnecessary.” (Ibid.) The court also stated that “The judicial function had been performed in the sense that the determination had been made. [Citation.] This does not mean, however, that the initial order must contain all the requirements of the procedure set forth in the code sections governing the ordering of new trials. Section 660, which covers the procedure for determining the motion for new trial, contemplates that the minute order
Accordingly, we conclude that in the case at bench the trial court‘s attempt, after expiration of the 60-day period allowed by section 660, to state insufficiency of the evidence as the ground for ordering a new trial was ineffective as an act in excess of jurisdiction. Having concluded that the first order was defective in that respect, we turn to the question of appellate review.
As noted previously, section 657 requires an appellate court to affirm a new trial order if it should have been granted on any ground stated in the motion. However, an appellate court cannot affirm on grounds of insufficiency of the evidence or of inadequate or excessive damages unless such ground is stated in the new trial order. Accordingly, this court cannot affirm the present order on grounds of insufficiency of the evidence or excessive damages, and must consider whether the order should be affirmed on any of the four additional grounds advanced in the Bank‘s motion.5
If an order granting a new trial does not effectively state the ground or the reasons, the order has been reversed on appeal where there are no grounds stated in the motion other than insufficient evidence or excessive or inadequate damages. (See, e.g., La Manna v. Stewart, supra, 13 Cal.3d 413, 425; Stevens v. Parke, Davis & Co. (1973) 9 Cal.3d 51, 63; Mercer v. Perez, supra, 68 Cal.2d 104, 119.) If, however, the motion states any other ground for a new trial, an order granting the motion will be affirmed if any such other ground legally requires a new trial. (§ 657; see Malkasian v. Irwin, supra, 61 Cal.2d 738, 745; Treber v. Superior Court, supra, 68 Cal.2d 128, 133.)
One ground stated in the Bank‘s motion for new trial was error in law excepted to at trial. No attempt has been made to show that the order should be affirmed on this ground.
Nor may the new trial order be affirmed on the ground that the verdict “is against law.” The ground is separate and distinct from the other grounds listed in section 657 and does not include any, or all, of those other separate and distinct grounds for new trial. (Annin v. Belridge Oil Employees Federal Credit Union (1953) 119 Cal.App.2d Supp. 900, 911; Tagney v. Hoy (1968) 260 Cal.App.2d 372, 375.) (See also 5 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (2d ed. 1971) Attack on Judgment in Trial Court, § 38, at pp. 3614-3615.) In contrast to the grounds of insufficient evidence and excessive or inadequate damages, “the phrase ‘against law’ does not import a situation in which the court weighs the evidence and finds a balance against the verdict, as it does in considering the ground of insufficiency of the evidence.” (Musgrove v. Ambrose Properties (1978) 87 Cal.App.3d 44, 56.) Because the “against law” ground is distinct from the ground of insufficiency of the evidence, a new trial order must be affirmed as against law even though that ground is not stated in the order or supported by a specification of reasons. (§ 657; Treber v. Superior Court, supra, 68 Cal.2d 128, 133; Don v. Cruz (1982) 131 Cal.App.3d 695, 705.)
The jury‘s verdict was “against law” only if it was “unsupported by any substantial evidence, i.e., [if] the entire evidence [was] such as would justify a directed verdict against the part[ies] in whose favor the verdict [was] returned.” (Kralyevich v. Magrini (1959) 172 Cal.App.2d 784, 789; accord, Berge v. International Harvester Co. (1983) 142 Cal.App.3d 152, 161.) “[T]he function of the trial court on a motion for a directed verdict is analogous to and practically the same as that of a reviewing court in determining, on appeal, whether there is evidence in the record of sufficient substance to support a verdict.” (Estate of Lances (1932) 216 Cal. 397, 401; accord, Dailey v. Los Angeles Unified Sch. Dist. (1970) 2 Cal.3d 741, 745,
So examining the record, we conclude that the judgment entered upon the jury verdict is supported by substantial evidence. The Bank correctly argues that evidence of lost profits must be unspeculative and in order to support a lost profits award the evidence must show “with reasonable certainty both their occurrence and the extent thereof.” (Gerwin v. Southeastern Cal. Assn. of Seventh Day Adventists (1971) 14 Cal.App.3d 209, 221, italics in original.)
The following evidence supported the $1 million compensatory damages award: Mr. Sanchez-Corea‘s testimony established that Cormac was not a new or unestablished business, but had been in operation for 10 years. Although the life safety systems market was a newly developing one, Mr. Sanchez-Corea and Deputy Chief Condon of the San Francisco Fire Department testified that Cormac had been involved in that business from the very beginning. The value of Cormac‘s early start in the business was shown not only by the evidence of their established reputation and the high regard that others had for their work but also by the tenfold growth in contracts (sales) from $180,000 in 1970 to $1.5 million in 1973. The testimony of a Small Business Administration loan officer and loan documents prepared by the Bank and the SBA all indicated that the business community viewed Cormac as a growing company with a bright future.
Jack Lapidos, who was experienced in analyzing the growth potential for small businesses, projected Cormac‘s future profitability as early as 1973. This projection was a three-year profit projection, and the reliability of the information and the conservative nature of these estimates was confirmed by the subsequent experience of Cormac itself and the earnings of other companies, including Honeywell, which occupied the market after Cormac‘s departure and previously had been competitors of Cormac. Cormac had succeeded in winning large contracts for the installation of life safety systems even when in direct competition with Honeywell. Lapidos had projected that Cormac would win $1.5 million in contracts at the end of 1974, but in fact Cormac achieved that goal in 1973. Lapidos projected profits of $750,000 and $1 million for 1974 and 1975 respectively.
We conclude that the compensatory damages award was supported by substantial evidence. The cases cited by defendants do not support a contrary conclusion. The cases involve plaintiffs who sought lost profits for a copyright business that did not exist (Read v. Turner (1966) 239 Cal.App.2d 504), a store and hotel that never opened (Handley v. Guasco (1958) 165 Cal.App.2d 703; Gerwin v. Southeastern Cal. Assn. of Seventh Day Adventists, supra, 14 Cal.App.3d 209), a motel that never opened (Engle v. City of Oroville (1965) 238 Cal.App.2d 266), a business which was only in operation a few days (MacMorris Sales Corp. v. Kozak (1968) 263 Cal.App.2d 430), a machine that had just been invented (Cal. Pres Mfg. Co. v. Stafford Parking Co. (1923) 192 Cal. 479), and a partnership which never received a contract in its two-month history (Patton v. Royal Industries Inc. (1968) 263 Cal.App.2d 760).
We turn to the award of damages for emotional distress and conclude that there is substantial evidence to support the jury‘s determination that defendant Bank engaged in intentional or reckless conduct which it should have known would cause such distress. There is evidence from which the jury could have determined that the Bank acted outrageously in reaction to the plight in which the Sanchez-Coreas found themselves as a result of vice president McGowen‘s conduct. Testimony indicated that Bank officers Jones and Timerman failed to advise plaintiffs that the Bank had determined not to give Cormac any further loans. According to Sanchez-Corea, the Bank‘s office misrepresented to him that further financial assistance would be forth-
Turning to the punitive damages award, we similarly conclude that the jury‘s determination is supported by substantial evidence. The jury could have determined that the Bank acted fraudulently in forcing the Sanchez-Coreas to assign all accounts receivable in return for financing at a time when the Bank knew Cormac was in critical need of further loans. As indicated above, although the Bank had determined not to extend further loans to Cormac, the loan officers indicated that future financing might be forthcoming only after the assignment. One day after the accounts receivable of Cormac were assigned to the Bank, the long term loan application was turned down.
Thus, we conclude that the verdict is supported by substantial evidence and that the Bank has failed to demonstrate that the verdict is against law.
The final two grounds for new trial asserted by the Bank, irregularity in the jury proceedings and misconduct of the jury, also fail to provide this court with a basis for affirming the new trial order. The Bank claims irregularity in that the same nine jurors who voted for compensatory damages did not also vote for punitive damages. This argument is without merit. Counsel has waived any defect in inconsistency in the verdict by failing to request that the jury be returned for further deliberation. (United Farm Workers of America v. Superior Court (1980) 111 Cal.App.3d 1009, 1021; Silverhart v. Mount Zion Hospital (1971) 20 Cal.App.3d 1022, 1029.)
The Bank‘s remaining jury contentions center around a declaration claimed to invalidate the vote of one juror, Ms. Bonnell. Though when
The Bank asserted no other grounds for the motion for new trial. We conclude that there is no basis for this court to affirm the new trial order.
III
Because we conclude that the new trial order cannot be affirmed on appeal, it is unnecessary to decide whether the order should have included defendant‘s cross-complaint.
In summary, we hold that the first order granting the new trial is defective but not void. We further hold that this court is precluded from affirming the order on grounds of either insufficiency of the evidence or excessive damages. Although the second order of the trial court specifies the ground of insufficiency of evidence, that order is invalid because it was filed after the 60-day jurisdictional period prescribed by section 660. Looking to the remaining grounds for the new trial stated in defendant‘s motion, we conclude that they do not warrant affirming the trial court‘s order. Accordingly, the order vacating the judgment for plaintiffs and granting a new trial is reversed. Because defendant has failed to file a protective cross-appeal, reinstatement of the judgment will automatically be final. (Stevens v. Parke, Davis & Co., supra, 9 Cal.3d 51, 63.)
Bird, C. J., Mosk, J., Broussard, J., Grodin, J., and Anderson, J.,* concurred.
*Assigned by the Chairperson of the Judicial Council.
The court concedes that the order of November 27 was not void. In the face of La Manna v. Stewart, supra, 13 Cal.3d 413 it could hardly do otherwise: there the order contained no statement of the ground on which the motion was granted. Nevertheless we held it sufficient, since the motion had been made on only one ground---insufficiency of the evidence. Here, of course, the motion was made on several grounds and as of November 27 it was impossible to know which had appealed to the court. This hardly mattered, however: as to all grounds except insufficiency and excessive damages, the correctness of the order was subject to appellate review in spite of the failure to specify the ground in the November 27 order. (Treber v. Superior Court, supra, 68 Cal.2d 128, 133-134; Malkasian v. Irwin, supra, 61 Cal.2d 738, 745.) As to insufficiency and excessive damages, the court had 10 days in which to file its reasons. If the trial court‘s failure to provide a statement of grounds is not fatal with respect to all other grounds, it should not be so with respect to insufficiency and damages, as long as the order granting the motion is followed up by a statement of reasons within the 10-day period provided by section 657.
As a matter of fact, Mr. Witkin---after reviewing the evolution of the current statutory language---seems to suggest that the Legislature intended the 10-day extension to apply to the statement of the ground of insufficiency as well as to the statement of reasons to support that ground. He states: “It would seem impossible ... to state reasons for granting the new trial on a particular ground without indicating the ground itself; hence the 10-day limit would seem to be still applicable to the ground as well as the reasons.” (5 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (2d ed. 1971) Attack on Judgment in Trial Court, § 71, p. 3646.) A dictum in Mercer v. Perez, supra, 68 Cal.2d 104, 121 supports Mr. Witkin. There we said that “purported specification of grounds or reasons after the 10-day statute of limitations has run is an act in excess of jurisdiction, and therefore void to that extent.” (Italics added.) (See also Fry v. Young (1968) 267 Cal.App.2d 340, 347.)
In the leading decisions in this area, Treber v. Superior Court, supra, 68 Cal.2d at pages 131-134, and Mercer v. Perez, supra, 68 Cal.2d at pages 112-116, this court explained carefully and persuasively why, on the one hand, the new trial order must be affirmed---in spite of a total failure to specify grounds or reasons---if justified on any ground stated in the motion