Where a premises liability defendant failed to file an answer and first participated in the case seven years after it was commenced, denial of his motion to set aside the default judgment was affirmed.
In Crutcher v. Ellis, No. M2023-00283-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 4, 2024), plaintiff was shot at point-blank range in a nightclub. Plaintiff filed this premises liability case against several defendants in 2015, but the only defendant at issue in this appeal was the owner and operator of the nightclub.
Defendant failed to respond to the complaint, and plaintiff obtained a default judgment. Defendant made no appearance whatsoever in the case until February 2022, when he appeared at the hearing on plaintiff’s motion to set a date to determine damages. The damages hearing was set for August 2, 2022. Defendant filed a motion for continuance the day before that hearing, which was denied.