Rule 804.New Trial; Amendment of Judgment

Rule 804 is the first of the two post-judgment attack rules.

Six grounds

The court may grant a new trial on all or some issues, to any party, for:

• irregularity in the proceedings of the court or adverse party;
• any order of the court or abuse of discretion by which either party was prevented from having a fair trial;
• accident or surprise which ordinary prudence could not have guarded against;
• newly discovered evidence, material to the applicant, which reasonable diligence could not have discovered and produced at trial;
• insufficiency of the evidence to justify the decision, or that it is against the law; or
• error in law occurring at the trial.

How each must be supported

The first four require an affidavit stating in detail the facts relied on — they depend on matters outside the record. The last two must set forth with particularity the factual grounds, because they are argued from the record itself.

Timing

The motion must be filed and served within 14 days after entry of judgment. Rule 104(b)(3) forbids extending that.

Affidavits are filed with the motion. The opposing party has 14 days to serve opposing affidavits, extendable by up to another 21 days by order or written stipulation. The court may permit reply affidavits. All affidavits must meet Rule 507's requirements — personal knowledge, admissible facts, competence to testify.

What the court may do

On a new trial motion the court may open the judgment, take additional testimony, amend findings and conclusions or make new ones, and direct entry of a new judgment. It need not choose between denying the motion and starting over.

The court's own initiative

Within 14 days of entry, the court may give notice of intent to order a new trial for any reason it could have granted one on motion — and that notice is treated as a party's motion for purposes of these rules and the Idaho Appellate Rules, which matters for the appeal clock.

The court may also grant a timely served motion for a reason not stated in it. Either way, it must give notice and an opportunity to be heard before ordering a new trial, and must specify the grounds in the order.

Altering or amending

A motion to alter or amend the judgment must likewise be filed and served no later than 14 days after entry. Together with Rule 801(b)'s motion to amend findings, that makes 14 days the uniform post-judgment window in Idaho family practice — and Rule 503(b)(2) bars moving to reconsider the ruling on any of them.