97 N.Y.S. 609 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1906
Lead Opinion
The appeal in this case presents' a question arising under subdivision 2 of seótion 1757 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which does ■ not. appear to have been before decided. The action was, brought for an absolute divorce against the defendant, the complaint, charg-
On March 25, 1905, before the hearing for final judgment, the corespondent served upon the plaintiff by mail a demand for the service of the summons and complaint. In pursuance of that demand the plaintiff served on the attorney for the corespondent on March 28, 1905, a summons and complaint. Thereafter, on April 1Y, 1905, the corespondent served an answer to the complaint. On the 19th day of April, 1905, the case came on for hearing at •the Special Term ; the plaintiff and the defendant answered ready, but the corespondent appeared and moved that the cause be stricken from the calendar upon the ground that he had received no notice of trial. This motion wass made upon an affidavit of the attorney for the corespondent, stating that since the joinder of issue no notice of trial had been served upon the attorney for the corespondent. The plaintiff then produced a notice dated March 28, 1905, and served on that day, with an admission of service by the attorney for the corespondent, stating that the action'would be brought on for trial at a Special Term of the Supreme Court on the 18th day of April, 1905, at ten o’clock. ■ This notice, having been served before the service of the answer by the corespondent, was returned by the corespondent to the plaintiff’s attorney. The motion to strike the case from the calendar- was denied and an, order duly entered, whereupon the plaintiff on the-extract of the minutes of the Trial Term determining all the issues of fact raised by the answer of the defendant in favor of the plaintiff, applied for an interlocutory judgment of divorce. The counsel for the defendant and counsel for the corespondent objected to proceedings upon the ground that an issue had been raised by the answer of the corespondent which had not been disposed of. The court, however, overruled this
The question is,, as to what right the Code of Civil Procedure awards to a corespondent who thus injects himself into a controversy after the issues raised by the pleadings have been disposed pf.
Prior to the year 1899 there was no provision authorizing a corespondent to be heard in an action for divorce. Section 1757 of the Code as then existing consisted of subdivision 1 of the section as it now exists. (See Laws of 1880, chap. 178.) By chapter 661 of theLaws of 1899 subdivision 2 of section 1757 of the Code was added. This, subdivision provides that “ in an action ’brought to obtain a divorce -on the ground of adultery the plaintiff or defendant may serve a copy of his pleading.on the co-respondent named therein.” It is then provided that if .no such service is made “ any co-i’espoudent named, in any of the pleadings shall have the right, at any time before the entry of judgment, to appear either iii person or by attorney in said action and demand of plaintiff’s attorney a copy of the summons and complaint, which mus.t be served within ten. days thereafter, and lie may appear to defend such, action, so far as the issues affect such co-respondent. , In case no one of the allegations of adultery controverted by such co-respondent shall be proved, such co-re^ spondent shall be entitled to a bill of costs against the person naming him as such co-respondent, which bill of costs shall consist only of the sum now allowed by law as a trial fee and disbursements, and such co-resp6'ndent shall be entitled to have: an execution, issue for the collection of the same,” '
It.will be noticed that this statute does not in express terms make
In determining the intention of the Legislature it is important to consider what the statute does not do. It does not make a corespondent a party to the action. It does not allow him to answer the complaint. It does not affect the validity of the proceedings already had at the time of service of process.upon him. It does not allow a judgment against him, except for a trial fee and disbursements if he is unsuccessful in the defense. When he voluntarily appears and demands service of the summons and complaint, he is entitled to áppear and defend the action so far as the issues affect him; but when in the action in which he thus appears there are no issues undisposed of, and all that’ remains to be done is the application for final judgment, it does not appear to have been the intention to create issues by his appearance which must he disposed of before I judgment can be granted. I would have no doubt of the power of *j the court upon a proper case presented to set aside a verdict, decision or any other proceeding that had been completed in the action before the appearance of the corespondent, and thus give him an opportunity to defend; but no such application in this case was made, and no facts were presented that would justify the granting of such an application. The action had been at issue for some time; the corespondent had had notice of the charges against him, for he was present at the trial and was examined as a witness on
To sustain the contention of the corespondent it would be necessary'to hold that, by allowing him to appear .and defend, all of. the prior proceedings, in the action after the service of the pleadings were .vacated, notwithstanding the fact that the principal defendant — the only person against whom there could be a judgment ■—• had been found guilty of the charges made against her after a trial in which she had duly appeared and defended. If there had been a sufficient - number of. corespondents, and each one should time his appearance in the action so as to come in just before final judgment was entered, a number of trials could'be had, only limited' by the number of corespondents — a proceeding which certainly was not contemplated when this act was passed. -The Code contemplates but one trial of an action. That trial has been had, and, so-far’.as appears, it was in . all respects regular and the issues of fact were determined. . If that determination has become final no new trial of that issue can be had, unless the verdict be set aside either on motion or upon appeal. If that determination as to the - issues raised by the answer of' the defendant'is final,'and the issue's raised by the answer-'of the corespondent should be tried and a verdict had in his favor, what judgment conld be entered? "The defendant would not he entitled to judgment, as the issues as against her have been - determined in favor of the plaintiff; and no judgment could be rendered in favor of the corespondent; as no such" judgment is authorized by the Code. It seems plain that, such a result wets- not intended, but the intention of the Legislature can he given full effect by holding that' when- the corespondent comes into an action for divorce he is entitled to defend it as to all subsequent proceedings, so far as the prosecution of the cause affects, the charges made against him. If an .issue of fact as to the adultery remained undisposed of, he .would be
Ho authorities are cited by, either party which affect this question. If it should be true, as claimed- by the appellant, that this judgment will affect the corespondent as an adjudication against him, this situation is in consequence of his own action in appearing in the action after the issues of fact had been disposed of, he having full notice of the condition of the action at the time he required . the plaintiff to serve upon him a copy of the summons and complaint. The cases of which Wood v. Swift (81 N. Y. 31) is an example have no application. There the action had been tried and submitted to a referee, who. had not filed his report. At that time, a person interested in the result, as being a claimant of' the fund to recover which the action was brought, was brought in as a defendant. As a part of the order bringing in this new defendant, the court ordered that the case should remain, ■ continue and be tried before a referee with the same force and effect as if all parties had been parties from the beginning of the action. The judgment that would be entered would be against th,e new defendant, determining her right to the fund to recover which the action was brought, and if she was not successful in the action the judgment would foreclose her of any right to that fund. In such a case the trial theretofore had could not bind the defendant who had been made a party, as the judgment that would be rendered would be a judgment directly against her. But, as before stated, no such condition" exists here. There can be no judgment against this corespondent. The plaintiff asks for no judgment against him, and the court has awarded none. His position in the action is an anomaly and evidently allowed because of the peculiar nature of the action and the danger of collusion between the husband and wife, involving a charge
It follows that the judgment'appealed from should be affirmed, with costs.
Laughlin and Clarke, JJ., concurred; O’Brien, P. J., and ■McLaughlin, J., dissented.'
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting) :
' I am unable to. concur in the prevailing opinión. The issues raised by the answer of the corespondent had. to be disposed- of before judgment could be'entered and.this was not done.
The action was brought for an absolute divorce on statutory grounds. The- defendant was alleged to have committed adultery With the corespondent here appealing and he was the only person mentioned as a coresjiondent in the complaint. Having appeared in, the action, demanded and received from plaintiff’s attorney before the entry of judgment a copy of the summons and coin-plaint, and interposed an answer thereto denying the material allegations thereof, he had an absolute right under subdivision 2 of section 1757 of the Code of Civil Procedure to a trial of the issues, so far as the same affected "him, before judgment could be entered. This subdivision of the section oí' the Code provides that in an action brought to obtain, a divorce on the ground of adultery, the plaintiff or defendant may serve'a copy'of his pleading on .the
The purpose of this statute is obvious. It is to enable a corespondent to intervene in the action and protect his or her reputation when the same might be injured or destroyed by collusion between the originial parties to the action, or by false testimony given by one of them. The prevailing opinion either ignores or else overlooks the purpose of the statute and in effect repeals the statute itself. If a corespondent must accept the situation precisely as he finds it when he gets into the action, if a trial has been had, then there is no opportunity to defend the action so far as the issues relate to him, and this is well illustrated in the case now before us. Here the corespondent was the only one named in the complaint. A trial had been had upon issues framed, before a jury, which had found that the defendant had committed adultery with the corespondent. Upon these findings proceedings were about to be taken, for judgment. If the corespondent could only accept the situation as he found it, then the only issue which related to him had been tried and disposed of, viz., that he had committed adultery with the defendant.
It is true that a corespondent is not, in express terms, made a party to the action, but this is immaterial, inasmuch as he is allowed-to appear and defend so far as the issues relate to him, and to this extent at least he must be.considered as a party. Neither of the original parties to the action is obliged to bring him in, and if they do not, he is not obliged to come in, and cannot be compelled to do so. He, however, has a right to make himself a party to the action, and if he does so he must be regarded and treated as such, and before'judgment can be entered the issues raised by an answer interposed by him must be disposed of. If he is unsuccessful in
It is no, answer to the foregoing suggestions to say he should have appeared earlier, in the action, because the statute gives him, the right to appear at any time before the entry of judgment, and the plaintiff. could have limited the time within which he could get into the action by serving the summons and complaint upon him without waiting to have the corespondent demand that such service be made.
The judgment appealed from, therefore, should be reversed and a new trial ordered, with costs to the corespondent, to abide the event of the action.
O’Brien, P. J., concurred.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting):
I dissent from^the views expressed by Hr. Justice Ingraham.
This is an action for divorce', on the statutory grounds brought by a husband against' his wife, in which he has. thus far been successful, having obtained an interlocutory judgment awarding him an absolute divorce, from which separate appeals have been taken both by the wife and by the corespondent named in the complaint. The sole question raised by the briefs of the appellants on this appeal relates to the rights of the corespondent under subdivision 2 of section 1757 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and, therefore, it is only necessary for us to consider the scope and effect of that subdivision as applied to the facts before us..
The action was. commenced in September, 1903, thé .complaint alleging that the defendant at various times during, that year had committed adultery with one Theodore E, Lawton. The Wife interposed an answer denying the adultery, and pursuant to an order of the Special Term the issues of fact raised by these pleadings were tried on February 5, 1904, before a jury, which found that the defendant had committed adultery with said Lawton during the year mentioned. At this trial the corespondent appeared and testified as a witness. Thereafter the case was brought on at Special .Term, and in qonformity with the verdict previously rendered at Trial Term an interlocutory judgment was entered in favor of the plaintiff granting him a divorce, which, however, was reversed on
This was. the situation when the corespondent on March 25,1905, through his attorney served by mail upon plaintiff’s attorney a notice of appearance and a. demand that a copy of the summons and complaint be served upon him. On March twenty-eighth the plaintiff complied with this demand, and on April seventeenth the corespondent served plaintiff with a copy of his answer, being a .general denial as to him of the charge of adultery. When the case thereafter came on for hearing at Special Term on April nineteenth the corespondent moved to strike it from the calendar on the ground that he had received no notice of trial since the joinder of issue. Upon this subject it was shown by affidavit that at the time the plaintiff served upon the corespondent a copy of his summons and complaint, March twenty-eighth, he also served a notice of trial, stating that the action would be brought to-trial on April eighteenth, but this notice was returned by the corespondent on the ground that it was served before he had answered and before issue had been joined as to him. Although no other or subsequent notice of trial had been given, the_ corespondent’s motion to strike the case from the calendar was denied as was also his motion to have the issues of fact raised by his answer tried by a jury. The plaintiff thereupon and against the corespondent’s objection was permitted to introduce in evidence the minutes of the previous trial before the jury and the record of the verdict finding that the wife had . committed adultery with the corespondent. Notwithstanding the fact that the issues raised by the corespondent’s answer had not been disposed of, and that he duly demanded a trial of those issues, the court, upon the record of the previous trial, awarded plaintiff his interlocutory judgment of divorce on the ground of adultery as found by the ■
It is from this judgment that the separate appeals have been , taken by the wife and the corespondent, and we are called upon to determine the rights of the latter under the circumstances, above stated, whether, after having come into the action and served an answer denying his participation in the alleged adultery, he could be deprived of a trial of this issue of fact..
Subdivision 2 of section 1757 of the Code of Civil Procedure,
, In approaching the consideration of this section it must be borne in mind that the Legislature, in the exercise of its authority,to regulate marriage and divorce for the welfare of society and the State* .may prescribe the procedure which must be observed in order to t dissolve the marital relations or to secure the rights of one named as corespondent. , The’ validity of the act is not ‘attacked, there being liere^ involved merely the question- of its construction, It is, our duty, therefore, to ascertain its meaning and scope,, and then give it force and. effect. If the language is clear and - unambiguous, we cannot warp or twist ’.its meaning because we think that a statute 'different in terms from.the one. enacted would be better suited to adjust the equities between particular litigants. The record before us undoubtedly shows that the present corespondent has been guilty of a long and vexatious delay in invoking the protection of the statute; and while his conduct does not- commend itself'to the court, nevertheless we have no power, for that reason, to deprive him of a right given- by the- law. The appellant Lawton knew that lie was named corespondent in the complaint. He appeared as a witness before the jury when' the issue of' defendant’s alleged adultery with him was tried. He made no attempt at that time to intervene, but on the contrary waited until all questions of-fact raised by the complaint and answer had been\ determined in plaintiff’s favor before he demanded an opportunity-to be heard. He has resorted to dilatory tactics which we do not. hesitate to' condemn, but, conceding that to be so, he cannot be denied the right
In defining the status of a corespondent under this section, the Appellate Division of the fourth department in Billings v. Billings (73 App. Div. 69) said through Mr. Justice Wi-lliams that he “ is not, by the terms of the statute, called a defendant, but he is allowed to appear and defend the action, and may very properly be regarded as a party defendant from the time he appears and serves an answer to the complaint. He is not obliged to defend, and cannot be compelled to do so. His appearance is Voluntary, but if he elects to come into the action he ought to be regarded and treated as a party defendant from that time.” And by one of the judges of the first judicial district at Special Term it was said (Rixa v. Rixa, 35 Misc. Rep. 227) that “ when a person is given the privilege of appearing and defending an action by express legislative enactment, he thereby becomes a party to such action, and as such becomes vested with all the rights and privileges of a party except as limited by statute.”
By way of argument we may refer to section 452 of the Code, which although relating to a different subject, yet contains similar provisions, and by analogy throws light upon the question now presented. That section provides in part that “ where a person, not a party to the action, has an interest in the subject thereof, or in real property, the title to which may in any manner be affected by the judgment, or in real property for injury to which the complaint demands relief, and makes application to the court to be made a party, it must direct him to be brought in by the proper amendment.” That section was before the courts for consideration in Wood v. Swift (81 N. Y. 31) where certain parties had been brought in as defendants after the action had been referred, the evidence taken and the case finally submitted to the referee for his decision on the merits. The court, although granting the application bringing in the new parties, directed by its order that the case should remain and continue for trial before the referee, the same as if the new parties had been parties from the beginning of the action, they to have the privilege, however, "of cross-examining the witnesses previously produced and examined before the referee. On
It is true that section 452 provides that a person specified shall be made a party-to the action, while subdivision 2 of section 1757 does .not in terms so recite, but from the language used in the latter section we are of the opinion, as already indicated, that it was the purpose of the Legislature to give a corespondent the rights of a party to the action in so far as the issue, of adultery affected him. Any other interpretation would render meaningless the words which permit him at any time before the entry of judgment to “ defend ”. the action. ' ' ,
Eor do we find in the section language which either expressly or by implication confines a corespondent, as suggested in the ^opinion of Mr., Justice Inqbaham, <¿to a defense of the undisposed of issues at the time he comes into the litigation.” If it had been the intent of the Legislature to só limit a corespondent’s' rights, such limitation could have readily been expressed in thé accurate and proper words used by the learned justice in his opinion, and the fact that no such words, are found in the section itself is.strong evidence that the Legislature did not intend to impose any'such limitation.. On the contrary, it seems to us thatrthe Legislature intended, as suggested by Mr. Justice Williams in the Billings Case (supra), that a corespondent should be regarded as a party to the action in so far as the issue of adultery affected, him with all the rights of a party, ' ' ' ,
If the plaintiff had desired to guard against vexatious delay caused by the belated application of the corespondent, it was within
I think, therefore, the court erred in refusing to the appellant the right to litigate the issues raised by his answer and in entering judgment while such issues were undisposed of.
The judgment appealed from should, therefore, be reversed and a new trial ordered, with costs to the appellant Lawton to abide the event. .
Judgment affirmed, with costs. Order filed. .
