13 P.2d 1049 | Cal. Ct. App. | 1932
Lead Opinion
[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *604
This is the second appeal in this action of Frances C. Bowman to annul the marriage of Horace D. Bowman and Bryan Houston Bowman. In the first trial judgment was entered for Frances C. Bowman, Bryan Houston Bowman appealed and the judgment was reversed. (Bowman v. Bowman,
From a study of the record before us we find the facts to be as follows: Frances C. Bowman and Horace D. Bowman intermarried October 16, 1915; on September 28, 1923, Frances C. Bowman filed suit for divorce against Horace D. Bowman; Bryan Houston, a girlhood friend of twenty years who had often visited in the home of the Bowmans, *605 staying over week-ends, and who had encouraged Frances many times not to put up with the conduct and ill treatment of Horace, appeared and testified as her corroborating witness; on October 13, 1923, Frances obtained an interlocutory decree of divorce.
About July 27, 1924, Horace and Frances became reconciled, effected a condonation and resumed marital relations. On October 22, 1924, they moved to Pasadena and after a day or two Horace moved some of his belongings to a Los Angeles hotel for the purpose of taking medical treatment and to be away from the noise of the children. While at the hotel, and after receiving a letter from Bryan Houston, he decided to "walk out on" Frances. On October 28th he called on his attorney, David P. Hatch, and arranged that he should call F.F. Grant at San Diego, attorney for Frances, and request him to have the final decree of divorce entered. Bowman did not inform his attorney that there had been a reconciliation and condonation, and Grant, without knowledge of the reconciliation and condonation and without communicating with Frances, had the final decree entered October 28, 1924. Three days later Horace left on a trip east, called on Bryan Houston in New York and they became engaged. November 20, 1924, Horace met Frances by prearrangement at Salt Lake City and they celebrated the birthday of their older son, stopping at the same hotel but occupying separate rooms. Horace returned to Los Angeles November 21, 1924, and on December 22, met Frances and his children at the train upon their return from Salt Lake City and assisted them in moving to a house in Pasadena. He, however, continued to live at a Los Angeles hotel. Early in January, 1925, Horace assisted Frances and his children to move to Santa Monica, and on January 15, 1925, he told her of the entry of the final decree. This was her first information concerning it. About a week later Frances wrote to Bryan Houston, then in New York, that the reconciliation had failed, that the final decree had been granted and of Horace's deception in getting it, and that they were telling people about it and that it was a good end to a bad mess.
On April 21, 1925, Horace D. Bowman and Bryan Houston were married, and a week later Frances learned of *606 the marriage. Horace and Bryan returned to Los Angeles in May, 1925. On May 23, 1925, Frances wrote to an attorney friend in Portland for legal advice. On June 6, 1925, she consulted an attorney in Los Angeles. Another conference with this Los Angeles attorney occurred in July. During the latter part of July, 1925, Horace and Bryan had trouble and Horace consulted an attorney regarding the possibility of an annulment of their marriage. In August, 1925, Frances several times consulted her former attorney, F.F. Grant, in San Diego, and in September, 1925, he advised her that in his opinion she could, by motion, secure the setting aside of the final decree of divorce. This was the first time she had been so advised. On October 19, 1925, Frances filed her application to set aside the final decree of divorce and two days later notice was served upon Horace but no service was made upon Bryan.
Horace and Bryan separated on October 25, 1925. The final decree of divorce of Horace D. Bowman and Frances C. Bowman was set aside November 2, 1925, and two days later Frances brought this action to annul the marriage of Horace D. Bowman and Bryan Houston Bowman. On December 1, 1925, Frances and Horace became completely reconciled, a third child has been born to them and they still continue to live together.
In this action to annul the marriage of Horace D. Bowman and Bryan Houston Bowman, defendant Horace D. Bowman answered, admitting the allegations of the complaint. Defendant Bryan Houston Bowman answered, denying the allegations of the complaint, plead certain affirmative defenses and filed a cross-complaint naming Frances C. Bowman and Horace D. Bowman as cross-defendants and praying that the order vacating their final decree of divorce be set aside and annulled, to which each filed an answer. In the first trial judgment was entered denying the prayer of the cross-complaint, and vacating, annulling and setting aside the marriage of Horace D. Bowman and Bryan Houston Bowman. Defendant and cross-complainant Bryan Houston Bowman appealed on the judgment-roll. (Bowman v. Bowman, supra.) The District Court of Appeal reversed the judgment, with directions to the trial court to enter judgment against Frances C. Bowman denying her prayer *607 for annulment of the marriage of Bryan Houston Bowman and Horace D. Bowman and ordered that judgment be entered in favor of Bryan Houston Bowman as prayed for in her cross-complaint against both cross-defendants, and that the order made in the action entitled"Frances C. Bowman v. Horace D. Bowman", numbered 40292, in the Superior Court of San Diego County, purporting to set aside and vacate a final decree of divorce, be set aside, vacated and annulled, and that the final decree of divorce stand as a subsisting and valid decree. A petition for rehearing was denied by the District Court of Appeal and petition to have the case heard in the Supreme Court was also denied, Justices Richards and Langdon dissenting. After judgment had been entered in accordance therewith respondent Frances C. Bowman moved for a new trial upon the ground of insufficiency of the evidence to sustain the findings. This motion was granted and the action was retried. Judgment was again entered in favor of Frances C. Bowman and Bryan Houston Bowman again appeals.
At the second trial of this action evidence was introduced which changed the picture as to Bryan being an innocent third party. The cross-complaint filed by Bryan alleged that after being told by Horace of the entry of the final decree of divorce, and later having received a letter from Frances conveying the same information, she relied upon this knowledge and married Horace. She further alleged that Horace and Frances entered into a conspiracy and secret agreement to set aside the final decree and annul her marriage with Horace, thereby defeating and defrauding her of her marital rights. She further alleged that Frances allowed one year to pass before acting to set aside the final decree.
[1] To the introduction of evidence concerning alleged relations between the husband and Bryan Houston prior to the entry of the interlocutory decree of divorce and prior to the reconciliation of Horace and Frances, counsel for Bryan objected on the ground that these matters were incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial and wholly collateral to any issue in the case. If the hands of Bryan Houston Bowman were tainted with fraud concerning the case at bar the trial court was entitled to this information and the objection was properly overruled. In the case ofManhattan *608 Medicine Co. v. Wood,
We must now consider the law of the case as established inBowman v. Bowman, supra. First, it should be noted that the appeal was taken on the judgment-roll only and the District Court of Appeal determined as follows: "The appeal presents the question as to whether or not the conclusions of law were supported by the findings, and whether or not, in view of the findings of fact, the cross-complainant should have been granted the relief prayed for in her cross-complaint." Second, the judgment of the trial court was reversed on two points: (1) "We determine that, irrespective of whether appellant was a necessary or proper party to the proceeding to vacate the final decree, she was entitled to notice of the application, as one whose rights as a wife have been injuriously affected by the order vacating the final decree of divorce, and that she is entitled to complain of the fraud practiced upon the court and upon herself, and, by her cross-complaint in equity, have the said order set aside and annulled. . . . (2) The second reason we find which would indicate that the judgment in this case should be reversed is that, in our view, the order made in the proceedings in the divorce suit after the entry of the final decree was void, as being in excess of the jurisdiction of the court, because: (a) Frances C. Bowman was guilty of laches, as affirmatively appears in findings VII and IX, in delaying her application for suit herein from the early part of January, 1925, when it is found she first knew of the entry of said final decree, until November 2, 1925, a delay of approximately ten months; (b) She was estopped from the right to make application for an annulment of the final decree, as it affirmatively appears from said finding that when she first learned of the final decree in the early part of January, about three months after her own counsel had applied for and obtained *609 the said decree on October 28, 1924, she acquiesced therein, expressed satisfaction therewith, and was willing and desirous that said decree should stand as a valid and subsisting decree. After she learned of the marriage of Horace D. Bowman to Bryan Houston Bowman, which took place in April, 1925, Frances C. Bowman accepted all of the benefits granted her by the said decree in the way of support, maintenance and the custody of minor children, etc. She thereby confirmed and ratified the action of her attorney, Mr. Grant, in causing the issuance of said final decree. She made no effort thereafter to have said decree set aside until November 2, 1925, more than a year after its issuance, by which time the trial court had lost jurisdiction to vacate it or set it aside, under the well-established law of this state."
On the first appeal the appellate court did not determine that Bryan Houston Bowman was a necessary or proper party to the proceedings to vacate the final decree of divorce. However, upon the findings of the trial court it was held that she was entitled to notice of the application as one whose rights as a wife were involved and entitled to complain of the fraud practiced upon the court and herself. [2] In numerous decisions the Supreme Court of this state has laid down the rule that the law of a case only applies so long as the evidence develops the same state of facts. If the facts produced at the second trial are essentially different the rule ceases to be of binding force. In Klauber v.San Diego Street Car Co.,
[4] In the first trial of the case and on the appeal, Bryan Houston Bowman appeared an innocent third party, a second wife about to be defrauded of her rights by a conspiracy and agreement between the husband and the first wife. On the present appeal, from the evidence and the findings, she now appears as the third person in the original divorce action. With her knowledge of the facts surrounding the securing of the interlocutory decree, the condonation and reconciliation, and the manner by which the final decree was obtained, it should be said, as in Medina v.Medina,
The evidence shows that in July, 1925, Horace and Bryan discussed a separation and a possible annulment of their marriage. Bryan knew that Horace had written to a Kansas City attorney regarding it and at approximately the same time she consulted legal counsel in Los Angeles. It appears that Horace desired a separation and that Bryan was opposed to it. Prior to the motion to set aside the final decree (during September and October, 1925) Horace told Bryan several times that Frances was starting a lawsuit in the old divorce matter to open up the matter of the divorce and property and everything concerning her situation. After the papers were served on him he told Bryan that Frances had started the suit. Bryan knew in what court the divorce action had been tried, she had appeared as a witness for Frances, and she knew how the final decree had been secured. She had ample information to put her on inquiry immediately. "In the absence of positive law or order of court requiring notice, it may be stated as a general rule that, where a fact as to which notice might otherwise be required, is one which the party has means of ascertaining from a definite known source, or which is equally known to both parties, no notice thereof need be given." (46 Cor. Jur. 552; Tynan v. Kerns, *612
The first trial court by its findings held that Frances learned of the granting of the final decree in January, 1925, and made no effort to set it aside; on the contrary, she acquiesced therein, expressed satisfaction that it had been granted and her willingness that it should stand as valid and binding, and that she had accepted benefits under said decree after the marriage of Horace and Bryan. Presented with this finding, the District Court of Appeal, with no evidence or knowledge of the fraud of Bryan Houston, naturally concluded that Frances was guilty of laches, having, according to their conclusion, waited ten months before moving to set it aside. The only party injured by the delay was Bryan and in the eyes of the appellate court she appeared the innocent second wife.
[6] With both the evidence and the findings at our command we are able to get the entire picture of the situation. According to the record before us there had been a complete reconciliation and condonation between Frances and Horace. In January, 1925, he told her that he had secured a final decree in October and, stunned by his deception, she endeavored to cover her disappointment by saying she was satisfied. Between January and April, Horace came to the home frequently to see the children and Frances tried upon several occasions to discuss the matter of the divorce with him but he would reply, "Oh, forget it." He would tell her that what he had done was for her best interest. She testified that he had her convinced there was nothing she could do about it. In April, 1925, she learned of the marriage of her husband to her former friend and confidante and of their secret love affair. The discovery of this fraud first crushed her, then caused her to act. In view of this evidence it is here that the time should start, if at all, upon which to base a charge of laches. It was at this time that Frances discovered the *613
fraud practiced by Bryan upon her. She testified that investigation brought additional light and then in June she sought legal advice. Up to that time the law was somewhat uncertain, but the case of McGuinness v. Superior Court,
After distinguishing the law of the case as found by the District Court of Appeal in Bowman v. Bowman, supra, and in view of the entirely different state of facts as shown by the evidence and findings on the second trial now before us, we must turn to the proper function of courts in dealing with fraud practiced upon them. In the case of McGuinness v. SuperiorCourt, supra, we find that an almost identical state of facts as is here involved is defined as extrinsic fraud and that the court retained jurisdiction to set aside its decree, and its right so to do is not derived from section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure, nor limited to the time therein specified. In the case of Ex-Mission L. W. Co. v. Flash,
The introduction of the additional evidence involved the question of fraud on the part of appellant, Bryan Houston Bowman, and the determination of her rights involved a consideration of her acts and representations under the light of the law as to fraud. In the case of Dealey v. East San Mateo Land Co.,
In Mitchell v. Cline,
Ignoring for the moment the children of Frances and Horace, let us find who were the parties interested in the original divorce action. The record discloses Frances C. Bowman as plaintiff and Horace D. Bowman as defendant. The case of Lane v. SuperiorCourt,
The question squarely before this court is, Shall Bryan Houston Bowman be allowed to take advantage of her own fraud and stand on the technical ground of lack of legal notice and a finding of laches against an innocent party, made by a court before which these facts did not then appear, or, shall the court purge its records of the fraud?
Society is entitled to a condemnation of the tactics of Bryan Houston Bowman. We should permit this mother and defrauded wife to re-establish her home and family. In the case of Rehfuss v.Rehfuss,
[7] In the case at bar we find fraud practiced upon the court, upon society, and upon three children, two born prior to the divorce proceedings and the third after the final reconciliation and condonation. The fraud which permeates this case cannot be condoned by the court, and cannot be allowed to brand this third son with the stigma of illegitimacy. Preservation of the sanctity of the marriage state is essential to the continuance and betterment of organized society. "The state has an interest in the maintenance of the marriage tie which neither the collusion nor the negligence of the parties can impair." (Rehfuss v. Rehfuss, supra.) A full consideration of the law and the evidence leads to but one conclusion, that the judgment of the trial court should be affirmed. It is so ordered.
Marks, Acting P.J., and Jennings, J., concurred.
A petition for a rehearing of this cause was denied by the District Court of Appeal on September 23, 1932, and the following opinion then rendered therein:
Addendum
Counsel for appellant in their petition for rehearing do not seem to grasp the underlying reasons for our affirmance of the judgment of the lower court.
Bryan Houston Bowman filed her cross-complaint in the court below seeking to vacate an order of the superior court which set aside the final decree of divorce terminating the *618 marriage of Frances C. Bowman and Horace D. Bowman. In filing this cross-complaint she took the position of a plaintiff (cross-complainant) asking relief in a court of equity. The trial court, upon ample evidence, found that she did not come into court with clean hands. Under the well-established doctrine of equity, that a person must come into a court of equity with clean hands, the trial court denied her the relief she sought in her cross-complaint, and in so far as she sought redress under its allegations, left her where it found her. For a like reason, among others, we also left her in the same position she occupied at the time she filed her cross-complaint, in so far as the relief she sought by this pleading is concerned.
Petition for rehearing denied.
Marks, Acting P.J., and Jennings, J., concurred.
A petition by appellant to have the cause heard in the Supreme Court, after judgment in the District Court of Appeal, was denied by the Supreme Court on October 27, 1932.