150 Iowa 470 | Iowa | 1911
Lead Opinion
The plaintiff was married 'in December, 1899. On March 2, 1906, his wife obtained óf divorce from him in the district court of Mahaska County. Some timé after the decree of divorce, the defendant herein married the plaintiff’s former wife. Thereupon this action was brought. The defendant was an acquaintance of both parties for some years prior to the divorce. He was a bachelor about sixty years of age. At the time of his marriage to plaintiff’s former wife, he was sixty-three years of age and she was twenty-six. The plaintiff charged in his petition herein that the defendant alienated the affections of his former wife by means which are epitomized in appellee’s argument as follows: That beginning with the month of October, 1902, the defendant W. A. Mc-Neill, began paying attention and showing courtesies to Hamilton’s wife, which McNeill continued until he had ■alienated the affections of Hamilton’s wife. That McNeill induced her to accept the use of his automobile and to ride with ' him therein; to • accept gifts of flowers and money and other things, and by usiqg other and various means, the exact description of which -was unknown to the’ plaintiff, he “premeditatedly, wickedly, wrongfully, and unlawfully cultivated-and caused to grow up between' himself and the plaintiff’s wife a relationship and social intimacy by means of which he gained her confidence, affection, and love.” The petition further stated that McNeill obtained control of the plaintiff’s wife’s conduct and ac'frons and'acquired-■great-influence-over’her; thát'-hé-visited
The. petition did not charge any criminal relation between the wife and the defendant. The defendant pleaded in effect a general denial. He also pleaded the facts as to the rendition of a decree of divorce against the plaintiff in favor of his wife, and averred that by the findings of such decree the plaintiff was the guilty party, and that he had thereby forfeited all right to maintain the present action. It is undisputed that in the divorce proceeding the ■plaintiff’s wife • charged the defendant husband (plaintiff herein) with cruel and inhuman treatment such as to endanger her life, and that the decree in her favor was based upon the finding of facts so alleged. The contention of the defendant herein was and is that the effect of such decree is to leave the plaintiff without any standing in this action. This contention is based in the first instance upon the following ■ provision of section 3181 of the Code, which is as follows: ■ “When a divorce is- decreed, the guilty party forfeits all fights acquired by the marriage.”
As against this contention the plaintiff replies that the section in question is without application to the case for the - following reasons:- (1) ' The adjudication in the divorce suit was binding only as between the parties thereto. (2) -The •rights'Involved"-were vested-in the plaintiff .prior
We reach the conclusion that the general rule that an adjudication. is binding only upon the parties thereto and their privies is not applicable to a divorce decree as broadly as to an ordinary adjudication which involves only private rights. Without attempting to define an exact rule applicable in all cases to divorce decrees, we reach the conclusion that under the undisputed showing in this case, the. plaintiff can -not be heard in this action' to impeach the verity.of .the'-decree of divorce nor to -deny the.grounds
We think, however, that we are not called upon at the present, time to say whether the Wood case should be overruled. As- before indicated, the present action is not an action for criminal conversation. The case presented by the petition is one of simple, alienation by alleged acts and arts not. in. themselves criminal.. Such an . action is essentially different in its nature from an action, for criminal conversation, although both contain some elements in. common.. The acts and arts charged in the petition herein were in. themselves not actionable. They could only become so when they 'should result in the alienation of. the affections of plaintiff’s, wife; whereas an act of adultery .which furnishes the basis of an action for criminal conversation is in itself immediately criminal and actionable, and a cause of action based thereon- is not necessarily dependent for its maintenance upon the future relations of the parties to the marriage. Dor a discussion of the distinction between the two actions, see Kroessin v. Keller, 60 Minn. 372 (62 N. W. 438, 27 L. R. A. 685, 51 Am. St. Rep. 533) ; Houghton v. Rice, 174 Mass. 366 (54 N. E. 843, 47 L. R. A. 310, 75 Am. St. Rep. 351); Crocker v. Crocker (C. C.) 98 Fed. 702; note to Nolins v. Pearson, 4 L. R. A. (N. S.) 643. The dis
In-'the Prettyman case, 1 Pennewill (Del.) 224. (39 Atl. 731), no adjudication or decree was' involved. • .After
Neither of the two states where these decisions were had (Indiana and Delaware) had any statute corresponding to section 3181. All of the cases cited were cases based upon criminal conversation. No case is brought to our attention from any state wherein a “guilty party” in a divorce decree ever maintained an action for damages for simple alienation of affections as distinguished from criminal conversation. The case at bar is, therefore, unique in that respect, and opens a new door of litigation.
In Gleason v. Knapp, 56 Mich., 291 (22 N. W. 865, 56 Am. Rep. 388), the plaintiff who brought an action for criminal conversation was nonsuited by the Supreme Court of Michigan because his wife had obtained a decree of divorce against him prior to the bringing of the action. Michigan had no statute corresponding to section 3181, but the holding was based upon the broad ground that inasmuch as he failed to plead such fact in the divorce action he could not be heard to complain of it later in the form of an action for damages; it appearing that he knew of the alleged adultery before the decree was obtained. It should be said for the case at bar that the plaintiff claims that he learned of the defendant’s acts for the most part after the decree of divorce.
VII. Finally our conclusions may be summed up in brief form as follows: (1) That the right of action for damages for alienation of affection is a “right acquired by the marriage” within the meaning of section 3181 of the Code. That .by the terms of this statute the “guilty party” forfeits such right. (2) That the forfeiture declared by the statute must be recognized by the court regardless of any advantage resulting thereby to any deendant. This is so not because of .any affirmative right conferred on the defendant, but because of the absence of right in the plaintiff. And the forfeiture is properly pleadable as such by a defendant. (3) That the decree of divorce shown in this record fixed the status of the plaintiff herein as the “guilty party” therein within the meaning of said section 3181. The question at this point is not so much whether the decree is conclusive as between plaintiff herein and third parties, and as affecting alleged affirmative rights of such third parties, but whether the decree is conclusive upon the plaintiff himself as bringing him within the operation of the statute in question. We hold it to be conclusive upon plaintiff in the latter' respect, and that he became thereby subject instanter to the forfeit-
VIII. The foregoing represents the views of only a majority of the court, as will appear from the dissenting opinion filed herewith. In view of some features of the discussion appearing in the dissent, the writer hereof deems it appropriate to add a few further observations without assuming at this point to speak for any other member of the court. The dissent is professedly emphatic and pei’r meated with feeling. It is unfortunate at best, though sometimes inevitable, that the majority, opinion should appear to the minority, not only as erroneous, but as absurd. Such a situation doubtless renders both the emphasis and feeling of a dissenting opinion quite pardonable. But it calls for scrupulously fair argument from the dissent as well as from the majority lest the majority opinion be made to appear other than it really is. To the view of the writer the dissenting opinion is fairly subject to question in this respect at -one or two points.
On the general proposition of the majority that the “guilty party” may not maintain this action it is said in the dissent that “there are very many eases which hold exactly to the contrary.” In support .of this .emphatic stater
■Of course, in view of the fact that the majority opinion is based upon our statute, the question -of outside authorities .is .not controlling, although appropriate. And-in view
Without pressing the query whether the call for legislative- relief, above referred to, does not put a dissenting-opinion to an inappropriate function, it is sufficient to say now that the question of the propriety of the statute lies wholly within the legislative judgment. While the statute remains it must be given effect by the court. It is too definite and substantial to be blown away by mere indignation or to be reduced to ashes by heat of denunciation.
The statement of the dissent that the holding of the majority is made to depend “upon a supposed rule of public policy or by some species of estoppel” is not accurate nor quite fair. The majority holding is based upon the statute and upon that alone as all-sufficient. The only question of public policy involved is that of the statute; and the only question of estoppel involved is that which inheres in the decree of divorce. These particular terms are not used in the majority opinion, but originate in’the dissent. The extended discussion on these subjects is largely based upon a mistaken construction of the majority
For the reasons indicated, the judgment below is reversed.
Concurrence Opinion
(specially concurring). — I concur in the result announced in the majority opinion and in much of the argument by which it is sustained. I especially concur in the construction which it places upon the statute which makes a decree of divorce work a forfeiture by the guilty party of “all rights acquired by marriage.” Among the rights a husband “acquires by marriage” is the right to maintain action for damages against -a person who alienates the affections' of his wife. It is a right peculiar to the marriage relation, and if that marriage be dissolved because of his fault or wrong, the statute says in effect that the right of action which Was incident thereto ends with it. In other words, the statute makes no exception by which any right whether right of action or other right acquired by the marriage, shall survive to the husband because of
Nor can I believe there is anything in public policy nor any principles of morals which should impel the court to ingraft an implied exception upon the statute. The case before us is an impressive illustration of the evils which must follow the establishment-of the rule for which appellee contends. The court in which a divorce proceeding is pending affords the parties thereto every reason- ' able opportunity to test the truth ,and merit of their matrimonial controversies. If the husband .who is charged with misconduct justifying a dissolution of the marriage has any defense to such accusation, or any showing to make in palliation or mitigation, there is the place to make it and prove it. ‘ If he seeks to justify or recriminate because of the misconduct of his wife there is the place to plead it. There they stand on equal footing, and each may be heard in person and by witnesses, and have their respective rights and interests guarded by counsel. When this opportunity has been given and the court has found for one party and against the other, and adjudged one of them guilty of such violation of the marriage obligation as to justify a divorce, it is but simple justice to provide that, so long as that decree remains in legal force and effect, he against whom it is announced shall not be heard to assert any right based upon or derived from the marriage contract which his own wrong has terminated. To say that a husband may submit to a divorce on the ground of his own misconduct, and then in a suit against a third person in which his wife is not a party assert a right based upon the marriage relation which he has forfeited, put her character and virtue as a wife in issue, and secure for himself what may be termed a moral reversal of the decree rendered against him, and brand with infamy the woman whom the court has once vindicated, would be to announce a rule unworthy of
Concerning another question presented by this appeal I am ready to concede that the case before us is not one coming within the ordinary rule of res adjudicada, which requires for its application identity of parties and subject matter, and I do not understand the majority opinion as holding otherwise. But the effect of a decree of divorce is not limited to the husband and wife who are parties thereto. The state — the public of which these persons are a part — has a direct interest therein. It is in the interest of good morals and common decency that litigation involving domestic infelicity, crimination, and recrimination between husband and wife be limited within the narrowest possible bounds, and in my judgment sound public policy will be best promoted by holding that he against whom a divorce is decreed shall not be heard in any other or collateral proceeding, whether his former wife is or is not a party thereto, to call in question the merits of any controversy between the former husband and wife which was or might have been settled as between themselves by the decree which severed their relations.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting). — Not content with the simple conclusion that because plaintiff’s wife obtained a divorce from him before he commenced this action for alienation of affections, his right of action at any time existing has' been forfeited by reason of the provisions of section 3181 of the Code, quoted, the majority proceed to consider other questions, and to make pronouncements thereon which to my mind are erroneous and to make distinctions whic[i I am convinced are unsound. For example, to avoid the effect of our former decision of Wood v. Mathews, 47 Iowa, 409, the majority make a distinction between actions for alienation of affections and for criminal conversation, which is well enough in its place, but which I regard as
The majority ■ expressly say that _we are not called “upon at the present time to say whether the Wood case should be overruled.” This expression was doubtless made because the majority were of opinion that section 3181 might apply to actions for alienation of affections, although inapplicable to actions for criminal conversation. I can not agree to this, and expressly dissent from that conclusion. I shall show that for some purposes actions for criminal conversation and- for alienation of affections should be distinguished, but they are- not distinguishable in the application of section 3181 of the Code. Although denying that such is the effect of the decision, I am very sure that the majority overrule Wood v. Mathews, supra. If that case recognizes the distinction- pointed out by the majority, I have failed to find it in the opinion.
II. Tor some purpose the majority take up decisions from other states which, so far as shown, have no statutes similar to our section 3181, for the purpose of showing that without such a statute as the one now under consideration a husband, whose wife has obtained a divorce from him, can not maintain an action:of criminal conversation or for alienation of affections occurring before the cause for divorce arose. This must be on the theory of estoppel, former adjudication, or by reason of public policy. Reference to the decision in’ the Indiana, Delaware, and Michigan cases is conclusive on this point. The Michigan case, which is cited in support of the opinion,
III. Apart from the general conclusion reached by the majority I must dissent from the thought that aside from section 3181 the decision of the court in the divorce case may be relied upon by defendant as a complete defense to plaintiff’s action. The reasoning to support this proposition is to my mind unsound. This position, if sound, must be based upon the theory of estoppel by judgment. It is essential to the doctrine of estoppel by judgment that it be mutual. That is to say, one can not take the position that the decree is conclusive if it operates to his benefit, but' inconclusive and of no effect if it operates to his disadvantage. Now, if the; majority are correct, then to be logical, we must hold that if plaintiff’s action had been for criminal conversation,, and, if after his
In the former case it is said: “It appears that defendant’s wife procured a divorce .from him on the ground of extreme cruelty, and it is contended that he can not now be heard to say that he was not guilty of this cruelty. We do not think this 'contention can be allowed. As between the parties to that litigation the finding of fact is final and conclusion, but between plaintiff and defendant it. is not.” None of the cases cited by the majority announce a contrary doctrine.
Karren v. Karren, 25 Utah, 87 (69 Pac. 465, 60 L. R. A. 294, 95 Am. St. Rep. 815), was an action between the original parties to a divorce proceeding, and the effect of the original decree upon strangers was in no manner involved or decided. The case is no't in • point upon any proposition here involved.
Gordon v. Dickison, 131 Ill. 141 (23 N. E. 439), simply holds that a. wife divorced on the ground of desertion is not barred of dower under a statute providing that a divorce shall not bar the innocent party’s right of dower, although the wife, after the divorce commits • adultery. I quote- from that decision as follows:
This case, if it amounts to anything, rather negatives the views of the majority regarding public policy. .Here a divorced wife, who was entitled to "dower under a given statute, was allowed to recover the same although after the divorce she committed adultery, and this in the face of a statute saying that if the wife commit adultery or voluntarily leave the husband she shall be forever barred of dower. The action was not against a stranger, but against one who was the successor of the husband or in privity with him. Orth v. Orth, 69 Mich. 158 (37 N. W. 67), was an action between the parties to' am original divorce proceeding to set aside the decree for fraud, and was not against strangers. It has no possible bearing upon any question in this case.
Moor v. Moor (Tex. Civ. App.) 63 S. W. 347, was also an action between the original parties to the divorce proceeding, and the rights of third parties were in no manner involved. The only third persons to that proceeding were attorneys to whom the divorced husband had assigned some of his rights, and they filed a disclaimer of an interest in the property involved. I can not see how it is in any manner applicable to the case now before us.
Ellis v. Ellis, 55 Minn. 401 (56 N. W. 1056, 23 L. R. A. 287, 43 Am. St. Rep. 514), was an action between the administrator of the estate of a deceased divorced husband, and the divorced wife — the administrator standing, of course, in the shoes of the deceased; and all held in that case is that where in am action for divorce in the court of another state both parties voluntarily appéar and submit to the jurisdiction, they were bound by the judgment, and could not avoid it in a collateral proceeding. It was further held that the fact that the wife brought the
So much for the cases cited to sustain the conclusion that one who is sued for alienation of affections may set up a decree of divorce as a defense and that the plaintiff in the alienation suit is conclusively bound by the divorce decree. Not one of the cases cited on the proposition so holds. In none of them was the action against strangers -and nothing is said in any about the right of a third party who is not in privity with either of the parties to the divorce decree to rely thereon. In fact the cases are all the other way. See Freeman on Judgments, sections 159, 313, and cases cited, among which are Burlen v. Shannon, 3 Gray (Mass.) 387; Needham v. Brenner, 14 Week. Rep. 694; Gill v. Reed, 5 R. I. 343, 73 Am. Dec. 73.
In the latter case, which was an action by a stranger for necessaries furnished a wife during her separation from her husband, it was held that a decree dismissing a husband’s bill for divorce, based on the ground of the alleged adultery of the wife, is not evidence against the husband that the wife did not commit adultery prior -to the petition for divorce, or during its pendency. The court said that in so far as the divorce suit was concerned the decree was res adjudicaba, but that in so far as the plaintiff in the action then being considered was concerned, the decree in the divorce suit was not binding, and that the plaintiff in the suit for necessaries could not avail himself of it for the purpose of holding the husband liable for necessaries.
Huntington v. Jewett, 25 Iowa, 249, announces practically the same rule, basing it upon want of mutuality. I refer to this point because of the intimations in the majority opinion that plaintiff could in. no manner question-the divorce decree which his wife obtained against him.
In view of the use made by the majority of the ease of Gleason v. Knapp, 56 Mich. 291 (22 N. W. 865, 56 Am. Rep. 388), it may be well to quote from a more recent case by the same court, reported in 131 Mich., at page 228 (101 N. W., at page 541). In the latter case it is said:
Did the court err in allowing evidence tending to show the truth of the allegations contained in the second count of the declaration? Counsel says plaintiff failed to set up this charge in his amended answer in the divorce case, and is now debarred from charging the defendant with said offense. It is true, the defendant in that case did not say in so many words that his wife and Mr. Knickerbocker had committed adultery, but he, in effect, so charged them. This court so regarded the allegations of his answer, and passed upon that question in disposing of the case. Counsel also says that because the court passed upon that phase of the case and found the charge of adultery was not made out in the divorce case, the decree in that case is conclusive upon that question; citing as to both of these claims Gleason v. Knapp, 56 Mich. 291 (22 N. W. 865, 56 Am. Rep. 388). There is language in the opinion in that case which tends to justify the claim of counsel, but when the case is considered carefully it will' be found to be distinguishable from this one. In the case of. Gleason’s wife against him no answer was put in. In the case of Gleason against his wife nothing was done by him except to file his bill of complaint. In the case brought by him against Knapp the court found the facts sworn to by him were entirely contradictory to his sworn bill against his wife. The question involved in the case of Knickerbocker v. Knickerbocker was whether the wife was entitled to a divorce upon the ground of cruelty. We held that she, was. The question involved here is whether the affections of Mrs. Knickerbocker were alienated by the unlawful acts of the defend
This in itself practically disposes of that case. But it should be noticed that Gleason’s case was not disposed of on the ground of public policy, but upon some theory of estoppel. We quote the following from that case:
Plaintiff’s testimony in the case now before us is quite positive that what he saw that night did not lead him ■ to complain of his wife’s adultery, or prevent his desire to have their domestic relations continued, and did not prevent subsequent cohabitation. The wife’s divorce proceedings, which began in January, 1881, being followed by a decree which established that she had a sufficient cause of grievance, must be regarded as a bar to any cause of action for that grievance, if it existed. If plaintiff had such a cause of action as he now asserts, it would not only have been admissible in evidence in that divorce suit, but it would have been an absolute and perfect defense to it. The suggestion of the circuit judge that the jury might, as they saw fit, infer that that very divorce suit was the outcome of defendant’s misconduct, can not be allowed any force, since defendant’s failure to defend on that ground, when that defense was opened to him, and, according to his claim now, was known to him, left it as completely cut off as any other; and the decree is legally conclusive against him that no such facts exist.
Now it will be noted that the husband’s conduct, upon which the divorce was granted, occurred before any of the grievances of which he complained in the alienation case. Moreover, the case was one of criminal conversation and it was entirely proper, if it -was not the husband’s duty, to set up his wife’s adultery in that action as a complete defense if not as ground for divorce from his wife. The attempt made by the majority to distinguish between alienation and criminal conversation cases, while not to my mind persuasive, may well be used in this connection as a completé overthrow, if any be needed, of the doctrine first
IV. While the majority now rely very little, if at all, upon the doctrine of public policy, yet I think it clear from the discussion that even without a statute such as section 3181 they would hold plaintiff’s right of action barred by reason of the divorce obtained by his wife. To this I can not agree. The rule, if established, must be applied to every cause, no matter how flagrant the conduct of
In Wales1 case the court said: “The fact that a divorce may have been granted to the plaintiff a few days before the bringing of the suit would not destroy appellee’s right of action.. That might be the means of perfecting it. . . . The action is brought for the 'injury
In Michael's case, which was exactly like this, the opinion on this point reads as follows: “We think otherwise. ... It would not be in the interests of good order and the public morals to permit the seducer of a wife to set up a disagreement, or even a separation, between her and her husband, as a complete defense to an action by the latter for the wrong.”
In' Prettyman s case the court said: “The divorce granted by the Legislature to Mrs. Prettyman May- 26, 1897, may be and should be considered by you in mitigation of damages, if. you should think the plaintiff entitled to recover damages, because the plaintiff would not be entitled to any compensation for the loss of the affection, society, and services of his wife after .she ceased to be his wife. Although it is true, as Mr. Bishop has said in his valuable work on Marriage and Divorce (volume 1, section 1465), ‘That a legislative divorce, equally with a judicial one, snaps the vinculum of the marriage, and that whatever hangs upon it falls,’ yet the learned author in laying down that proposition illustrates its meaning by referring to the next section, which is as follows: ‘If the man dies, the woman will not be his widow, entitled to dower, and a portion of his personal property. He will not, on her death, be authorized to hold her lands as tenant by curtesy; but, on the contrary, his interest and that of his grantees and representatives, in them and in her choses of action, ceases. This is not a devesting of vested rights.’ The learned writer did not mean, and it can not be the law, that the divorce would be a bar to an action like the present, brought for an injury to the marital relation prior to the divorce, and which action is not based upon the existence of such relation at the time of the commencement of the suit.”
In Wood v. Mathews, this court, speaking through
IV. Coming now to the statute on which the majority rely, it reads: “When a divorce is decreed, the guilty party forfeits all rights acquired by the marriage.” Before discussing the question as to the construction of this statute it is proper to say that Wood v. Mathews, 47 Iowa, 409, was decided long after this statute went into effect. That case either construes the statute, or the court did not think it applicable to the case, and in either event the majority are under the necessity of getting away from that precedent. That we should not now, after a lapse of thirty-three years, change the rule is to my mind imperative. The Legislature, we must assume, has been entirely faj miliar with that decision ever since it was rendered, and it has not seen fit to change the rule by statutory enactment. We should not do so in my opinion. The case has been
That the Legislature had in mind rights acquired by the marriage between the parties thereto and their privies or successors there is, to my mind, no doubt. This statute was dropped from the Revision of 1860; but it reappeared again in the Code of 1873 (section 2230). When readopted it should be given the same force and effect, and the same construction as when it originally appeared in 1843 and 1851. The mischiefs aimed at and the reasons for its adoption will be presumed to be the same as when it first appeared. It will be observed by the careful searcher of our authorities that there was no change whatever in the decisions of the court during the interim in which the statute was not in force. I am impressed with the thought that the majority are making this statute serve a purpose which was never intended by the Legislature, and it surely was not intended thereby to cut off a right of action by a husband against a wrongdoer which arose in virtue of the marriage relation, but which was not acquired by the marriage. The attempt by the majority to distinguish the Wood case by making it apply to criminal conversation cases, hut not to actions for alienation of affections, is not persuasive. I have already referred to this in another connection, and need only say at this point that if the right to sue for pollution of the marriage bed is not acquired by the marriage, certainly a right of action for alienation of affections is not acquired thereby. It is enough for my purpose to point out the exact situation, and .thus leave the matter in the hope that the Legislature will immediately change this statute so that it will not in the future be made to do such
The decree of divorce was, until set aside, binding upon the parties and upon the state, but I hesitate to say that it may be taken advantage of by one who prior thereto invaded the home and did the very things which may have brought it about. Surely plaintiff at one time had a cause of action and he has it yet, unless the divorce obtained after his cause of action became perfect operated as a forfeiture of that cause of action. Say what we may, the truth is that the divorce according to the majority opinion operated as a forfeiture; and that forfeiture is pleaded and relied upon by the wrongdoer himself in setting up a decree to which he was not a party, and in which he is interested only for the purpose of purging his own wrong.