78 Miss. 259 | Miss. | 1900
delivered the opinion of the court.
Gumble & Co. filed their bill in the chancery court of Washington county to cancel two tax deeds made to L. R. Crouch
Exhibit “G,” being a copy of the real assessment roll of said Washington county, as far as it pertains to the property in controversy, is as follows:
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And to this is attached the affidavit of the assessor and the certificate of the chancery clerk of said Washington county. The chancery court canceled the tax deeds, and House appeals.
1. The contention of the appellant is that his tax title is good; that if bad Gumble & Co., for want of interest, have no right to attack it. It is clear, however, that the sale of the property by trustee, and the execution of the deed thereunder, passed title in form at least to Gumble & Co., which is pt'ima facie good, and will inure to their protection until it be divested out of them by some appropriate proceeding, and until so divested, the title, legal and equitable, will be taken to be in appellees. J. B. House is not a party to the in] unction suit of Mrs. Holcomb, and he cannot complain of a violation of the injunction, if such violation had occurred. Cocks v. Simmons, 57 Miss., 183, 203.
2. Our statute (code, § 528) reads: ‘■‘■Exhibits made jmH of bill. — Exhibits filed with a bill, as part of it, shall be considered on demurrer as if copied in the bill. ’ ’ And, while paragraph 14 of the bill expressly affirms that the assessment of the west halves of lots 8 and 9, block 4, first addition of Areola, are separately assessed upon the assessment rolls of Washington county, it also sets out a copy of the assessment roll relating to said lots, duly certified, as exhibit G to the bill of complaint. We have, then, before us an exhibit, made a
By virtue of the statute exhibit G became a part of the bill of complaint; and the averment relating to it could not qualify its nature and character. The exhibit, being a part of the bill, was before the court for its opinion- and judgment, and any characterization of it by the pleader could not alter its essential nature. And where an exhibit, made a part of the bill by the statute, is contradicted by some averment of the bill, the fact will be taken to be in conformity with the .exhibit. The exhibit, especially when it is a copy of a record, is to be taken as true, rather than a contradictory averment in the pleading relating to the samefact. Williamson v. White, 101 Ga., 276, 279, s.c. 28 S. E., 846; Deposit Go. v. Lackey, 149 Ind., 10, 14, s.c. 48 N. E., 254; Freiberg v. Magale, 70 Tex., 116, 7 S. W., s.c. 684. We have, then, a joint assessment of the west half of lot 8 and of the west half of lot 9 at one valuation for the whole of said west half of said lots, but a separate sale of the west half of lot 8 and the west half of lot 9 by the tax collector. It seems to us that this tax sale was void. Section 814 would have authorized the tax collector to have sold either half of these lots, or any smaller part thereof, if it should have brought the whole tax to be collected; but if a part of land jointly assessed does not bring the whole tax, the entire lot, or parts of lots, jointly assessed should be sold together; for
Affirmed.