51 W. Va. 352 | W. Va. | 1902
On the 20th day of August, 1881, W. L. Eawson conveyed to Porter Kinports, by deed with covenant of general warranty, a tract of one thousand six hundred and thirty-two acres of land and another of eight hundred acres and a lease of seven hundred and eighty acres with the right to remove the timber from the last one, in consideration of the sum of twelve thousand dollars, of which three thousand dollars was paid in cash and, for the residue, Kinports executed his three bonds of three thousand dollars each, payable in one, two and three years, respectively, to secure the payment of which Kinports conveyed the land to A. C. Snyder, trustee, on the 3rd day of October, 1881. Later, Kinports conveyed the property to the St. Lawrence Boom and Manufacturing Company. Some years afterwards, the trustee advertised all the land for sale. Thereupon Kinports and the St. Lawrence -Company filed their bill against Eawson, A. C. Snyder, trustee, Homer A. Holt and A. F. Mathews, and upon the bill axx injunction was granted, restraining the trustee from making sale of the one thousand six hundred and thirty-two acre tract.
The principal grounds set forth in the bill for enjoining the
Other important allegations were that the one thousand six hundred and thirty-two acre tract constituted the most valuable portion of the property; that more than seven thousand dollars had been paid; that the plaintiffs had no protection against the loss which they would sustain if compelled to pay the debt and lose the land by paramount title; that Eawson was.not in the actual possession of the land at the time of the sale; that neither of the plaintiffs had been put or were then in the actual possession thereof.; that they claimed and upon information alleged, that at the time of the purchase by Eawson and conveyance to him, his vendor and those, under whom he claimed, had held under color of title and under a grant from the commonwealth of Virginia for more than fifteen years preceding said purchase actual continuous adversary possession of said land; that Eaw-son and the plaintiffs, respectively, were invested by the conveyance to them, respectively, with all the title to said land, which had been acquired or was held by the grantors of Eawson; that Holt and Mathews claim to have recently caused a survey to be made of the exterior boundaries of their said grant and had included therein the said “one thousand six hundred and thirty-two acres as well as the land claimed in said suit against said
The prayer of the bill Avas, that tiro sale be enjoined, and that Snyder, trustee; and IhiAVSon should bo enjoined from enforcing the payment of said purchase-money, until the cloud on the title to said one thousand six hundred and thirty-two acres should be removed, that Ilolt and Mathews be required to produce their title to said land, and that the title thereto might be determined and quieted. The injunction AAras granted on the 3rd day of July, 1885.
BaAVSon answered the bill, exhibiting a grant from the com-' momwealth of Virginia, dated the 3rd day of Juno, 1856, to May and Oleelc for the one thousand six hundred and thirty-two acres, a conveyance from May of his undivided two-thirds of the land executed on the 10th day of June, 1881, and a conveyance from the executor of Clock for the remaining undivided one-third, dated September 12, 1881. He denied that he Avas not in possession of the land when he sold to Kinports, and averred that he had the actual and uninterrupted possession of all the land, and especially of the one thousand six hundred and thirty-two acres at Ihe time he sold and conveyed it, and that he and those under whom he claimed had had such possession under a good and sufficient title for over tAventy years, as he was informed and believed; that there were houses, enclosures and improvements extending into it on tracts adjoining the one thousand six hundred and thirty-two acres belonging to Elijah May, one of the respondent’s grantors, Avhich houses wore occupied by
A special judge was selected to try the cause, and, on the 13th day of June, 1886, it was heard in vacation on the bill, answer of Bawson, general replication thereto, exhibits filed, depositions, and the motion of defendant, Kawson, to dissolve the injunction, and the order made and entered was in part as follows: “It was the duty of the trustee in the deed of trust in the bill mentioned to take the proper steps to remove the cloud on the title, which in the opinion of said judge hangs over the property mentioned in the trust-deed before proceeding to execute said trust by making sale of said property; and that on. his failure so to do any party injured has, and the plaintiffs in said bill have the right so to do; and the said judge being further of opinion, that although in the present state of the case under the act of the legislature (Acts 1882, ch. 131, p. 341,) he has no power or authority to direct an .issue in this cause tb try the title to said lands, and said title- conveyed ior the plaintiffs has not teen shown to be clearly defective, and no suit to recover the same of them has tern brought or threatened, yet he is of opinion, that to sell the land tinder the circumstances shown to exist and without the cloud on the title would.result in the sacrifice of said property, which it is the duty of the court to prevent.” Then the motion to dissolve was continued until the next term of the circuit court of Greenbrier County, and the St. Lawrence Company was directed to bring an action of ejectment
Holt and Mathews were served with process in said suit, but never appeared. They refused to answer or make, any defense to the bill, although a rule was issued against tl\em requiring them to answer.
This Court having dissolved the injunction and dismissed the bill, Snyder, trustee, again advertised the land for sale, and Kinports and the St. Lawrence Company obtained another injunction to the sale and to prevent the collection of the money until the title should be quieted. The bill in this second suit set out more particularly the nature of the claim of Holt and Mathews than did the one filed in the first suit, and prayed that they might bo required to produce their title and that the rights of all the interested parties might be determined. This bill was against the same parties, in reference to the same subject-matter and for the same purpose as the former bill. It was demurred to by the defendants, and the demurrer being overruled, all of them answered it and insisted that the matters set up in it were res jucLicata. Then Bawson filed a supplemental and amended answer, alleging defects in the title set up by Holt and Mathews in their answer. Holt and Mathews, treating the amended answer of Bawson as a cross-bill, filed an answer to it. Then Holt and Mathews moved the court to require the plaintiffs to elect between that suit and the action of ejectment which was still pending; to direct an issue, to try the question of title upon the cross-bill and answer; to refer the cross-bill and answer to take proofs and report; and to order a survey in the cause for the purpose of locating the respective claims of the parties. All these motions were denied and a final decree en-
That a judgment or decree may be a bar to a subsequent action between the same parties concerning the same subject-matter, the first requisite is, that the court pronouncing the judgment or decree must have jurisdiction of the parties and the subject-matter. All judgments and decrees of courts which do not belong to that class called in ferior courts and courts of limited jurisdiction, are conclusive in thoms'elves, unless clearly beyond the jurisdiction of the tribunals from whence they emanate. 1 Herman Bst. & Bes., s. 346. They cannot be impeached, when pleadqd in bar or given in evidence in other tribunals, because of a wrong judgment, based upon the erroneous application of legal principles, or insufficiency of the evidence, or that the evidence was false, or for the reason that the writ and service were defective. “The
Holt and Mathews were served with process but refused to appear and make any defense. The court had jurisdiction of them as parties and the presumption is that it had jurisdiction of the subject-matter of the suit, but this presumption may sometimes be overthrown by what the record itself shows, as has been stated. That record shows that the object and purpose of the suit was to bring before the court the vendor of the land in question, who held a lien by deed of trust upon it and
“Acts done by a court which has no jurisdiction either over the person, the cause, or the process, are said to be coram non judiceBonvier’s Law Die. “Where an action is brought and determined in a court which has no jurisdiction over the matter, it is said to be coram non judice.” 7 Am. & Eng. Ency. Law, (2d Ed.) 595. That such judgment or decree could not stand for a moment, if attacked in a direct proceeding by motion in proper time in the court below, or by appeal, or writ of error, or bill of review, there is not the slightest doubt, but if it is merely erroneous and not absolutely void, it is binding until reversed, and, if never reversed by a direct proceeding, it is binding forever or unti], it expires by limitation. It can never be attacked in any collateral proceeding and all matters settled by it are res judicata in every court so long as it remains unreversed. But where.a court erroneously pronounces a decree in respect to a matter which is not cognizable in that court, but belongs to the jurisdiction of another court, but deciding that it has jurisdiction when it has not, is the decree absolutely void ? If so, it may be ignored by all courts and is worthless for any purpose. There are a number of cases which hold that such a judgment or decree is coram non judice, but they all appear to have been judgments of inferior courts, in respect to which jur
There are innumerable authorities bearing upon the question, but very few of them pass upon the exact point. So far as they do touch it, they are in conflict, as has been shown. It is beyond question that the distinction between law and equity jurisdiction often becomes a question of intricacy and nicety. That is illustrated in the chancery cause which is relied upon here by the defendants in error. The court seems to have considered that the case presented by the bill properly belonged to equity jurisdiction. Later, Heavener v. Morgan, 30 W. Va. 335, expressly decided that the cause of action imperfectly stated in it, and which has subsequently turned out to be cognizable only at law, as appears from matters outside of the record, was one of equitable cognizance. Still later, the principles announced in that case were overruled. Miller v. Morrison, 47 W. Va. 664. Numerous cases come into the courts in which the question whether they belong to the law side or to the chancery side of the jurisdiction of the court is vigorously debated and requires pains-taking and laborious investigation for its determination. Ordinarily, the matter is determined upon a demurrer to the bill, and the action of the court below is subject to correction on appeal. Why should a defendant, who is called into a court of equity to answer a bill, purporting to set out grounds for equitable relief, be permitted to ignore the process of the court, stand out against it, make no objection to its jurisdiction, allow the proceeding to go on to final determination, and then, in a collateral way, take advantage of the court’s error? If an error of, that kind affords ground for invalidating the judgment or decree of a court wherever it may be set up or introduced, in a justices’ court, before a board of commissioners having judicial power, but limited and inferior in nature and extent, or elsewhere, why should not all other errors be so? If one court can declare it void, all 'can declare it void. It is deemed bettgr to appeal to the reason of the rule, than to undertake to say, after going through numerous volumes of reports and text-books, what the weight of authority is. “Justice requires that every case should be once fairly tried, and the public tranquilly demands that having been once so fairly tried, all litigation of that question between those parties should be concluded forever. Were it other
Of course there are cases that are so clearly beyond and without the jurisdiction of a court that no question coxxld possibly arise. In such case, the want of jurisdiction would be clear, and be disclosed by the record itself. Criminal cases are never cognizable by courts of equity. Under no circumstances could that court take jurisdiction of them. But a court of equity has jurisdiction, under certain circumstances, to inquire into and adjudicate matters relating to title to real estate. It will uphold and enforce a superior equity against a more legal title, and compel conveyance of the legal title to the equitable owner. At the suit of one in possession of real estate claiming good title thereto, it will remove a cloud from his title, and cancel the invalid papers under which the adverse claimant undertakes to set up title. Hence, it cannot be said that because a bill filed in a court of equity relates to real estate or its title and the ownership thereof, it presents a cause of action not cognizable by such court. In every such case, the court must determine whether it has, or has not, jurisdiction. It presents enough to set in motion and call forth the exercise of the judicial power of that tribunal. It must consider and determine and if, in doing so, it arrives at an erroneous conclusion, and takes jurisdiction when it ought to decline it, the error is very similar in its nature to any other error and the public policy which demands a cessation of a controversy within a reasonable time applies as clearly to it as to any other. It is a mere matter of remedy or
The principle thus far discussed is applicable in this aspect of the case: Plaintiffs in error claim title to the land never ivas adjudicated against them and in favor of the plaintiffs, because a court of equity had no lawful authority, power or jurisdiction to determine the question of title. They .insist that the right of trial by jury in questions of title is a constitutional right which no court had the power to take away from them. This amounts to a mere assignment of a reason upon which it is insisted that the question ivas not determined. There are instances, as has ..been shown, in which a court of equity may take cognizance of matters effecting title. Suppose a bill is filed to cancel a deed as a cloud upon plaintiff’s title. Whether the deed is valid or invalid may be a very perplexing question. If invalid a court of equity has an undoubted right to cancel it and no jury is required. If valid, it has no right to do so. But if upon that bill, the. court erroneously cancel a valid deed, what is the. remedy of the injured party? Can he treat the decree as a nullity? By no means, If he does not
This brings us to the vital question in the case: Did the court decide that Holt and Mathews have no title to the land ? Was the bill such as called upon them in a legal sense to answer and enabled them to litigate the question of title? If either of these questions be answered in the affirmative, the decision in the chancery suit is a bar to any assertion of title on their part. As to the first, it is so elementary that no authority need be cited. The second is hardly less firmly settled. “An adjudication by a court having jurisdiction of the subject matter and the parties is final and conclusive, not only as to the matters actually determined, but as to every other matter which the parties might have ligitated as incident thereto, and coming within the legitimate purview of the subject matter of the action. It. is not essential that the matter should have been formally put in issue in a former suit, but it is sufficient that the status of the suit was such that the parties might have had the matter disposed of on its merits.” Sayre v. Harpold, 33 W. Va. 553; Tracy v. Shumate, 22 W. Va. 474; Wandling v. Straw, 25 W. Va. 692; Biern v. Ray, 49 W. Va. 129; Bruen v. Home, 2 Barb. (N. Y.) 586; Embery v. Conner, 3 Coms. (N. Y.) 522; McDowell v. McDowell, 1 Bail. Eq. (S. C.) 324; Davis v. Brown, 94 U. S. 35; New Orleans v. Bank, 167 U. S. 371. In Sayre v. Harpold, it was applied to a set-off which might have been, but was not, pleaded in defense. In McDowell v. McDowell, a testator had provided payment of five hundred dollars to his widow in lieu of her dower. After accepting the money, she sued for, and recovered in an action
Holt and Mathews never having appeared, they put nothing in issue by allegation. If their rights were passed upon, it is because the matter alleged in the bill by the plaintiffs was such that they were bound to answer it. It alleged that they claimed to own said land in fee under an older grant than that under which the plaintiffs claimed, but did not fully set out or designate the instrument under which the adverse claim was set up. It stated two purposes, one of which was to stay the collection of the purchase-money and the other to ha.ve the title to the land settled and quieted. In the first, only tire plaintiffs and the defendant Rawson and his trustee were interested, but in the other, Holt and Mathews were interested, for the bill, after alleging that they claimed the land, prayed that “for the effective removal of said cloud of title, the said Rawson, on the one hand, and the said Holt and Mathews upon the other, may be required to deduce their respective titles to said land, and settle their respective claims.” The bill clearly set out and showed that if Rawson should bo permitted to collect his purchase money before it was judicially or otherwise settled and .fixed that the Holt and Mathews claim was not superior to that of plaintiffs, the complainants would suffer, or be exposed to, irreparable injury. It was a call to Holt and Mathews, based upon a clear and well defined equitjq not against them, but against Rawson, to come forward and assert their claim. If it was such as bound' them to do so and they failed, then, upon the principle of fas judicata,, they are barred from ever asserting it in any court. While the bill did not show with sufficient certainty, perhaps, that Holt and Mathews claimed the land and that the title was defective, they'could have disclosed it by an answer and had the whole matter settled there, or, upon objection to the jurisdiction'of the court, in a court of law and the sale would have been prevented by an injunction pending its settlement. This would have enabled the plaintiff to have
But treating it as a bill against Holt and Mathews, requiring them to answer, without regard to any pleading by Rawson, they did not plead to it, and if there be any decree against them by the final decisions of the case, it is a decree pro confesso. This necessitates an inquiry as to how far such a decree is conclusive in a collateral proceeding. “A judgment by default is conclusive of all that is properly alleged in the complaint, and nothing more.” Herman on Est. & Res. Adj., p. 46, citing Unfried v. Heberer, 63 Ind. 67. If by_ “properly alleged” is meant that a bill or declaration will not support a judgment or decree in any case, unless it states a complete cause of action in every detail and is proof against a demurrer, this proposition is clearly at variance with the principles of our jurisprudence. If it were true, all the reasons for holding a merely erroneous judg
Having concluded that the court could have decided that Holt and Mathews had no title to the land, it remains now to ascertain whether it did so decide. On this question, the opinion and supplemental opinion, delivered by Judge Luoas and found in 36 W. Va. 237, and which are so extensively discussed in the briefs, both plaintiffs and defendants putting their respective constructions upon them and claiming they fully support their respective positions, are only entitled to consideration here by reason of the fact that they are the opinions of the learned judges who decided the second Kinports-Holt and Mathews Case, and that they are well considered and prepared. They are not decisive of the question. That case is not a part of this record, and as there is so much contention about the real meaning and import of the views there expressed, no time will be consumed here in an endeavor to ascertain how far they deemed the former suit in equity to have affected the rights of Holt and Mathews. Where the decree of a court is not ambiguous, it speaks for itself. When it is ambiguous, the aceompamying opinion may be examined in order to determine
As the court was careful to sift the evidence as well as examine the bill, it must be presumed that had it shown any defect of title the bill would not have been dismissed, and the court would have given the purchaser the protection it frankly acknowledged he would have been entitled to had the defect appeared. In such case, an amendment would have cured the defects in the bill. The court must be credited also with the knowledge that unqualified dismissal of the bill would forever bar the plaintiffs from again asserting any claim or equity against Kawson or Holt and Mathews, on account of the matters set up in the bill, in any court. The learned judge who de*-livered the opinion and those who concurred in it, must be deemed to have proceeded with due care and deliberation in disposing of the' case as well as with the knowledge of the consequences of a simple dismissal. To say they thus turned away plaintiffs, who had alleged all.'they knew about the adverse claim which endangered them and produced all the evidence of it that it was within their power to furnish, and compelled them to pay the purchase money, without intending at the same time to forever bind Holt and Mathews from taking the land away from them, is to impute to them the doing, intentionally or inadvertently, of a thing that does not comport with the principles of equity. The court must have intended all the decree effected. It compelled "plaintiffs to pay the money and barred them from ever asserting any further claim against any of the defendants, in respect to the subject matter of the bill. That could not have been done consistently without deciding that Holt and Mathews had no title and binding them likewise from ever asserting the claim of title which they were alleged to have set up. But it is said that, had the court done that, it would have
The principles leading to this conclusion are clearly enunciated by the Supreme Court of the United States in Hefner v. Northwestern Life Insurance Co., 123 U. S. 747, from the syllabus of which the following is taken: . “A bill in equity by A against B and C to forelose a mortgage from B to A alleged that C claimed some interest in the premises, the exact nature of which the plaintiff was jinable to set out, and prayed for a decree of foreclosure, and that the right, title and interest of each defendant he forever barred and foreclosed, and for a sale of the premises, and for further relief. In the decree' Us default was recited and confirmed, and it was adjudged that the mortgage was a lien prior and paramount to the lien of each defendant, and that the right, title and equity of redemption of each defendant be by a sale under the decree forever barred and foreclosed, and that the purchaser at such sale should take the premises by title absolute, relating back to the date of the mortgage. Under that decree.the land was sold to A. Held, that the decree was a conclusive adjudication that C had no valid title or lien, and estopped him to set up, in defense to an action of ejectment by A, a tax title subsequent to tlie mortgage and prior to the suit for foreclosure.”
While in Kinports v. Rawson et als. the Court did not decree a foreclosure of a mortgage, what it did do was tantamount thereto. It dissolved the injunction and permitted the trustee to sell. No decree of foreclosure was necessary to the collection of the money. Sale by the trustee was its equivalent. The deed of trust conferred the power of sale and the trustee was
Hefner v. Ins. Co., being exactly in point, and the principle involved being of such vast importance, it is deemed advisable to quote extensively from the unanimous opinion of the court delivered by Mr. Justice Gray: ''Multifariousness as to subjects or parties, within the jurisdiction of a court of equity, cannot be taken advantage of by a defendant, except by demurrer, plea or answer to the bill, although the court in its discretion may take the objection at the hearing, or on appeal, and order the bill to be amended or dismissed. Oliver v. Piatt, 3 How. 333, 412; Nelson v. Hill, 5 How. 127, 132. A fortiori, it does not render a decree void, so that it can be treated as a nullity in a collateral action. * •' * * * * * * Hpon that ground, it has been held by this. Court, as well as' by the courts of New York, California and Michigan, on appeals from decrees for foreclosure of mortgages, that the holders of a prior adverse title were not proper parties; and judges have sometimes used such strong expressions as that the mortgagee 'cannot make them parties/ or that their title 'cannot be litigated/ in a suit for foreclosure. Dial v. Reynolds, 96 U. S. 340; Peters v. Bowman, 98 U. S. 56, 60; Eagle Ins. Co. v. Lent, 1 Edw. Ch. 301, and 6 Paige, 635; Banks v. Walker, 2 Sandf. Ch. 344, and 3 Barb. Ch. 438; Corning v. Smith, 6 N. Y. 82; San Francisco v. Lawton, 18 Calif. 465; Summers v. Brumley, 28 Mich. 125. * * * * * * * * But in none of the cases just cited was any question presented or adjudged of the effect that a decree of foreclosure,
For the forgoing reasons the judgment is affirmed.
Affirmed.