Batlle de Vilaró v. Torruella Cortada

39 P.R. 188
CourtSupreme Court of Puerto Rico
DecidedFebruary 21, 1929
DocketNo. 4330
StatusPublished

This text of 39 P.R. 188 (Batlle de Vilaró v. Torruella Cortada) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Batlle de Vilaró v. Torruella Cortada, 39 P.R. 188 (prsupreme 1929).

Opinion

Mb. Justice Texidoe

delivered the opinion of the court.

The plaintiff in this case has presented three causes of action and has alleged substantially the following: That in 1905 the heirs of Braulio Fernández were the owners of several parcels of land, described and sketched in a certain plan, of which one contained 13.83 acres, another 23.13 acres, another 3.25 acres, another 4.13 acres and another 36.94 acres, with some gravel patches whose measurements are given, and of which four parcels malte up a total area of 38.75 acres, six other parcels an area of 42.60 acres, and another marked No. 11 contains 14 acres; that the ownership and possession of the properties were conveyed to Griffo & Co. who consolidated the parcels marked 1, 2, 3 and 4 into one property which was recorded in the registry of property of Ponce under number 6351, and the parcels marked 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 into another property which was recorded in the same registry under number 6352, as described in the complaint; that the tract marked No. 11 in the complaint was not included in those groups; that Alejandro Franceschi bought the [190]*190properties Nos. 6351 and 6352 from G-riffo & Co. and sold them on September 27, 1923, to Sergio Torruella; that when the properties were bought by Franceschi and later by Torruella they were under lease to the Bernal Estate for a term to expire on June 14, 1931, and neither Franceschi nor Torruella took material possession of properties Nos. 6351 and 6352 whose possession was held first by the Bernal Estate and later by its successor, the South Porto Rico Sugar Company, who also held possession of tract No. 11 which was never alienated by Griffo & Co., its owners, until January 3, 1925, when it was sold to the plaintiff by the marshal of the District Court of Ponce under a writ of execution in a mortgage foreclosure proceeding and is at present recorded in favor of the plaintiff by virtue of a forced sale deed of April 25, 1925; that since the date of his purchase of the said properties the defendant has been receiving from the South Porto Rico Sugar Company the rent of tract No. 11 owned by the plaintiff, the defendant alleging that that tract belongs to him as a part of property No. 6351. As a second cause of action it was alleged, after repeating the previous allegations, that the plaintiff demanded of the defendant the acknowledgment of her ownership of tract No. 11 and the .defendant agreed that an identification of the said tract be made by surveyor Roig from the deeds and plans for the purpose of determining whether it was included among those leased to the South Porto Rico Sugar Co. as belonging to The. defendant, and that the surveyor proceeded to measure and survey properties A (6351), B (6352) and No. 11, with the result, as stated by him, that the defendant owned certain lands marked in the plan, except a parcel of 14.90 acres, and that the defendant has refused to accept the result of that survey and to acknowledge the ownership of that tract by the plaintiff. As a third cause of action, after repeating the previous allegations, it was alleged that the defendant had received the rent for tract No. 11 since September 27, [191]*1911923, at the rate of $16.20 monthly, to the detriment of the ■plaintiff.

It appears that defendant Torruella gave notice in warranty to Alejandro Franceschi, who filed a demurrer on the .ground of lack of facts sufficient to determine a cause of action, and Torruella demurred to the complaint as a whole on the grounds of misjoinder of actions and lack of facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, to the first cause of action that of defect of parties defendant, that of lack of facts (which he also extended to the other causes of action) and that of ambiguity, adding as to the third cause that of prescription.

On motion of the plaintiff a day was set for hearing the demurrers of Torruella and Franceschi. On May 9, 1927, the judge sustained the demurrers of both defendants and allowed time for amendments.

On May 17,1927, the plaintiff moved that the court render final judgment so that she might carry out her intention of appealing to the Supreme Court from the order of the district court sustaining the demurrers. On May 17, 1927, the District Court of Ponce rendered judgment dismissing the complaint and imposing the costs on the plaintiff.

The plaintiff instituted her appeal, as appears on pages 44 and 45 of the record, in the'following manner:

"Notice of appeal. — Messrs. José. A. and Alberto S. Poventud, attorneys of record for the defendant. — The clerk of the district court of Ponce, P. R. — Take notice that we appeal to the Supreme Court of Porto Rico from the judgment rendered by the district court for the judicial district of Ponce, P. R. on May 18, 1927, dismissing- the eomplaint in the present case. ,
"Ponce, P. R., June 10, 1927. — José Tons Soto & F. Zapater (signed by F. Zapater), attorneys for the plaintiff'.
* ‘Notified with copy on this 10th day of June, 1927, José A. Po-ventud and Alberto Poventud, attorneys for the defendant.”

When appellee Torruella presented his brief in this court a motion was made for the dismissal of the appeal, and this is a matter which, logically, should have first consideration.

[192]*192The motion to dismiss is based on the following:

(a) The notice of appeal was not addressed to Alejandro Franceschi who was called as warrantor and is an adverse party.

(b) The appellant can not appeal from the judgment rendered on her own motion.

Alejandro Franceschi was called to defend the title as warrantor. He appeared and demurred to the complaint.

Although he had called Franceschi in warranty, Torruella appeared also to defend his title and demurred. He contends that he had the right to appear and become a party to the suit.

It was alleged in the complaint that parcels Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 were grouped or consolidated in order to form the property recorded in the registry of property under number 6351; that parcels Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 were consolidated to form the property recorded in the registry under number 6352, and that the parcel appearing in the plan under letter A is the same that was marked No. 11 in the third averment of the complaint and was not included in either of the two groups mentioned. It was alleged that Franceschi acquired the consolidated properties numbered 6351 and 6352 and later sold them to Torruella on September 27, 1923; that tract No. 11 was never alienated by its owner, Griffo & Go.r until January 3, 1925, when the marshal of the District Court of Ponce sold it under foreclosure proceedings to the plaintiff and mortgagee who has it recorded in her name in the registry by virtue of the forced sale deed of April 25, 1925y and that the defendant, alleging that he is the owner of that property No. 11 as a part of one of the consolidated properties, is receiving the rent for it.

From the result of the pleadings there was no reason for giving notice in warranty to Franceschi who is not said to have ever sold property No. 11 to Torruella. Torruella could not be dispossessed of anything sold to bim by Fran-ceschi, as shown by the pleadings.

[193]*193' But it can not be maintained that tbe pleadings are the sole standard for calling the vendor as -warrantor.

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Bluebook (online)
39 P.R. 188, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/batlle-de-vilaro-v-torruella-cortada-prsupreme-1929.