Berry v. Reed

73 Ind. 235, 1 Ind. L. Rep. 350
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 15, 1881
DocketNo. 7351
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 73 Ind. 235 (Berry v. Reed) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Berry v. Reed, 73 Ind. 235, 1 Ind. L. Rep. 350 (Ind. 1881).

Opinion

Woods, J.

— Action to enjoin the sale of certain real estate. The appellant, who was the plaintiff, claimed title in fee by a general warranty deed, of September 2d, 1872. It is further averred in the complaint that the defendant Sylvester Miller, on the 18th day of October, 1877, caused an •execution to issue out of the clerk’s office of the Randolph Common Pleas Court, on a pretended judgment of said court, against John Garland and William, Garland, in favor ■of said Miller, for $640.42, with interest and costs, directed to' the sheriff of Jay county, wherein said land is situate, which execution was placed in the hands of the defendant Charles Reed, sheriff of said county of Jay, and was by him, on the 15th day of November, 1877, levied on the undivided one-half of said real estate, and advertisement of •sale thereof made for the 22d day of December, 1877, to satisfy said execution; that said judgment is invalid as against said William Garland, because rendered without notice, and without appearance or answer on his behalf; that said judgment is in no way a lien on the land of the plaintiff, hereinbefore described, nor is said execution a lien thereon, or on any part thereof; that the defendants are intending to sell, and will sell, the same by virtue of said writ unless restrained, and will so cast a cloud on the title of the plaintiff. Wherefore, etc.

A demurrer for want of facts was filed to this complaint; and the death of Sylvester Miller having been suggested, •and his heirs at law made defendants, said demurrer was overruled'. No exception. The defendants answered by a general denial, and by a special plea, in substance, as follows: That in July, 1869, said Sylvester Miller, since deceased, obtained a judgment against John Garland and William Garland, in the court of common pleas of Randolph •county, Indiana, for the sum of $640.42, which remains unpaid, unsatisfied, and in full force; that said William and John Garland appeared to said action in person and by at[237]*237torney, and filed an answer therein, on which issues of fact were formed and tried by the court, as appears of record remaining in said court, a transcript of which proceeding-, and judgment is filed herewith; that on the 25th day of March, 1871, a duly certified transcript, under the hand and seal of the clerk of said court, of said judgment was filed in. the clerk’s office of the circuit court of Jay county, Indiana,, that is to say, in the office of the acting clerk of the court of common pleas of said county; that said William Garland, on the 25th day of March, 1871, and for a long time thereafter, held and owned by deed in fee simple the land described in the complaint, and said judgment was a lien on the land' so owned and held by said William Garland at the time it was conveyed to the plaintiff. Wherefore, etc.

The plaintiff demurred to this answer for the want of facts, and saved an exception to the overruling thereof. Thereupon the plaintiff filed a reply in four paragraphs, the first being a general denial, and the second, to which a demurrer was sustained over the plaintiff’s exception, being substantially as follows : It is admitted that said William Garland owned said land on the 25th day of March, 1871, and thenceforward until the 2d day of September, 1872, but that on said last named day the plaintiff purchased the same of Peter W. Bishop, who purchased the same of said Garland, without any notice whatever of said pretended lien mentioned in the said second paragraph of answer, or of any pretended transcript filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit or common pleas court of Jay county, Indiana ; and the plaintiff avers that, at the time he purchased said land of said Bishop, he made and caused to be made a full and complete examination of the records of the office of the clerk of said county and of said courts, and found no entry or memorandum of the filing or record of said transcript on the judgment dockets, order books or any of the records in the office of said clerk, and avers the truth to be that there [238]*238never was any entry or memorandum on any of the records -of said county, of the filing of said pretended transcript.

The appellees have assigned cross errors upon the overruling of their demurrers to the complaint, and to the third ■and fourth paragraphs of the reply, but have favored us with no brief thereon, or in reference to the errors assigned by the appellant. The cross errors are therefore waived, and, if anything to the advantage of the appellees in the case shall be overlooked by the court, the blame must rest with themselves. We do the best we can to reach a just and lawful conclusion on every question, but it can not be fairly asked or expected of us that, in behalf of parties who do not even so much as make a suggestion or citation to aid us, we will, in the press of business which is upon us, employ the labor and zeal of hired attorneys, in order to serve or preserve their interests.

The appellant contends that the second paragraph of the answer is bad, and that the demurrer thereto should have been sustained, because the transcript of the judgment and proceedings, which is filed therewith, shows that William Garland was not served with process, and did not waive service in any way. The plea does not rest on this transcript, and its sufficienc}^ is not affected thereby, but must be determined by its own averments. So considered, the answer is clearly good. Indeed, the appellant does not claim otherwise.

That a judgment, or transcript thereof, is not a written instrument, which must be filed with and become a part of a pleading which sets up such judgment, has been repeatedly decided by this court, and it is equally well settled that, if filed with the pleading, the transcript or copy of the judgment forms no part of it, and can not be considered in determining the sufficiency of the averments. The answer was good, and so, also, was tire reply. The code contains the following provisions:

“Sec. 527. All final judgments in the Supreme and cir[239]*239cuit courts, and courts of common pleas, for the recovery of money or costs shall be a lien upon real estate, and chattels real, liable to execution in the county where the judgment is rendered for the space of ten years after the rendition thereof, and no longer, exclusive of the time during which the part}' may be .restrained from proceeding thereon by any appeal, or injunction, or by the death of the defendant, or by agreement of the parties entered of record.
“Sec. 528. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the court rendering any judgment, to make out a certified copy thereof, under the seal of the court, at the request of any person interested, which copy if taken from the circuit or Supreme Court, may be filed in the office of the clerk of any circuit court, and if taken from the common pleas, in the office of the •clerk of any court of common pleas of this State, and when ■so filed, shall be recorded and entered in the judgment docket in the same manner as judgments rendered in such court.
“Sec. 529. Such judgment, from the time of filing the copy aforesaid, shall be a lien upon all the real estate of the .judgment-debtor situated in the county where filed, as fully ■as if such judgment had been rendered therein.” .

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Bluebook (online)
73 Ind. 235, 1 Ind. L. Rep. 350, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/berry-v-reed-ind-1881.