Bower v. Garnier Construction Co.

285 F. Supp. 50, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8081
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedDecember 13, 1967
DocketNos. Civil-LV-1019, Civil-LV-1071
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 285 F. Supp. 50 (Bower v. Garnier Construction Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bower v. Garnier Construction Co., 285 F. Supp. 50, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8081 (D. Nev. 1967).

Opinion

OPINION

ROGER D. FOLEY, Chief Judge.

On March 17, 1967, Plaintiffs Camille A. Gamier and Anton Gamier commenced an action, No. A-41729, in the Eighth Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada, in and for the County of Clark, against certain non-resident defendants over whom the Nevada Court had no jurisdiction.1 On March 24, 1967, Plaintiffs caused the Sheriff of Clark County, Nevada, to attach a certain bank account at a Las Vegas, Nevada, bank in the name of one of the non-resident defendants and caused a writ of attachment to be issued by the Sheriff of Clark County, Nevada, against the said bank account.

On the same day, March 17, 1967, Camille A. Gamier, through an assignee, Dee Anne Bower, a Nevada citizen, commenced an action, No. A-41730, in the Eighth Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada, in and for the County of Clark, against certain non-resident defendants over whom the Nevada Court had no jurisdiction.2 On March 23, 1967, Plaintiff in A-41730 caused the Sheriff of Clark County, Nevada, to attach in Nevada and to take into his physical custody Stock Certificate No. 1 for 1,980 shares of one of the non-resident defendant corporations, Gamier Enterprises, Inc., issued to San Jose Ranch Co., a partnership. Asserting that the Nevada State Court had jurisdiction over the stock certificate, Plaintiff obtained an order for publication of summons in the State Court and caused service to be made by publication in a Nevada newspaper and by mailing a copy of the summons and complaint to the nonresident defendants in California. On April 19, 1967, the said non-resident defendants effected removal of the Case No. A-41730 from the Nevada State Court to this Court. The case was assigned Civil-LV-1019 in this Court. The attached stock certificate remained in the physical custody of the Sheriff of Clark County, Nevada, until June 23, 1967, when, by order of this Court, the stock certificate was taken from the physical custody of the Sheriff by the [52]*52United States Marshal for the District of Nevada, in whose custody it remains. After removal had been effected, counsel for the Plaintiff made an attempt to dismiss Case No. A-41730 in the State Court. After removal, this Court entertained and ruled upon a number of motions by both the Plaintiff, the Defendants and a California corporation, Whittier Utility Supply Co., an applicant for intervention, culminating in an order dated October 6, 1967, which provided as follows:

“IT IS ORDERED that plaintiff’s Motion to Amend Complaint is hereby denied.
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Whittier Utility Supply’s Motion to Intervene is hereby denied.
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiff’s Motion to Remand is hereby denied.
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiff’s Motion to Dismiss is hereby denied.
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that defendant’s Motion for Change of Venue is hereby granted.
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this case be transferred to U. S. District Court, Central District of California.
“The Court directs the U. S. Marshal for the District of Nevada to turn over the stock certificate now held by him pursuant to this Court’s Order, to the U. S. Marshal for the Central District of California, to hold same until further Order of the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California.
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Court’s Order transferring case and stock certificate is hereby stayed for ten (10) days.”

The stay order was extended until November 22,1967, at which time additional motions were argued and taken under submission and the stay order was, at that time, further continued until further order of this Court.

On May 5, 1967, the Plaintiffs in the first State Court action, A-41729, caused the Sheriff of Clark County, Nevada, to levy an attachment upon the same stock certificate previously attached in Case No. A-41730. Plaintiffs in Case No. A-41729, asserting that the State Court, in said action No. A-41729, now had jurisdiction over the said stock certificate, obtained an order for publication of summons from the State Court and caused service to be made by publication in a Nevada newspaper and by mailing a copy of the summons and complaint to the non-resident.defendants in California. After completion of said service and the expiration of time to answer, the Plaintiffs in Case No. A-41729 obtained a default judgment against the defendants in that action. The State Court, among other things, found:

“2. That the Court has jurisdiction and control over a res within the State of Nevada belonging to Defendant SAN JOSE RANCH COMPANY, a co-partnership, which res consists of Stock Certificate No. 1 for 1980 shares of the capital stock of Defendant GARNIER ENTERPRISES, INC. issued to, and standing in the name of Defendant, SAN JOSE RANCH COMPANY, which stock certificate was, at the time of the levy of attachment herein, in the physical custody and control of the Sheriff of Clark County, Nevada.”

Based upon the default judgment obtained in Case No. A-41729, Plaintiffs commenced in this case, Civil-LV-1071, against the Marshal for the District of Nevada and the Sheriff of Clark County, Nevada, praying, among other things, for an order that this Court declare its order of October 6, 1967, in Civil-LV-1019, directing the United States Marshal to deliver the stock certificate to the United States Marshal for the Central District of California, to be null and void, and further, that the United States Marshal for the District of Nevada be directed to return the stock certificate to the Sheriff of Clark County, Nevada. [53]*53On November 22, 1967, this Court heard and took under submission the Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction in Civil-LV-1071, seeking to restrain the United States Marshal for the District of Nevada from delivering the stock certificate to the United States Marshal for the Central District of California.3

Civil-LV-1071

Covell v. Heyman, 1883, 111 U.S. 176, 4 S.Ct. 355, 356, 28 L.Ed. 390. Beginning at page 179 of 111 U.S., at page 356 of 4 S.Ct., at page 391 of 28 L.Ed., the Court says:

“The point of the decision in Freeman v. Howe, supra [24 How. 450, 16 L.Ed. 749] is, that when property is taken and held under process, mesne or final, of a court of the United States, it is in the custody of the law, and within the exclusive jurisdiction of the court from which the process has issued, for the purposes of the writ; that the possession of the officer cannot be disturbed by process from any state court, because to disturb that possession would be to invade the jurisdiction of the court by whose command it is held, and to violate the law which that jurisdiction is appointed to administer; * *

At page 180 of 111 U.S., at page 357 of 4 S.Ct., at page 392 of 28 L.Ed., we find the following language:

“ * * * ‘that whenever property has been seized by an officer of the court, by virtue of its process, the property is to be considered as in the custody of the court, and under its control for the time being; and that no other court has a right to interfere with that possession * * *.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
285 F. Supp. 50, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8081, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bower-v-garnier-construction-co-nvd-1967.