Breen v. Conn

30 Ohio Law. Abs. 483
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 7, 1938
DocketNo. 3049
StatusPublished

This text of 30 Ohio Law. Abs. 483 (Breen v. Conn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Breen v. Conn, 30 Ohio Law. Abs. 483 (Ohio Ct. App. 1938).

Opinion

OPINION

By DOYLE, J.

Two of the appellees (defendants below) are executrices of the estate of Arthur Conn, who was the owner and operator of an airplane which crashed to the earth. The appellant’s (plaintiff’s) decedent and the defendant executrices’ decedent were instantly killed in the accident. The appellee (defendant) corporation was the manufacturer and seller of the airplane to appellee (defendant) executrices’ decedent, Conn. The plane at the time of the purchase was secondhand, and it was sold and bought as such. The petition was drafted on the theory of the joint [484]*484negligence of the seller and operator of the secondhand plane.

The petition was filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Summit County, although one of the defendants, The Waco Aircraft Co., was a resident of Miami County. This on the theory that the defendants were jointly negligent and. could be sued in the county in which one or more resided. §11282, GC.

Subsequent to the service of summons upon the defendants- in the respective counties of their residences, i. e., the executrices in Summit County and the Aircraft Co. in Miami County, the aircraft company filed a motion in the case and entered its appearance solely for the purpose of contesting the jurisdiction of the court, and, in the motion, moved that the service of summons upon it be quashed upon the ground that the court had no jurisdiction over it in the action and for the reason that it was a nonresident of Summit County and was not personally served with summons in Summit County.

The trial court in its ruling sustained the motion to quash service of summons, and dismissed the defendant company from the suit. From that ruling the plaintiff has appealed to this court on questions of law.

It is urged by the plaintiff, the appellant in this court, that a motion to quash service of summons is pertinent only to proper service of the summons and is not a legal remedy against insufficient pleadings, is not applicable to the sufficiency of the pleaded facts upon which the charge of joint negligence is based, and cannot be used as a substitute for a demurrer. The case of Maloney v Callahan, 127 Oh St 387, is- cited as authority. It was held therein that:

“3. Where the allegations of a petition upon its face state a case in which two defendants are rightfully joined, and service is made on one of them in the county in which the action is brought, and on the other in another county, the question of jurisdiction of the court over the person of the defendant served in such other county must be raised by answer, under §§11309 and 11311, GC.” (Emphasis ours).

The facts pleaded in the cited case revealed a situation wherein the two defendants were rightfully joined. What becomes of this rule of pleading when an action charging several defendants jointly with actionable liability to the plaintiff is not “rightfully brought.” and summons is served upon one of the defendants in a foreign county?

A landmark in adjective law was established by the Supreme Court of this state in The Canton Provision Co. v Gauder, a minor, 130 Oh St 43. That court pronounced that:

“1. Where action is instituted against two defendants jointly, one of whom is served with summons in the county in which the action is brought, and the other by a summons issued to another county of the state, and it appears upon the face of the petition that the defendants are not jointly liable for the reason that the liability of the non-resident defendant is primary and that of the resident defendant secondary, the service of summons on the non-resident defendant may be quashed.” (Emphasis ours).

That the Court of Common Pleas has no jurisdiction over nonresident defendants when the averments of the petition and the proof on trial do not show that the plaintiff has a valid joint cause of action against the defendants on whom valid service is had, as well as against the nonresident defendants, has long been the law of Ohio.

Gorey v Black, 100 Oh St 73.

Stark County Agricultural Soc. v Brenner, 122 Oh St 560.

In applying the principles announced in the foregoing cases, it is not of controlling importance that the rule pro[485]*485nouneed in The Canton Provision Co. v Gauder, a minor, supra, is restricted only to the facts of that case — i. e., that the jurisdiction of the court may be challenged by a motion to quash service of summons where the petition on its face discloses that the defendants were improperly joined because, of a primary and secondary liability. The rule established has characterized-the trend of judicial thought.

It may be safely asserted that in all cases where it appears upon the face of the petition that the defendants in a negligence action are not jointly liable, and where one of the defendants is a nonresident of the county in which the action is brought, the jurisdiction of the court over the nonresident may be challenged oy a motion to quash the service of summons upon such nonresident defendant, and that the raising of the question of jurisdiction by way of answer or demurrer is not exclusive.

A logical pursuance of the problem presented in the appeal next leads to the inquiry as to whether or not the petition on its face pleads a joint liability between the Waco Aircraft Co. and the estate of Arthur Conn.

The pleader in charging Conn with negligence alleged that at the time of the accident (1) “he was operating a plane which he knew to be defective”; 12) “he was flying and causing the said Daniel L. Breen and the other passengers to fly with him in an airplane which he knew to be structurally weak”; (3) “he was operating said airplane or causing said airplane to be operated at an unreasonable and improperly low altitude, to-wit, approximately 200 feet above the surface of the ground, in violation” of flying rules; (4) “in not flying said plane at an altitude of 1300 feet or higher when there was no overcast and where said plane could have been flown in safety”; (5) “he was operating said plane or causing the same to be operated in an irregular or semi-elliptical and zig-zag course”; (6) “said airplane was oeing operated by an inexperienced and incapable pilot”: (7) “said airplane was being flown out of its regular course”; (8) “said airplane was being operated without due and proper regard for the safety of the passengers which it contained”; (9) “the pilot of said airplane did not have the same under full and complete and proper control”; (10) “said airplane was permitted to crash to the earth, when by proper piloting it could have been flown at a safe and proper altitude”; (11) “the said airplane was permitted and caused to crash to the earth, when by proper piloting it could have been landed safely in any one of the many open spaces in the vicinity.”

The petition further alleged that when Conn purchased the plane, he knew that it had been in an accident, in which considerable damage had been done to one of the wings, and he further knew that it was in a weakened condition and of “such structural design that frequent accidents causing injuries to its wings could be reasonably expected.”

It was further alleged that after the plane was purchased by Conn it had been in accidents, which caused further damage to the wings.

The pleader next averred that “the defendant The Waco Aircraft Co.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Heckel v. Ford Motor Co.
128 A. 242 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1925)
MacPherson v. . Buick Motor Co.
111 N.E. 1050 (New York Court of Appeals, 1916)
Foster v. Ford Motor Company
246 P. 945 (Washington Supreme Court, 1926)
Hirst v. Chevrolet Motor Co.
158 N.E. 332 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1927)
Quackenbush v. Ford Motor Co.
153 N.Y.S. 131 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1915)
Johnson v. Cadillac Motor Car Co.
194 F. 497 (U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Northern New York, 1912)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
30 Ohio Law. Abs. 483, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/breen-v-conn-ohioctapp-1938.