Canadian & American Mortgage & Trust Co. v. Clarita Land & Investment Co.

74 P. 301, 140 Cal. 672, 1903 Cal. LEXIS 655
California Supreme Court·Decided October 17, 1903·No. Sac. No. 916.·Published·Cited by 62 cases

Opinion

ANGELLOTTI, J.

This is an appeal by defendant Judah Boas from an order denying his motion to vacate a judgment entered against him in the superior court of Tehama County on July 16, 1898.

The grounds stated in the notice of motion were, “that the said judgment is void; that the court has no jurisdiction to *674 make such judgment, or to enter the default of said defendant ; and that the same was so taken against him without due process of law.”

The application for the order to vacate said judgment was made more than eighteen months after the entry of the judgment, and therefore was properly denied, unless the judgment against him was void upon its face, for it is well settled in this state that a court has no power to set aside, on motion, a judgment not void upon its face, unless the motion is made within a reasonable time, and it is definitely determined that such time will not extend beyond the. limit fixed by section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure. (Estate of Eikerenkotter, 126 Cal. 54; People v. Temple, 103 Cal. 447, 453; Young v. Fink, 119 Cal. 107; Norton v. Atchison etc. R. R. Co., 97 Cal. 388. 1 ) It is not contended that the record does not affirmatively show that summons was personally served on appellant at the commencement of the action. Unless void upon its face, the judgment could not, therefore, be set aside on motion, unless the motion was made within six months “after such judgment . . . was taken.” (Young v. Fink, 119 Cal. 107.)

- Whether a judgment is void upon its face can only be determined by an inspection of the judgment-roll. (People v. Temple, 103 Cal. 447; Jacks v. Baldes, 97 Cal. 91.) The question is to be determined on inspection of the record only. (Butler v. Soule, 124 Cal. 72.) Every presumption is in favor-of the validity of the judgment, and any condition of facts, consistent with the validity of the judgment will be presumed to have existed, rather than one which will defeat the judgment. (In re Eichhoff, 101 Cal. 605; Eichhoff v. Eichhoff, 107 Cal. 42. 2 ) Unless the record of the judgment itself affirmatively shows that the court was without jurisdiction to render the judgment, the judgment is not void upon its face. (See cases cited, supra.)

1. It is urged that the second amended complaint, upon which the judgment was rendered, was never legally served upon appellant, and that for that reason the court was without jurisdiction to render judgment thereon against him. The contention in this behalf is, that the summons having: *675 been served upon him, an attorney filed a demurrer to the complaint for all the defendants, of whom there were five, and thereby appeared for him, and that the second amended complaint was served upon appellant personally, instead of upon such attorney. It appears that there was some question as to the authority of this attorney to appear for appellant, and that he limited his demurrers to the first and second amended complaints to two other defendants, not acting at all on behalf of appellant after the filing of the first demurrer. The record does affirmatively show service of the second amended complaint on appellant himself, but it does not affirmatively show service of either the first or second amended complaint on said attorney. Regardless of the question as to whether proof of service of an amended complaint constitutes a part of the judgment-roll (Code Civ. Proc., sec. 670), the record does not show that such service of said amended complaint was not made upon the attorney as well as upon appellant personally. The judgment-roll is consistent with the fact that such service was made, and if such service upon the attorney was essential to the jurisdiction of the court to render judgment against appellant, “it must be presumed, in support of the action of the court, that such service was shown to it, although it has not preserved any record thereof. ’ ’ (In re Eichhoff, 101 Cal. 605; Eichhoff v. Eichhoff, 107 Cal. 42; 1 Butler v. Soule, 124 Cal. 73.)

2. It is further claimed that the judgment is void for. the reason that there was a prior judgment in favor of appellant, and that the court had no authority to order a second judgment. It appears that the default of the appellant for failure to answer the second amended complaint having been regularly entered on February 9, 1898, and the case having been tried on June 27, 1898, the court, on the sixth day of July, 1898, rendered its decision in writing, as required by law (Code Civ. Proc., sec. 632), therein stating that the default of appellant for not answering having been duly entered, it was ordered by the court that judgment be rendered against him as prayed in the complaint. It further found the facts in favor of defendants Clarita Land and Investment *676 Company and Joseph Rosenthal, and, as a conclusion of law, found that plaintiff was not entitled to judgment against said defendants investment company and Rosenthal, and that said two defendants were entitled to judgment against plaintiff for their costs of suit, and ordered judgment entered accordingly.. The clerk of the court on the same day entered judgment, adjudging “that the plaintiff herein take nothing by its action, and that the defendants do have and recover of and from the plaintiff their costs and disbursements herein,” etc. This judgment was not signed by the judge. On July 16, 1898, the court filed an amended decision, the only change therein from the first decision being in the conclusions of law, wherein the court finds that plaintiff is entitled to judgment against appellant for twelve hundred and fifty dollars, interest, and costs of suit. This was the relief asked in the complaint. On the same day another judgment, signed by the judge, was given, which decreed that plaintiff have and recover from appellant the sum of twelve hundred and fifty dollars-, interest and costs, and that the defendants investment company and Rosenthal recover their costs from plaintiff.

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Canadian & American Mortgage & Trust Co. v. Clarita Land & Investment Co., 74 P. 301, 140 Cal. 672, 1903 Cal. LEXIS 655 (Cal. 1903).

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