Case v. New Orleans & C. R.

5 F. Cas. 256, 2 Woods 236

• Court: U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Louisiana
• Decided: April 15, 1876
• Status: Published

Opinion

WOODS. Circuit Judge.

The evidence submitted to sustain the plea, to wit, the record and decree of the court which is pleaded as a bar to this suit, shows that the hill in the former case made substantially the same aver-ments with a single exception, to be hereafter noticed, and prayed the same relief as the present bill. The averments in the present bill not contained in the former one are those to the effect, that the complainant had recovered judgments against Beauregard and May, in an action at law each for his virile share of said indebtedness; that execution had issued and been returned nulla bona; that May had gone into bankruptcy, and that ■Graham was out of the jurisdiction of the court. The first bill, however, averred that Beauregard, Graham and May were all insolvent.

[NOTE. Complainant appealed to the supreme court, which affirmed the decree below dismissing the bill, and held that the decree on the former heaving (Case No. 2.487) determined the equities of the case, whether the reasons for dismissal were sound or not, and that that decree, having been affirmed by the. supreme court on the merits, was an adjudication upon ermplainant’s equity to be paid out of the property in the hands of the railroad company, and a bar to the complainant's present cJaim; and, further, that the court would not reconsider the question or determine as to whether the bank has a lien on the property nought to be charged, or whether there had been a trust in its favor. Case v. Beauregard, 101 U. S. 688.]

It is evident that the substantial difference between the two cases lies in this, that the first bill lacked the averment which the present bill contains, that the claim of the complainant against the partnership of “Beauregard, Lessee,” had been sued to judgment as against Beauregard and May, and that execution had been issued thereon and returned unsatisfied. The answer to the first bill insisted that the various transfers by which the railroad company acquired title to the property of the partnership of Beauregard. Lessee, were valid, and the title of the company indefeasible, denied that the complainant or the bank ever had any lien or privilege thereon, or that said property was in any manner bound for the indebtedness of said partnership, or that the railroad company ever assumed or bound itself for the same, and denied all the allegations of the bill charging said company or said property acquired by it with any liability whatever to complainant or the bank of which he was receiver.

The original case was tried at the April term, 1871. of this court, by Mr. Circuit Justice Bradley, by whom it was decided in a written opinion to be found in 1 Woods, 125 [Case v. Beauregard, Case No. 2.487]. One of the grounds upon which the court decided against the complainant and dismissed his bill is stated, as shown by the report, as follows: “The first ground of relief, namely, that the property belongs to the bank, or is held in trust for the bank, because purchased with the money of the bank, is clearly untenable. Beauregard & Co. were engaged in business which required a considerable amount of funds, and became large borrowers of the bank. With the money thus obtained, and with other money derived from the proceeds of their business and other sources, they paid expenses, made repairs, bought cars, horses, and other property, and found themselves at the end of the year largely behind. The bank is their creditor, and considering May’s peculiar relations, it has cause to make a charge of official misconduct against him; but how can that, entitle the bank to claim the property of the firm as its own? The identity of the prop-erty purchased or procured with the money of the bank cannot be ascertained. It was mingled with the other money of the firm, and the whole mass was indiscriminately used for all the purposes of the company. Can the receiver point to a single car, or horse, or lot of ground, and say, this was purchased with the money of the bank? Other creditors of the firm have become interested, and nothing but inextricable confusion would ensue if any such claim were allowed to prevail. Where trust property is converted and the proceeds can be identified, it may undoubtedly be followed by the ces-tuis que trust, and brought back to be appropriated to its original purposes. Money of a bank misappropriated or embezzled by its officers may undoubtedly be followed up in the same way, if the money itself or its proceeds can be identified, and no innocent person is injured by its recovery. But supposing the money now in question could be regarded as thus misappropriated, the impossibility of identifying it and of doing justice to third parties, renders the application of the principle impracticable.” See Case v. Beauregard [supra]. This ground, upon which," among others, the bill was dismissed, is entirely independent of the fact, whether the claim of the complainant • had been reduced to judgment or not. The court, in effect, has decided, that with or without a judgment, the relief prayed by the bill cannot be granted. The case, in every shape it may assume, has been decided against the complainant and the bill dismissed. He cannot relieve himself of the effect of the decree of dismissal by putting his claim in judgment. That would be simply to add an entirely immaterial fact to the case he had made by his first bill.

The present bill, as already stated, differs from the bill which was dismissed in the single fact, that it avers that the debt due to complainant had been reduced to judgment. The court is, therefore, asked to decide, whether this fact changes the title of the complainant to the relief he prays. The court has, in the first case, decided that precise question, and held that it does not. The questions presented by this bill have been decided by this court. They cannot be raised again by adding an immaterial fact to the record. In my judgment, the plea is sustained by the proof, and there must be a finding and decree for defendants, and the bill must be dismissed with costs.