Cook v. Speak

1924 OK 945, 229 P. 1083, 104 Okla. 5, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 324
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 21, 1924
Docket12295
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1924 OK 945 (Cook v. Speak) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cook v. Speak, 1924 OK 945, 229 P. 1083, 104 Okla. 5, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 324 (Okla. 1924).

Opinion

Opinion by

THREADGILL, C.

The plaintiff in error, plaintiff below, who was a Choctaw Indian, less than one-half by blood, brought suit in the district court of Carter county, April 28, 1919, against the defendants in error, defendants below, to recover her surplus allotment which had been sold by Marie J. Aday, her guardian, through the county court of Bryan, county, during her minority. The land in controversy is described as follows: W. % of E. V¡; W. Vo and S. 'W. U of S. E. % of S. E. % of section 29, T. 2 N., R. 1 E., in Carter county.

Plaintiff claimed the right to recover on the ground that her guardian filed a petition on October 19, 1908, to sell the land, and the petition did not comply with 'the statute requiring the condition of the estate of the minor, and the amount of the personal property of the minor, or amount of personal property owned by the estate, or held in trust for it, to be stated, and requiring facts or circumstances which show or tend to show the necessity for the sale to be stated,, and for failure to comply with these requirements the court obtained no jurisdiction to make the order of sale; that the order of sale was void; that the notice of sale was published only one time; that the order confirming sale was void, because of the defects preceding the same; that there was no bid for the land on the day appointed for bids, at private sale, and the time of sale was continued without new notices given; that the land was sold to A. W. Speak for the inadequate price of $1.25 per acre on February 23, 1909, and the sale confirmed March 8, 1909, and the deed executed, thereafter, was void. Demurrers being filed and overruled, the defendants answered, admitting that plaintiff was of one-fourth Indian blood, and the land in controversy her surplus allotment; and pleading that they were the heirs of A. W. Speak, who bought the land at the guardian 'sale, and stating the facts of the sale, and setting out the procedure of said sale, and pleading further that said sale was made to provide for the support, maintenance, and education of the minor, and that all irregularities in thq sale were cured by the confirming order of sale; that the deed of the guardian was valid and the defendants were in possession of the land in good faith, and they ask that the title be quieted in them. Plaintiff filed a reply consisting of general and special denials.

Thereafter, on October 13, 1920, plaintiff offered to amend her petition by alleging that the appointment of the guardian by the federal court, before statehood, was void for lack of notice to the father, who was living, and without appearance or waiver on his part, which offer was refused by the court and exception saved by plaintiff.

On October 15, 1920, the issues were tried to the court without a jury and resulted in judgment for the defendants, and plaintiff appeals by petition in error and case-made, stating the following assignments of error;

“1. The court erred, in overruling the plaintiff in error’s motion for a new trial. 2. Because the judgment of the court is contrary to the law. 3. Because the judgment is not supported by the evidence. 4. Because the court permitted incompetent, irrelevant and prejudicial testimony to be offered, to which the plaintiff duly excepted at the time. 5. Because the court refused to admit competent testimony offered by the plaintiff, to which the plaintiff excepted at the time. 6. Because the judgment is contrary to the law and the evidence. 7. Because the court failed to sustain the demurrer to the evidence offered by the plaintiff, to which action the plaintiff duly excepted”

—and urging them under three propositions:

“1. The attempted sale of the land was void for the reason that the appointment of Marie J. Aday was invalid in that no notice was given to the father. 2. No title passed to the purchasers at the guardianship sale *7 for the. reason that the petition to sell real estate, and the order of sale failed to comply with the statute and are wholly void. 3. A sale which is void for want of jurisdiction, apparent on the, face of the record, can be attached in a collateral proceeding.’’

An opinion in this case was prepared, following the theory and contention of plaintiff in error as stated in her brief in the absence of any brief on the part of defendants in error, and permission being given defendants to file brief out of time, the said opinion has been withdrawn^ and the whole case considered anew, on the record and briefs of both parties.

As to the first -proposition of plaintiff, that the sale of the land was void for the reason the appointment of Marie ,T. Aday as guardian was invalid, for lack of notice to the father, it is enough to say that this proposition cannot be urged here for the reason there is no. assignment of error cover-mar the same. It was not an issue in the pleadings. Plaintiff offered to make it an issue by filing an amended petition, but the court refused to permit the amendment, and. while an exception was saved, this ruling of the court was not alleged as error in the motion for a new trial or in the petition in error. The court did allow evidence on this issue over the objections of the defendants, on the theory that the matter was being heard by the court and he could disregard any evidence not admissible under the issues, and we must presume that he did disregard this evidence, because the same was clearly inadmissible under the decision of this court. Chambers v. Wagoner, 32 Okla. 774, 123 Pac., 1117.

Plaintiff's second proposition is to the effect that the sale urns void and no title parsed for the reason that the petition to sell the land by the guardian and the order of sale by the court authorizing the guardian to make the sale failed to comply with the statutes and -were wholly void. Plaintiff contends that the petition failed to show the condition of estate of the minor or the necessity for the sale.

Examination of this petition discloses that the guardian described the land to be sold, and also the homestead allotment of the minor, and that the 490 acres of surplus allotment was not fit for cultivation, being located, in the Arbuckle mountains, and for all practical purposes was worthless,, not furnishing any revenue or income for said minor, and the lands of the minor had never vielded any revenue, and that,- the petitioner had supported and maintained her at her own expense. The petition states further that the lands of the minor should be sold for the purpose of buying other lands for the minor, nearer her place of residence, fit tor cultivation, that she might have an income,for her support and education. Plaintiff contends that this was not a sufficient description under the provisions of the statutes to give the court jurisdiction to malfe the order of sale, citing the case of Dosar v. Hummell, 89 Okla. 152, 214 Pac. 718, and some California cases in support of her contention.

The question involved here has been decided -against the contention of the plaintiff in numerous - decisions of this court, .expressly overruling the case of Dosar v. Hummell, supra. The more recent cases being, Tiger v. Drumright, 95 Okla. 174, 217 Pac. 453, and Abraham et al. v. Homer, 102 Okla. 12, 226 Pac. 45.

Plaintiff’s contention as to the order of sale is that it is insufficient to authorize the sale, because it does not describe the land with particularity.

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Related

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1934 OK 545 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1934)
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1927 OK 122 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1927)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1924 OK 945, 229 P. 1083, 104 Okla. 5, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 324, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cook-v-speak-okla-1924.