Curnyn v. Kinney

229 N.W. 894, 119 Neb. 478, 1930 Neb. LEXIS 66
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 28, 1930
DocketNo. 26823
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 229 N.W. 894 (Curnyn v. Kinney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Curnyn v. Kinney, 229 N.W. 894, 119 Neb. 478, 1930 Neb. LEXIS 66 (Neb. 1930).

Opinion

Rose, J.

This is an action to recover damages in the sum of $5,-527 for personal injuries. Plaintiff was struck by a motorcycle and injured in Omaha May 4, 1927, while attempting to cross Leavenworth street where it intersects Park avenue. John J. Kinney and William Victor, Omaha policemen, and the surety on their official bonds, the Eagle Indemnity [480]*480Company, were sued as defendants. Each bond was payable to the city in the penal sum of $1,000 and conditioned upon the faithful performance of the duties of the policeman. At the time of the collision Kinney was driving the motorcycle and Victor was occupying the seat in a sidecar attachment. Due care on the part of plaintiff and negligence in the operation of the motorcycle were pleaded and copies of the bonds were attached to the petition. The principals and the surety were charged with liability for damages resulting from the alleged negligence.

Kinney and Victor admitted that they were police officers and that plaintiff sustained some accidental injuries at the time and place mentioned in her petition. Otherwise each answer was a general, denial.

The surety admitted the execution of the official bonds of Kinney and Victor as policemen and also the collision and resulting injuries to plaintiff, but denied the negligence charged, and pleaded that her own negligence was the cause of the accident; that Kinney and Victor were not at the time acting in any' official capacity; that Victor did not have any control over the motorcycle and was not negligent in any particular; that the bonds did not cover liability for negligence resulting in the collision, and that neither principal violated his bond.

At the close of plaintiffs evidence the trial court sustained a motion to direct a verdict in favor of the surety, but the verdict directed was never rendered by the jury and a dismissal as to the surety was not then entered. After Kinney and Victor adduced their evidence on the controverted issues between them and plaintiff, the jury returned a verdict in her favor and against Kinney alone for $1,-030.25. There was. no finding or judgment against Victor. Kinney did not appeal. From a judgment dismissing the action as to the surety plaintiff appealed.

The surety submitted a motion to the supreme court to dismiss the appeal, one ground being that plaintiff did not file her motion for a new trial within three days. The point is not well taken. Failure to file a motion for a new [481]*481trial within three days is not of itself a sufficient reason for dismissing an appeal. The filing of a transcript in the supreme court may confer jurisdiction and present rulings below for review in absence of a motion for a' new trial. The transcript imports verity. It is binding on the appellate court and it fails to show that plaintiff did not file her motion for a new trial within three days. In the transcript the first entry relating to the dismissal as to the surety is found in an instruction to the jury April 21, 1928. The motion for a new trial was filed April 24, 1928, or within three days.

Failure to file the transcript in the supreme court within three months from the date of the trial court’s dismissal as to the surety is also urged as a ground for the dismissal of the appeal. This position is also untenable. ■ During the trial in the court below, April 20, 1928, the surety made a motion to direct a verdict in its favor. The presiding judge announced from the bench the sustaining of the motion but, as already stated, the jury never rendered the verdict directed. The judgment dismissing the action as to the surety was not entered on the court journal until November 14, 1928.' This was the controlling date for the purpose of taking the appeal from the dismissal. Plaintiff filed her transcript in the supreme court November 22, 1928, which was the time required by law.' The motion to dismiss the appeal is therefore overruled.

On the merits of the case, plaintiff argues that the dismissal of the action as to the surety was erroneous for the reason that the official bond of Kinney created a liability for damages resulting from his negligence while in the performance of his duties as policeman. • On the other hand, the surety contends that a liability of that kind was not within the terms of the bond. On the face of the written instrument itself the city of Omaha is the only obligee. There is no specific provision in the bond itself for the protection of third persons or private individuals. The bond contains a recital that Kinney is a police officer. He obligated himself as such to “faithfully • and impartially [482]*482perform all his duties as such member of the police department.”

There is a line of cases holding that, in absence of statutory authority, a private individual cannot maintain an action on an official bond to a municipality or county as obligee. Carr v. City of Knoxville, 144 Tenn. 483, and cases collected in 19 A. L. R. 74, including Cushing v. Lickert, 79 Neb. 384. There are also contrary decisions to the effect that such a bond inures to the benefit of a private individual unlawfully injured by a policeman while acting in an official capacity. City of Cairo v. Sheehan, 173 Ill. App. 464; People v. Morgan, 188 Ill. App. 250; Scott v. Feilschmidt, 191 Ia. 347; Hollister v. Hubbard, 11 S. Dak. 461; Town of Lester v. Trail, 85 W. Va. 386; State v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 85 W. Va. 720.

In the present instance, however, it is not necessary to follow either of these diverging lines of decisions in determining plaintiff’s right to maintain her action against the surety, since there is a statutory grant of that privilege, if Kinney, at the time of the collision, was acting in an official capacity while negligently driving the motorcycle and breaching a condition of his bond. The city of Omaha had power to appoint police officers and require bonds, payable to the city, for the faithful performance of their duties. Comp. St. 1922, secs. 3682, 3489, 5040. Pursuant to an exercise of that power in connection with statutory requirements the bonds in suit were executed. A statute applicable to the bonds of police officers provides:

“All official bonds shall be obligatory upon the principal and sureties, for the faithful discharge of all duties required by law of such principal, for the use of any persons injured by a breach of the condition of such bonds.” Comp. St. 1922, sec. 5048.

While the city is the only obligee named in the bonds, the benefits thereof are extended .by statute to “any persons injured by a breach of the condition of such bonds.” The statutory provision quoted is, by construction, a part of the bond itself, and is binding upon both principal and surety. [483]*483Cutler v. Roberts, 7 Neb. 4; Holt County v. Scott, 53 Neb. 176; United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. McLaughlin, 76 Neb. 307. In a recent case the court said:

“Official bonds are conditioned upon the faithful performance of their duties toy public officers, and are given and intended for the benefit of the public, and any person, who is injured by the failure of such officer to comply with the conditions of his bond, may ¡sue thereon in the name of the obligee named therein. By executing such a (bond the obligor makes the obligee a trustee for any and all persons who are injuriously affected by the breach of its conditions.” Town of Lester v. Trail, 85 W. Va. 386.

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Bluebook (online)
229 N.W. 894, 119 Neb. 478, 1930 Neb. LEXIS 66, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/curnyn-v-kinney-neb-1930.