Dye v. Dye

12 Colo. App. 206
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 15, 1898
DocketNo. 1731
StatusPublished

This text of 12 Colo. App. 206 (Dye v. Dye) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dye v. Dye, 12 Colo. App. 206 (Colo. Ct. App. 1898).

Opinion

Bissell, J.

The extent of the liability of the sureties on an appeal bond is the only question presented by this writ of error.

In 1895, Bessie H. Dye in a suit brought against her husband Oliver W. in the district court of Arapahoe county, obtained a judgment for alimony pendente lite, and thereunder the order of the court was that Oliver W. pay into court forthwith $25.00 for costs and expenses of suit; $25.00 for the use of plaintiff, and the sum of $100 for the use of plaintiff’s counsel on or before March 15,1895, and on the 1st day of March, 1895, and on the first of each succeeding month thereafter until the further order of the court, the sum of $50.00 for the use of the plaintiff. From this judgment an appeal was taken which was granted on condition that Dye file an appeal bond in the sum of $1,000 according to the statute. Thereupon Dye filed with the clerk of the court his bond in the sum of $1,000 which contained this condition:

“ The condition of the above obligation is such, that whereas the said Bessie H. Dye did on the 6th day of March one [208]*208thousand eight hundred and ninety-four, at a term of the District Court then being’ holden in and for the county of Arapahoe and State of Colorado, obtain a judgment against the above bounden Oliver W. Dye, for the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, and costs of suit, from which judgment the said Oliver W. Dye, has prayed for and obtained an appeal to the Court of Appeals of said State of Colorado.
“Now, if the said Oliver W. Dye shall duly prosecute said appeal, and shall moreover pay the amount of said judgment, costs, interest and damages, rendered and to be rendered, against him the said Oliver W. Dye, in case the said appeal shall be affirmed in the said The Court of Appeals, then the above obligation to be null and void, otherwise to remain in full force and effect.”

The appeal was treated as operative by both parties, no execution was issued on the judgment, the case was brought to this court where on hearing it was finally affirmed. Demand was then made on the sureties and the parties coining to no settlement suit was brought directly on the bond to recover the various sums which were payable; the amount which was payable on the 15th of March and the subsequent monthly installments to the limit of the bond, the plaintiff seeking to' recover the full penalty. This she was entitled to because there were enough overdue payments to consume it, providing this was the measure of the sureties’ liability. The court held against Mrs. Dye, and adjudged the sureties only liable to the extent of $150, because the recital in the condition of the obligation described the judgment as one for $150 and the costs of suit. Mrs. Dye sued out a writ of error and this is the case for decision. The fundamental and underlying principle for which the defendant in error contends is that sureties are always objects of peculiar regard who have a right to insist that their liability shall not extend beyond the strict terms of their obligation and that it cannot be extended by inference or implication. The rule is conceded. There is no doubt about the principle and the universality of its application and enforcement. It remains, however, always [209]*209to be determined, whether the one construction comports with their obligation, or on the other hand restricts it or extends it beyond their engagement. When there is any question respecting the terms of the contract we understand that the same rules of construction are applied as when the contract is to be construed and enforced between the principal and the promisee. Wherever it can be ascertained that there is a clear intention on the part of the sureties to enter into a more enlarged obligation than is apparent from the exact phraseology of the instrument itself, it is as true with sureties as with the principal, they may still be bound notwithstanding this principle. The liability of sureties on bonds of various descriptions, appeal bonds, and others, has been the subject of much consideration. The authorities do not seem to be in entire harmony and there is frequently a great similarity in the facts of cases in respect to which different courts have reached different conclusions. We are so thoroughly in accord with' those which enforce the liability of the sureties not only where the terms of the instrument compel it, but also where the obligation is a doubtful one, but there is clearly exhibited by the terms of the writing an intention on the part of the sureties to 'be bound, that we do not hesitate'to follow those which enforce the liability rather than those which permit them to avoid what was in reality their contract. We are supported in this conclusion by the adjudications of the supreme court as well as by judgments which we have rendered under similar circumstances. It has often been a question whether sureties will be liable in case of a misdescription in a bond, or a misrecital which apparently varies and alters the evident purpose of the parties. It would be conceded that this bond would have obligated the sureties to pay the judgment up to the limit of the penalty of their bond, if it had contained no other condition and no other recital than that Bessie H. Dye had obtained a judgment against Oliver W. from which he had prayed and obtained an appeal, and the sureties had agreed that he should pay the amount of the judgment, costs, interest and damages rendered and to be [210]*210rendered against the appellant. If the bond had been so written that there was enough in it to describe the judgment the sureties would doubtless be liable to the bond limit. It thus logically leaves this question: whether the misrecital of the amount of the judgment, or the misdescription in the statement of $150, absolutely vitiates what would otherwise be a contract and agreement of the parties to pay the whole judgment and leaves the sureties only liable to that amount. It ought not to be true, and the contrary is supported by many well considered cases which commend themselves to our judgment. McElroy v. Mumford, 128 N. Y. 303 ; Landa v. Heermann, 85 Texas, 1; Warren v. Marberry & Son, 85 Texas, 193; Ryan v. Webb, 39 Hun, 435; Phelps v. Daniel, 86 Ga. 363 ; Mathews v. Morrison, 13 R. I. 309; Adler v. Potter, 57 Ala. 571; Hartlep v. Cole, 120 Ind. 247; Miller v. Vaughan, 78 Ala. 323; Miner v. Rodgers et al., 65 Mich. 225.

It might possibly add to the strength of this opinion to gather together and state the reasons which have been expressed by the various judges, but we regard the general statement of the doctrine enough with only a reference to these supporting authorities. From them it may be deduced that wherever in an appeal bond there is enough to identify the judgment, a misrecital will not affect, limit or vary the liability of the sureties if from the instrument itself the intention to be bound to answer for the judgment may be gathered. Under the circumstances of this case, we must take it as true, that it was the intention of the sureties to guaranty Dye’s obedience to the order and the payment of any judgment which might be finally rendered in this court on the appeal. It is not consistent with the evident purpose of the parties to limit their liability to the sum of $150, because such was not the judgment from which the appeal was taken, and the sureties, like the principal, ought'to be charged with knowledge of the judgment from which the appeal was prosecuted.

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Related

McElroy v. . Mumford
28 N.E. 502 (New York Court of Appeals, 1891)
Warren v. Marberry & Son
19 S.W. 994 (Texas Supreme Court, 1892)
Landa v. Heermann
19 S.W. 885 (Texas Supreme Court, 1892)
Phelps v. Daniel
12 S.E. 584 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1890)
Adler v. Potter
57 Ala. 571 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1877)
Miller v. Vaughan
78 Ala. 323 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1884)
Freas v. Engelbrecht
3 Colo. 377 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1877)
Abbott v. Williams
15 Colo. 512 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1890)
Irwin v. Crook & Beman
17 Colo. 16 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1891)
Shannon v. Dodge
18 Colo. 164 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1893)
Hartlep v. Cole
22 N.E. 130 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1889)
Creswell v. Herr
9 Colo. App. 185 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1897)
Schradsky v. Dunklee
9 Colo. App. 394 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1897)
Miner v. Rodgers
31 N.W. 845 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1887)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
12 Colo. App. 206, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dye-v-dye-coloctapp-1898.