Fitzpatrick v. Letten

49 So. 494, 123 La. 748, 1908 La. LEXIS 620
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedOctober 19, 1908
DocketNo. 17,286
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 49 So. 494 (Fitzpatrick v. Letten) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fitzpatrick v. Letten, 49 So. 494, 123 La. 748, 1908 La. LEXIS 620 (La. 1908).

Opinion

On Motion to Dismiss.

BREAUX, C. J.

Appellee’s grounds-are: That the first bond given for a suspensive appeal was not large enough in amount even for a devolutive appeal. That the court was without authority to accept a supplemental bond for an additional amount of $1,000 on the ground that no sufficient bond had been furnished.

Defendant presented a motion in the district court to have the judgment declared final and executory.

Defendant’s complaint, as relates to that part of the amount, is that the court’s refusal to declare the final judgment executory for the possession of movables and immovables (to the value of over $23,000) was an error, as to which defendant in motion was entitled to relief.

In the original case, in which plaintiff sought to recover judgment against the defendant for the amount above referred to, plaintiff failed to obtain the judgment. It resulted in a nonsuit.

In this case plaintiff had obtained writs of attachment and sequestration.

After the nonsuit, plaintiff moved for a suspensive appeal from the judgment.

On plaintiff’s motion an order of appeal was entered, and the amount of the appeal bond was fixed by the court in the sum of $230. On that amount a suspensive appeal bond was furnished.

[751]*751Defendant interposed a motion to have the costs taxed within the 10 days for the appeal, but after the appeal bond before mentioned had been signed.

It being still within the 10 days, the court permitted plaintiff and appellant to furnish a supplemental bond in the sum of $1,000 for a suspensive appeal.

In answer to the motion above alluded to, filed by defendant to have the judgment decreed executory on the ground of insufficiency of the bonds, plaintiff and appellant interposed an exception of no cause of action and that the court was without jurisdiction, as the issues by the appeal had passed from the district court to this court.

On the hearing of the rule and of the exception thereto, testimony was heard, and it was disclosed by it that only a small amount of costs had been incurred at the time that the first suspensive appeal bond was furnished. Subsequently it became evident, still, as before stated, within the 10 days after the judgment had been rendered, that the sum due for costs was much larger than at first supposed.

It was then that the suspensive appeal bond, with the court’s sanction, was increased,, to the sum of $1,000.

The contention of plaintiff and appellant is that the defendant and appellee is protected by the order of the court fixing the amount of the bond, and that the court had discretion in fixing the amount of the bond.

It has heretofore been decided that, even if the date of the return be an error, if it was the action of the court, that one should not be made to lose on account of the court’s error.

Although this relates to the return day, there is very little difference between the amount of the bond and the return day of the appeal as relates to right of parties. There is some similarity between fixing the return day and fixing the amount of the bond. Dilzell v. Lehmann, 120 La. 273, 45 South. 138.

The court without hesitation evidently disposed of a similar question in Hughes v. Caruthers, 26 La. Ann. 530. The court in that case also had fixed the amount of the bond. It presents similar features to the case at bar. The court.held the order fixing this amount legal.

The article of the Code of Practice provides that the appellee shall give solvent security or a sum exceeding by one-half the amount for which judgment was given if the judgment was for a specific amount. Code Prac. art. 575.

But if the judgment is not for a specific sum, for instance, if the plaintiff’s demand, as in this case, results in a nonsuit, it has been repeatedly held that it then devolved upon the court to fix the amount of the bond. This discretion has always been recognized. The judge of the trial court is the only one who can fix the amount; otherwise, appellants might be called upon to furnish a bond for a large amount uselessly. An appellant would then, if he is a plaintiff, have to furnish an amount over and above one-half of his claim. It would be unreasonable to require such a bond from one who only had a claim against which a nonsuit had been entered.

In the next place, as relates to the amount of the bond, there is dispute between plaintiff and defendant as to whether the bond should be for one-half over the amount of the costs, or for the costs.

That question does not seem ever to have been directly settled. In some of the decisions it is decided that it should be one-half over the amount of the costs, and in other decisions it is decided that it should be for the costs.

In Armorer v. Chase, 9 La. Ann. 291, 61 Am. Dec. 209, the court held that it is not necessary to a suspensive appeal that the [753]*753.costs should be included in the amount of the bond.

And again, in Paland v. Railroad Company, 42 La. Ann. 294, 7 South. 899, the court held that there was security for the costs in the amount of the bond exceeding by one-half the amount of the judgment appealed from. In the matter here the costs are secured by the court’s order and the bond furnished in accordance therewith. It follows that there is no necessity of deciding the point just stated.

We will add, of course, the bond must secure the costs. Durand v. Judge, 30 La. Ann. 286.

We will return to this question later.

As relates to amount we will refer to details that we, for brevity’s sake, would be willing to avoid.

The following excerpt from defendants’ and appellees’ brief is plain enough regarding payment of costs (the principal bone of contention):

“On this rule evidence was administered showing amount of costs paid by plaintiff. The total cost paid by plaintiff included, as per admission of defendants, was $1,548.87.”

If these costs have been paid by plaintiff, as admitted by defendants, there remained only $499.55 to be secured by bond upon which defendants can insist. The two bonds were in amount sufficient to secure that amount, less the $499.55.

The bonds would be large enough to secure the costs which the defendants are interested in securing (and which appear beyond question as having been paid)..

But one of defendants’ contentions is that (as before stated) the court was without authority to accept the second bond as a supplement to the first; that the extent of the court’s authority was at an end after the first bond had been accepted.

We can only say as to this that the court has jurisdiction to inquire into the sufficiency of the bond, and if the application is made in time the court has jurisdiction to permit the amendment and correction of the error. The matter is Within the discretion of the district judge. Demarest v. Bierne, 36 La. Ann. 751; Hughes v. Caruthers, 26 La. Ann. 530.

2. The plaintiff obtained a writ of sequestration and attachment.

We leave the question ■ of costs for the present, and take up for decision the question whether the dissolving of the writs of sequestration and attachment by the final judgment of the court below was equivalent to a judgment decreeing the delivery of the property sequestered and attached.

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Bluebook (online)
49 So. 494, 123 La. 748, 1908 La. LEXIS 620, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fitzpatrick-v-letten-la-1908.