Ford Motor Co. v. State

1936 OK 400, 62 P.2d 48, 178 Okla. 193, 1936 Okla. LEXIS 533
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMay 19, 1936
DocketNo. 26635.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 1936 OK 400 (Ford Motor Co. v. State) 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
Ford Motor Co. v. State, 1936 OK 400, 62 P.2d 48, 178 Okla. 193, 1936 Okla. LEXIS 533 (Okla. 1936).

Opinions

GIBSON, J.

This is a tax ferret proceeding by the state to assess for taxation in Oklahoma eouzzty certain alleged omitted property of the Ford Motor Company consisting of “notes, aecouzits azul bills receivable and all other property not heretofore assessed,” of the alleged valuatiozi of $75,-000, for each of the years 1920 to 1925, inclusive, and $100,000 for each of the years 1920 to 1932, inclusive. The state will be referred to herein as plaintiff, and the Ford Motor Company as defendant.

The defendant is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in the state of Michigan azid is authorized to do business in this state. During the years here involved it operated a branch office azid place of business in Oklahoma City. The property here sought to be assessed consists of accounts receivable growing out of the business transacted by the Oklahoma City branch with customers in its particular territory and were in the form of accounts owing the company as reflected by the records of the local office on the first day of the respective years.

The defendant interposed a plea of res adjudicata for the years 1920 to 1930, inclusive, and further resisted the assessment for all years on the ground that the taxable situs of the accounts was at the home office of the defendant and not in the state of Oklahoma. Trial in the county court resulted in judgment for the plaintiff ordering the accounts receivable assessed for taxation for each of the years in question, and defendant has appealed.

The plaintiff attempts to meet defendant’s proposition involving the question of res ad-judicata with the argument that there is no assignment of error raising the point that 'the county court failed to sustain that defense. In this connection it is urged that an assignment of error must state facts showing sufficient cause for reversal, and that where the assignmezit is so general as not to point out the real error complained of, the Supreme Court will not consider such assignment, nor will it examine the record with regard thereto. Turner v. First Nat. Bank, 40 Okla. 498, 139 P. 703.

This position is not well taken; the foregoing rule does not apply here. Defezidazit’s second assignment, “That the verdict and decision is not sustained by sufficient evi-deziee,” brings this question here for review azid is the foundation for its proposition that the treasurer’s former decision was an adjudication of the causes of action under consideration in the present case for the years 1920 to 1930, inclusive. Whether the plea of res adjudicata is to be sustained depends entirely upon the evidezice adduced at the trial in the county court; the county treasurer’s decision in such cases has been definitely settled as conclusive and binding on the parties as to all matters before him unless appealed from. Magnolia Petroleum Co. v. State, 175 Okla. 11, 52 P. (2d) 81. It was there held in the fourth paragraph of the syllabus as follows:

“4. The decision of the county treasurer determining the taxable status of alleged oznitted personal property, if not appealed from, is final and conclusive as to the property considered by him. It does not, however, prevent another proceeding to list and assess different alleged oznitted personal property.”

It is therefore our duty to consider and weigh all the evidence relative to the question involved. In a proceeding of this character, where the parties are ziot entitled to a trial by jury as a matter of right, and azz assignmezit of error challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the judgment, it is the Supreme Court’s duty to consider and weigh all the evidence and to determine whether or not such judgment is against the clear weight thereof. If not clearly against the weight of the evidence, the judgment will be affirmed. Turben v. Douglass, 76 Okla. 78, 183 P. 881; if against the clear weight thereof, this court will reverse the cause, and render, or cause to be rendered, such judgment as should have been entered at the trial. Long v. Anderson, 77 Okla. 95, 386 P. 944.

The order of the treasurer at the former hearing, omitting caption, is as follows:

“Order of Dismissal.
“This matter cozning on for hearing before J. O. Crawford, this 4th day of Febru *195 ary, 1932, and the state of Oklahoma being represented by the duly appointed tax ferret, and the defendant company appearing by their agent;
“Upon the showing as to liability for taxes on omitted property for the years mentioned in notice to defendant, the county treasurer finds for the defendant and orders the action now pending to be stricken and the proceedings held for naught.
"Done this 4th day of February, 1932, at the office of the county treasurer, of Oklahoma county, Oklahoma.
“(Signed) J. 0. Crawford.”

This order may well be said to be a general finding for defendant, and a judgment upon the merits.

In this connection the plaintiff, without objection from defendant, showed that the order resulted from the treasurer’s finding that to assess the property here would amount to duplicate taxation, since there had been an assessment thereof and the taxes paid in the state of Michigan for the same years. The evidence on this point taken from the testimony of plaintiff’s witness concerning the hearings before the former treasurer is as follows:

“The general discussion was how we conducted our business. The point came up whether we had previously paid taxes on these same items. Mr. Crawford said; ‘There cannot be duplicate taxation on the same items.’ He dismissed the case on that ground.”

This witness was an employee of defendant company and was present at the former hearing. The plaintiff further brought out that the treasurer was of the opinion when he entered the order that this kind of property was not taxable here; that it had no taxable situs in Oklahoma.

Plaintiff takes the position that the foregoing order amounted to a dismissal for want of jurisdiction and not an adjudication upon the merits, and therefore not a bar to a second action for the same cause (34 C. J. 797, see. 1219; Goldsborough v. Hewitt, 23 Okla. 66, 99 P. 907). These authorities stand merely for the proposition that a judgment on demurrer, based on formal or technical defects and raising only a question of pleading or want of jurisdiction, is not a bar to a second action. That rule has no application here. While the order of the treasurer may have been erroneous as to the law, his decision was nevertheless upon the question of. the taxable situs of the property. His holding was to the effect that such situs was in the state of Michigan. That was a determination of the taxable status of the property, and the respective rights and liabilities of the state and taxpayer, when considered in the light of their contentions as disclosed by the record, depended upon the treasurer’s determination of the ultimate fact of taxable status. His decision on that question was a decision upon the merits. 34 O. J. 775, sec. 1194. There the rule recognized in many jurisdictions, and here approved, is stated as follows :

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Bluebook (online)
1936 OK 400, 62 P.2d 48, 178 Okla. 193, 1936 Okla. LEXIS 533, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ford-motor-co-v-state-okla-1936.