García v. Suárez

56 P.R. 394
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in García v. Suárez. Read the opinion of the Court — 56 P.R. Dec. 414
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico·Decided March 30, 1940·No. No. 7785·Published

Opinion

Me. Chief Justice Del Tobo

delivered the opinion of tne .court.

This is an injunction to recover possession, á remedy available for the speedy settlement of questions like the one at bar which has been in the courts of justice for about seven years.

Regular Judg'e Arjona decided to decline to try the ‘case on the ground that he had already formed his own opinion and the case was tried de novo before substitute Judge Gon-zález Fagundo who rendered a final judgment in favor also of the plaintiff on May 1, 1937. An appeal was taken therefrom by the defendant ten days afterwards.

[396]*396At this stage and on March 31, 1938, the defendant filed a motion in the district court to quash all the proceedings had before the substitute judge, including the judgment, and to set a day for the parties to agree by stipulation as to the court to which the case should be transferred or to order the place of trial to be changed if the parties failed to agree. On June 2 the court overruled the motion and the defendant appealed six days afterwards.

On June 24, 1938, the transcript of the record and of the evidence was filed in the office of the secretary of this court. The transcript of the record includes the proceedings relating to the two appeals. The case was filed under No. 7785.

On August 26, 1938, the appellant filed his brief. Eight errors are assigned therein, the last of which refers to the motion to quash.

On November 10 following, the plaintiff and appellee moved to dismiss the appeal for failure to file a complete record. The appellee filed an opposition thereto in writing on December 9, 1938, and three days thereafter the motion was heard and an order made thereon on March 7, 1939, this court declaring that the dismissal sought did not lie because from the papers sent up there was enough to try the case on its merits and if there was anything missing in the record the omission could be supplied by the appellant himself.

The case was set for hearing on November 8, 1939, and was continued by stipulation between the parties and after resetting the same a hearing took place on January 16, 1940.

As the consideration and determination of the first seven errors would be unnecessary if the judgment were set aside, we will consider th eighth assignment first.

The defendant alleged in his motion, briefly, that upon the issuance by the regular District Judge of Humacao on March 25, 1936, of his order decliiiing to try the case, the regular District Judge of Guayama was appointed in his [397]*397place to proceed therewith. He made an order to continue the case;

That on January 7, 1937, owing to the amount of business on the hands of the regular Judge of Humacao, the Governor appointed as substitute judge for thirty days to conduct criminal cases practicing Attorney González Fagundo who issued without authority orders to continue the case;

That on March 2, 1937, the same González Fagundo was appointed substitute judge to replace the regular judge during his absence from the Island, on leave granted biin which expired on April 30, 1937; and

That the case was tried before the substitute judge on March 31, 1937, and was decided by a judgment rendered on May 1, 1937, the same substitute judge having settled the transcript, all of which without any authority to that effect, as the term for which he had been appointed had expired.

Two preliminary questions are raised by the plaintiff and appellee in connection with the above assignment, viz., that as the appeal was from an order made after judgment, the same should have been prosecuted separately, and that as evidence had been heard on the motion such evidence should have been sent up to this court by means of a statement of the case or bill of exceptions.

The first question is immaterial, because although different appeals are involved they may be prosecuted jointly, as the same had been taken within the same action.

The second question is of importance because really the way to send up to an appellate court the evidence heard in the trial court is as the appellant suggests. It is well to remember that the same question was raised by means of a motion to dismiss filed by the appellee himself and decided by this court, in which it was stated that the papers sent up were sufficient for a consideration of the case on its merits, but added that should anything be omitted in the record the omission might be supplied by the appellant himself. In setting forth and finally considering the said merits we will [398]*398see what in this respect appears from the record which, as far as the appellant is concerned, is in the same condition as when the motion to dismiss was disposed of.

Two cases are invoked by the appellant in support of his contention, viz: Saavedra v. District Court, 43 P.R.R. 274, and Annoni v. Blas Nadal’s Heirs, 94 F. (2d) 513:

In the former, in which the district judge declined to try a certain case, this court, through Mr. Justice Wolf, expressed itself as follows:

“Section 84 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides:
“ ‘If an action or proceeding is commenced or pending in a court, and the judge thereof is disqualified from acting as such, or if, for any cause, the court orders the place of trial to be changed, it must be transferred for trial to a court the parties may agree upon by stipulation in writing, or made in open court and entered in the minutes; or, if .they do not so agree, then (to) the nearest court where the like objection or cause for making the order does not exist, as follows:
“ ‘1. If in the district court, to another district court.’
“However, there is another law in force in Puerto Rico which authorizes the Governor to appoint judges in certain cases. It reads as follows:
“ ‘. . . . Provided, That the Governor, upon the recommendation of the Attorney General, may, if the public service requires it, order any other district judge to fulfill the duties of any judge regularly appointed when he is temporarily disqualified, either on account of illness or any other cause;’ (Laws of 1904, p. 105.)
“Curiously enough, each of these acts was passed on the 10th of March, 1904. The courts, therefore, are bound to attempt to allow both acts to stand.
The jurisprudence of California is clear that under section 398 of the Cole of Civil Procedure, which corresponds to section 84 of our Code, the proprietary judge is bound to hear the parties and ultimately to transfer the case. Krumdick v. Crump, 98 Cal. 117; Livermore v. Brundage, 64 Cal. 299.
“In People v. Juliá et al., 25 P.R.R. 262, a proprietary judge was away on vacation and the objection was made that the special act of March 10, 1904, did not apply to the case. This Court held that not only cases of sickness were included but also absences or [399]*399otherwise.

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García v. Suárez, 56 P.R. 394 (prsupreme 1940).

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