García v. Torres

20 P.R. 157
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in García v. Torres. Read the opinion of the Court — 20 P.R. Dec. 169
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico·Decided March 18, 1914·No. No. 1019·Published

Opinion

Me. Chief Justice HeeNANdez

delivered the opinion of the court.

On May 21, 1913, Manricia G-arcía Hernández de Torres brought an action against Roque Torres y Rodríguéz, Julio N. Laaves and Jaime Zapata in the District Court for the Judicial District of Mayagiiez to rescind certain promissory notes made by the first of said defendants in favor of the other two and to quash the proceedings brought by the holders of said promissory notes to recover thereon, praying in the complaint that pending the trial of the case and rendition of final judgment a preliminary injunction issue against the defendants forbidding them to continue the said proceedings or to carry out the auction sales which were about to be effected at their instance.

Briefly, the plaintiff, Mauricia García Hernández, alleges in her sworn' complaint that on February 19, 1913, she brought an action in the District Court of Mayagiiez against her husband, Roque Torres y Rodriguez, for a divorce and also for a partition of the conjugal partnership property, which action is still pending; that her said husband, in combination with the other defendants, Laaves and Zapata, and [159] as the result of a conspiracy entered into to deprive the rolaintiff of her share in the conjugal partnership property, executed seemingly as of October 31, 1911, a simulated promissory note in favor of the defendant, Julio N. Laaves, for the sum of $1,525, payable on the same day and month of 1912, and two other simulated promissory notes in favor of the co-defendant, Jaime Zapata, apparently as of January 12, 1912, one for $375, payable on September 30 of the same year, and the other for $125, due December 31, 1912; that Boque Torres caused himself to be sued by Laaves in the District Court of Mayagiiez for the amount of the promissory note for $1,525 and by Jaime Zapata in the Municipal Court of Mayagiiez for the amount of the other two notes aggregating $500, and having allowed his default to be entered in both cases, judgments were entered against him for the supposed credits sued for; that the conjugal partnership property subject to partition and division consists of three rural properties containing 14, 13 and 3 cuerdas of land respectively which are described in the complaint under letters a, b and c and were acquired by the defendant, Boque Torres, .during his wedlock with the plaintiff, Mauricia Gar-cía ; that for the execution of the judgment rendered in favor of Zapata property c was levied on and advertised to be sold on May 23, 1913, and for the execution of the judgment in favor of Laaves properties a and b were levied on and their sales advertised to take place on June 6, 1913; that if the said properties are sold the plaintiff will be deprived irreparably of the share which she has or may have therein; that defendant Torres has no other property than his share in the conjugal partnership estate and that the only remedy she has against being deprived of her property is the granting of the injunction prayed for;

A day having been set for hearing the defendants against whom the injunction was solicited, they opposed the petition of the plaintiff, alleging: First, that two different causes of action had been improperly joined; second, that the com[160] plaint, in so far as it refers to the injunction, does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action; third, that the plaintiff has an ordinary remedy prescribed by section 91 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

The preliminary injunction was granted in an order of August 26, 1913, after a bond of $1,000 had been given and that order was appealed from by defendants Laaves and Zapata. As grounds for the appeal the appellants allege the following:

First. That in view of the sworn complaint of the plain-tiff, which was without the slightest justification for the facts iherein alleged, the court erred in granting the injunction.

Second. That the court also erred in overruling the general demurrer that the complaint containing the prayer for a writ of injunction did not state facts sufficient to constitute u cause of action.

Third. That the court erred also in not considering that defendants Laaves and Zapata being two distinct persons to whom were attributed different acts performed at different times and in different actions, two actions to rescind which could not be joined were prosecuted in the complaint which originated the injunction.

Fourth. That the plaintiff has an ordinary remedy prescribed in section 91 of the Code of Civil Procedure and therefore is not entitled to apply for a writ of injunction, which is of an extraordinary character.

Let us examine the errors assigned.

First error. — The facts on'which the temporary writ of injunction was issued were alleged by the petitioner under oath and in their defense the defendants not only did not deny the said facts but limited themselves to raising questions of law such as the improper joinder of actions, the insufficiency of the facts to constitute a cause of action and the existence of an ordinary remedy which barred the granting of the injunction. The facts not having been denied, they must serve as a basis for the consideration and decision [161] of the questions of law raised, and it was not necessary to submit any evidence as to the said facts for the oatli of the plaintiff was prima facie evidence 'of their truth. Central Altagracia v. Otero et al., 13 P. R. R., 108.

Second error. — After examining the allegations contained m the petition for an injunction, the right of the plaintiff and the propriety of the remedy sought are clearly shown.

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García v. Torres, 20 P.R. 157 (prsupreme 1914).

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