González v. Benítez Flores

29 P.R. 281
CourtSupreme Court of Puerto Rico
DecidedApril 4, 1921
DocketNo. 317
StatusPublished

This text of 29 P.R. 281 (González v. Benítez Flores) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
González v. Benítez Flores, 29 P.R. 281 (prsupreme 1921).

Opinion

Mb, Justice del Toko

delivered the opinion of the court.

Eduardo J. González, Enrique González and Abelardo de la Haba, by their attorney, presented a verified petition for a writ of certiorari against the Judge of the District Court of San Juan, Section 1, ordering him to send up the record in civil case No. 13,534, an action for the dissolution of a partnership, wherein the said judge had unlawfully appointed a receiver. The writ was issued and returned and the hearing was set for March 7, 1921.

On the day set the petitioners appeared by their attorney, as did also Rafael Fabián, Luis Rubert, Eduardo Giorgetti and the minors Eulogio Dimas, Josefina Dolores, Alfonso Rafael, Luz María, Antonio, Lucía Mercedes and Rafael Angel Riera, represented by their mother with patria potes-tas, Josefina Begoechea, widow of Riera, the plaintiffs below in said action No. 13,534.

The said plaintiffs made a motion for the dismissal of the proceeding. The question was then raised of whether or not the said plaintiffs were prepared to discuss the merits of the case. They answered affirmatively, but stated that they would go into the hearing only with the understanding that it should be without abandoning in any manner their right to have their motion for dismissal decided on its merits. Therefore the motion was heard and the court reserved its decision and proceeded to hear the petition, the said plaintiffs filing a written answer in opposition to the petition. The attorneys argued the case and were also allowed five days within which to file memorandums of authorities. This they did in due time and the case was thus submitted to our consideration and decision.

1. The motion to dismiss the petition was based on the [283]*283fact that although the movers were the other party really interested in the matter and entitled to notice, only a simple copy of the petition had been left in the office of' their attorney while he was absent.

Rule 69 of this court requires that in a case of this kind it shall be the duty of the applicant obtaining the order to serve or canse to be served upon the other party really interested a certified copy of the affidavit and writ issued thereon. The parties must comply with the rules of the court. There is no doubt about this. Otherwise the rules would not have been adopted. But if the court acquires jurisdiction of the case, then in the interest of justice it may dispense with strict compliance with its own rules, and in the case before us this court acquired jurisdiction when the writ was served on the district judge.

It is clear that Rule 69 was not fully complied with. There is no doubt as to the interest of the parties referred to and that they were entitled to notice. But what is the object of such notice? It is to inform the parties of the proceeding and of all the necessary details thereof so that they may defend their rights. In this case it was duly shown that the parties were perfectly prepared and, this being so, in our opinion mere technicalities should not prevail over the ordinary and speedy course of proceedings before this court. If the parties had said that they were not prepared, the court would have postponed the hearing for a time sufficient to allow them to prepare their case. Considering the circumstances, the court would not have dismissed the petition, bul would have postponed the hearing and ordered the petitioners to comply strictly with the rule in the meantime.

2. As has been said, the court considered the petition and granted the writ of certiorari. The other interested party maintains that the writ should not have been granted because there was another speedy and lawful remedy, that is, to move the district court for a reconsideration of the order [284]*284appointing the receiver. That party cites in support of the contention 6 Cyc. 744; 11 C. J. 113, and the decisions of this court in Aramburu v. Córdova, 17 P. R. R. 913; Martínez v. Crosas, 27 P. R. R. 87; Marrero v. Bryan, 26 P. R. R. 384, and VázqueZ Prada v. Rossy, 20 P. R. R. 181.

We agree that the best and usual practice should he that if the petitioner may obtain relief by means of a motion to the court in which the principal action is pending, this court should not grant a writ of certiorari. But there are exceptions to that rule and it is not binding upon this court, which has wide discretion in issuing such writs. Generally recourse should not be taken to an appellate court before exhausting all remedies in the court of original jurisdiction; but if the appellate court is convinced that the justice of the case demands its immediate intervention, it should not be withheld. This court believed that the petition here presented involved such a case. Besides, the fact should not'he lost sight of-that when jurisprudence mentions the existence of other remedies as a bar to writs of certiorari, it generally refers to appeals.

3. It is further contended in opposition to the writ of certiorari that the grounds on which the petition is based are not sufficient; or, in other words, that the order appointing a receiver is justified by the facts and is in conformity with the law.

We will recite the facts. In September, 1919, E. Ruhert, E. Giorgetti, E. J. Gonzalez, E. González, J. D. Riera, A. de la Haba and B. Rubert formed a five-year agricultural and industrial partnership under the name of Central Victoria, Ltd., in accordance with the Civil Code, each of the first five partners contributing one hundred thousand dollars and each of the last two fifty thousand dollars, making in all a total of six hundred thousand dollars. A transfer was made to the said partnership of the sugar factory Central Progreso and of other properties of the Compañía Azucarera de la [285]*285Carolina, and the partnership commenced business under the presidency of González. J. D. Riera and B. Rubert died, the share of the former being acquired by his children and R. Fabián and that of the latter by L. Rubert.

Some time elapsed. There arose some differences among the partners, who, it seems, divided themselves into two groups, group A being composed of E. J. González and A. de la Haba, representing two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and yet having a majority in the board of directors according to the stipulations of the contract and on account of the death of Riera and B. Rubert, and group B being composed of L. Rubert, E. Giorgetti, R. Fabián and Riera’s children, representing three hundred and fifty thousand dollars and having a minority in the board of directors.

On the 21st of February group B brought an action for dissolution of the partnership in the District Court of San Juan, Section 1, praying for the immediate appointment of a receiver.. The complaint is sworn to by G. Vallecillo, attorney in fact of Giorgetti, who in that capacity attended the meetings of the board of directors of the partnership. Without requiring a bond and without notice to or a hearing of the defendants, the district court appointed a receiver who was to give bond in the sum of thirty thousand dollars to answer for the faithful discharge of his duties.

In our opinion there is no doubt about the jurisdiction of the court to appoint a receiver in an action between partners “where it is shown that the property or fund is in danger of being lost, removed, or materially injured.” See subdivision 1 of section 182 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Sage v. Memphis & Little Rock Railroad
125 U.S. 361 (Supreme Court, 1888)
Temple State Bank v. Mansfield
215 S.W. 154 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1919)
Real Estate Associates v. Superior Court
60 Cal. 223 (California Supreme Court, 1882)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
29 P.R. 281, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gonzalez-v-benitez-flores-prsupreme-1921.