Green v. Bookhart

19 S.C. 466, 1883 S.C. LEXIS 99
CourtSupreme Court of South Carolina
DecidedJuly 5, 1883
StatusPublished

This text of 19 S.C. 466 (Green v. Bookhart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Green v. Bookhart, 19 S.C. 466, 1883 S.C. LEXIS 99 (S.C. 1883).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Mr. Justice McGowan.

This was an action brought by the plaintiff, as receiver of the property of S. W. Bookhart, for the-possession of a note for $650, belonging, as alleged, to the said S. W. Bookhart, and in his possession or that of Cynthia WBookhart, having been executed to the said S. ~W. Bookhart by A. G. Bookman and Mrs. M. A. Holmes about October, 1880.. The defendants are man and wife, and reside in Fairfield county,, where the action was originally brought, but was transferred to Bichland county. They answered separately, simply denying-each and every allegation of the complaint.

It appeared that in May, 1879, Jones, Davis & Bonknight. recovered in Bichland county a judgment against the said S. W. Bookhart and one Thomas ~W. Entzminger, as signers of a joint and several note, the latter of whom was a resident of Bichland county, and entered judgment and issued execution against both in that county. Upon the return of the execution' unsatisfied the judgment creditor, in July, 1879, instituted supplementary proceedings against both the defendants in execution, who were-served with an order to appear and answer concerning their [468]*468property at Columbia, Richland county, where the judgment was entered and the execution returned. S. AY. Bookhart appeared and was examined. He denied that he owned any property not exempt by law; but another witness (A. G. Bookman) testified that he, with M. A. Holmes, were indebted to the said S. AY. Bookhart on the note for $650, before referred to. AYhereupon Judge AYallace appointed the plaintiff, Allen J. Green, receiver, and ordered S. AY. Bookhart to turn over to him the said note. A copy of this order was served on Bookhart and he again appeared and made affidavit that he is not owner of the note of A. G. Bookman and Mrs. Holmes, and has never been such ; that all of his doings in reference to said note were had as agent of his wife, Cynthia E. Bookhart.” There was no appeal from the order appointing the receiver in Richland county or proceedings instituted to set it aside.

At the argument here it was admitted that there was some evidence tending to show that the said note was given to S. A. Bookhart but was in the possession of and claimed by Mrs. Cynthia E. Bookhart. At the close of plaintiff's testimony the defendant moved for a non-suit on the ground that, inasmuch as it appeared from the record in the case of Jones, Davis & Bouknight v. S. W. Bookhart and Thomas W. Entzminger, that the execution had been issued to and returned unsatisfied by the sheriff of Richland county while the defendant Bookhart lived in Fairfield county, Judge AYallace had no jurisdiction in supplementary proceedings against said Bookhart, and that the appointment of the plaintiff as receiver was void, and he, not being legally appointed receiver, or the real party in interest, could not maintain the action.”

The Circuit judge granted the non-suit as to Cynthia E. Bookhart but refused it as to S. AY. Bookhart. Both plaintiff and defendant S. AY. Bookhart appeal to this court, the plaintiff upon the ground that the judge erred in granting the non-suit as to Cynthia E. Bookhart, and the defendant upon the ground that the non-suit should have been granted as to both defendants.

The judgment of Jones, Davis & Bouknight, under which the supplementary proceedings were instituted, was obtained and the execution issued regularly in Richland county against S. AY. [469]*469Bookhart as well as Entzminger, although the former lived in Fairfield. “If there be more than one defendant, then the action may be tried in any county in which one or more of the defendants reside.” Code, § 146. In this view it was urged for the plaintiff that Richland county was the proper place for all proceedings which took place in the case; that the judgment and execution, properly entered in Richland, carried with them all proceedings based upon them, and there are cases in the New York practice, under a similar provision as to supplementary proceedings, which- look that way. In Wait’s Anno. Code, p. 573, note, it is said: “ The issuing of an execution, the supplementary proceedings and the appointment of a receiver are proceedings in the action (not special proceedings), and where the court has authority to award an execution, jurisdiction to appoint a receiver in supplementary proceedings is also conferred.” Wegman v. Childs, 41 N. Y. 159, and other authorities.

But subdivision 1 of section 312 of the code does not seem to make provision for such a case. The words are very explicit: “ When an execution against property of the judgment debtor, or any one of several debtors in the same judgment, issued to the sheriff of the county where he resides or has his place of business, * * • * is returned unsatisfied, in whole or in part, the judgment creditor, at any time after such return made, is entitled to an order from the judge of the Circuit Court, requiring such judgment debtor to appear and answer concerning his property, before such judge, at a time and place specified in the order, within the county in which the execution was issued,” &c.

Here the execution was “ issued ” in Richland county, but we suppose that, under the above provision, the regular course would have been to issue an execution against S. W. Bookhart in Fair-field county and had it returned by the sheriff of that county. If so, S. W. Bookhart might have objected when the application was made in Richland that the execution should have issued to Fairfield county, and he could not be required to answer elsewhere. But, when summoned to Columbia, in Richland county, he made no objection. He appeared and was there examined, and upon such examination the judge appointed the plaintiff receiver, and from that order there was no appeal.

[470]*470It seems to us that it is now too late for him to object. The provision seems to have been intended for the protection of the -defendant in execution, that he might not be required to answer -out of his county, or until the creditor had exhausted his remedy by execution. It was a right personal to him, and when he -chose to waive it and to appear and answer in another county, he could not afterwards makethe objection. When a judgment debtor appears before a referee and submits to an examination without objection, this will amount to a waiver of any irregularity, and an order for the appointment of a receiver founded on such voluntary appearance and waiver will be valid, and cannot be affected by an objection to the jurisdiction in an action brought by the receiver.” Viburt v. Frost, 3 Abb. 119; Bingham v. Disbrow, 37 Barb. 24; S. C., 14 Abb. 251; Wait's Anno. Code, p. 575, and authorities in note; Ridd. Sup. Pro. (2d edit.) 25. We think there was no error on the part of the judge in refusing the motion for a non-suit as to S. W. Book-hart.

It is insisted, however, that the judge was also right in granting the non-suit as to Cynthia E. Bookhart; that she was no party either to the judgment or the supplementary proceedings, and the doctrine of waiver or estoppel could in no way be applied to her; and that when sued by the receiver for property ■of the debtor, she had the right to defend herself by showing that he had not been legally appointed receiver.

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Related

Wegman v. . Childs
41 N.Y. 159 (New York Court of Appeals, 1869)
Bingham v. Disbrow
37 Barb. 24 (New York Supreme Court, 1862)
Union Bank of Troy v. Sargeant
53 Barb. 422 (New York Supreme Court, 1867)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
19 S.C. 466, 1883 S.C. LEXIS 99, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/green-v-bookhart-sc-1883.