Hall v. Price

1929 OK 90, 277 P. 239, 136 Okla. 202, 1929 Okla. LEXIS 171
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 26, 1929
DocketNo. I8976
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 1929 OK 90 (Hall v. Price) 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
Hall v. Price, 1929 OK 90, 277 P. 239, 136 Okla. 202, 1929 Okla. LEXIS 171 (Okla. 1929).

Opinion

FOSTER, C.

In October, 1925, this action was commenced in the district court of Beck-ham county by W. B. Price against J. S. Nelson to recover an indebtedness in. the sum of $665. Later, the petition was amended to allege the sum of $1,582.89. At the time of filing suit, upon proper affidavit, a garnishment summons was served upon Magnolia Petroleum Company, and on November 2, 1925, the Magnolia,-Petroleum Company filed its answer, stating that it had a contract with J S. Nelson by the terms of which it was to pay the said Nelson $2,800 upon the completion of an oil and' gas well to the depth of 3.000 feet, but that in May. 1925, long prior to the institution of this suit, Nelson assigned all his right, title and interest in and to the money due, or to become due under the contract, to one E. C. Hall, and that by reason thereof the Magnolia Petroleum Company was not in any way indebted to the said' J. S. Nelson.

In February, 1926. the garnishee, Magnolia Petroleum Company, filed an amended answer in which it is stated that the oil well had been completed, and there was now due the sum of $2.800 to F. C. Hall as set up in its original answer, and. further, that it was ho’ding the $2.800 subject to order of th'e court.

Tn May, 1926. the garnishee filed a motion to be discharged bv reason, of having no property belonging to the-.said ,T. S Nelson.

On August 4, 1926, an order was made by the court, as follows:

“Now, on this, the 4th day of August, 1926, this cause came on for hearing, and it appearing from the answer of the garnishee, the Magnolia Petroleum Company, filed herein, that one E. C. Hall claims the indebtedness, or money in the hands of said garnishee, and the plaintiff now moves that the said F. C. Hall be interpleaded as defendant in said garnishee proceedings herein. It is ordered that notice with copy of this order be served upon said E. C. Hall.
“T. P. Clay, Judge.”

'On the 27th day of September, a notice signed by the court clerk of Beflkham county was served upon the derendant E. C. Hall, personally, in Grady county by the sheriff thereof, which in substance alleged that the Magnolia Petroleum Company, as garnishee, had filed an answer in said cause, setting forth that Hall claimed an interest in the indebtedness due by the Magnolia Petroleum Company to the defendant Nelson, and that by order of the court, on August 4th, Hall was interpleaded as a defendant in said garnishment action. Á copy of the order of August 4th was attached to this notice.

F. C. Hall, on the 8th day of October, 1926, filed a plea to the jurisdiction of the court, on the grounds that the court was without authority at law and had no jurisdiction to make F. C Hall a party defendant in said proceedings.

This motion was overruled on October 30, 1926, in the absence of Hall or his attorneys, and Hall was given 20 days to answer. ..Being in default of answer, on the -20th day of November a judgment was rendered by default against J. S.' Nelson for the full amount, and declaring that Hall had no interest in the money due from the Magnolia Petroleum Company to Nelson, and ordering and directing that the Magnolia Petroleum Company pay the full amount of said judgment, and that it be released from liability to that amount upon its obligation owing to Nelson. The Magnolia Petroleum Company did not. appear on October 30th, nor on November 20th.

On December 8th, F. C Hall and the Magnolia Petroleum Company both filed motions to vacate and set aside the default judgment so taken on the 20th day of November, and, after a full hearing, the motion to vacate was overruled', from which order F. C. Hall and Magnolia Petroleum Company perfect this appeal.

*204 There were many reasons set out in their motions to vacate the default judgment, and also many assignments of error alleged in the motion for a new trial and petition in error, tout plaintiffs in error argue only two propositions, which are the only questions presented by this appeal, as follows:

Hirst. Did the court have jurisdiction over the person of F. 0. Hall by reason of the proceedings shown of record?

Second. If the court had jurisdiction, then was the showing made by the defendants F. C Hall and Magnolia Petroleum Oompany sufficient in law to sustain the judgment entered by the court overruling the motion?

The first question presented involves an interpretation of section 366, C. O. S. 1921, as follows:

■“When the answer of the garnishee shall disclose that any other person than the defendant claims the indebtedness or property in his hands, and the name and residence of such claimant, the court may, on ¡motion, order that such claimant be inter-pleaded, as a defendant to the garnishee action; and that notice thereof, setting forth the facts, with a copy of such order, in such form as the court shall direct, be served upon him; and that after such service shall have been made, the garnishee may pay or deliver to the officer or the clerk such indebtedness or property, and have a receipt therefor, which shall be a complete discharge from all liability to any party for the amount paid or property so delivered. 'Such notice shall be served in the manner required for Service of summons in a civil action, and may be made without the state or by publication thereof, if the order shall so direct. Upon such service being made, such claimant shall be deemed a defendant to the garnishee action, 'and within 20 days shall answer, setting forth his claim or any defense which the garnishee might have made. In case of default, judgment may be rendered, which shall conclude any claim upon the part of such defendant.”

It is first contended that under the above section the trial court made the order of August 4th on its own motion, and that it was necessary that the order making E\ 0. Hall a party should be upon the written application, by motion or petition, of some party to the action.

Plaintiff in error cites several cases attempting to show that the court cannot upon its own motion enter an order making an additional party defendant in a garnishment proceedings, even though the answer of the garnishee shows that said party claims some interest in the money garnisheed. The cases relied upon are not in point, and from an examination of the authorities from different states, there seems to be no uniform rule, some jurisdictions going to the extent of holding that, in the absence of the statute, it is the duty of the court to see that the disclosed claimant is made a party. We believe the general rule applicable to the case at bar is laid down in 28 C. J. p. 376, section 592, as follows:

“Who may interplead adverse claimants to garnisheed property is usually prescribed by the statutes, which are held to be exclusive of the right of anyone else to invoke this remedy, except where it is held that the court may, independently of statute, bring in claimants of its own motion.”

We believe our statute fully covers this proposition.

Section 366. supra, provides that when the answer of the garnishee shall disclose another person other than the defendant claims the indebtedness, “the court may on motion order such claimant to be interplead-ed as a defendant to the garnishee action.” And the order of August 4, 1926, provides, among other things:

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Bluebook (online)
1929 OK 90, 277 P. 239, 136 Okla. 202, 1929 Okla. LEXIS 171, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hall-v-price-okla-1929.