Johnson v. Emery

86 P. 869, 31 Utah 126, 1906 Utah LEXIS 18
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 5, 1906
DocketNo. 1725
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 86 P. 869 (Johnson v. Emery) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. Emery, 86 P. 869, 31 Utah 126, 1906 Utah LEXIS 18 (Utah 1906).

Opinion

McCARTY, J.,

after stating the facts, delivered the opin- ■ ion of the court.

Appellant’s first contention is that the court erred in admitting in evidence, over plaintiff’s objection, the attachment proceedings. It is claimed that “the affidavits in each of the cases were defective and void for the reason that they each stated two grounds of attachment in the alternative.” In the case of Ambrose v. Norris the grounds alleged in the affidavit for the writ of attachment are as follows: “That the said defendant has assigned, disposed of, or concealed, or is about to assign, dispose of, or conceal, his property with intent to defraud his creditors.” With the exception of a slight change in the phraseology, the allegations of the grounds for attachment in the affidavits of the other two cases mentioned in the foregoing statement of facts are substantially the same as the grounds alleged in the Ambrose Case.

Section 3064, Rev. St. 1898, specifies five separate and distinct grounds of attachment. Subdivision 3 of said section is as follows:

“Has assigned, disposed of, or concealed, or is about to assign, dispose of, or conceal, any of his property with intent to defraud his creditors.”

Section 3066 provides:

“The clerk of the court shall issue the writ of attachment upon receiving an affidavit by or on behalf of the plaintiff, which shall be filed, setting forth,” among other things, that the action is not prosecuted to hinder, delay, or defraud any creditor of the defendant, “and also specifying one or more of the causes set forth in section three thousand and sixty-four as the ground of attachment.”

[135]*135Tbe cause alleged in tbe affidavit under consideration for wits of attachment was that J. ft. Norris bad disposed of or was about to dispose of bis property with intent to defraud bis creditors. While there are several different phases of this ground set.forth in subdivision 3 of section 3064, 'the essence of which is the fraudulent disposition of property, we are of the opinion that they constitute but one cause or ground for an attachment, and that the entire subdivision may be stated in an affidavit for a writ of attachment. It may often happen that the party making the affidavit may know that the defendant has disposed of, or is about to dispose of, his property by one or more of the ways mentioned in section 3064, but may be in doubt, or unable to state, as to the-specific manner in which he has or is about to place his property beyond the reach of his creditors. It is therefore apparent that the construction contended for by appellant, if adopted and followed, would, in many cases, defeat the very object and. purpose of the statute. While there is some conflict in the authorities as to whether a statement of this ground made substantially in the language of the statute is sufficient to authorize the issuance of a writ of attachment, we think the weight of authority holds that it- is sufficient. This court in effect so held in the case of Bank v. Little, Roundy & Co., 13 Utah 265, 44 Pac. 930. In the case of Dawley v. Sherwin, 59 N. W. 1027, the Supreme Court of South Dakota, in considering a statute of that state, exactly like the one under consideration, said:

“It will be observed in this case that the causes or grounds for an attachment are stated in the language of subdivision 5 of section 4995 (Comp. Laws 1888) and the first subdivision of section 5014, and we are disposed to believe that each group or subdivision constitutes but one cause or ground for an attachment, and that the entire subdivision may thus be stated in an affidavit for a warrant of attachment.”

So, in the case of Klenk v. Schwalm, 19 Wis. 113, it is said:

“It is impossible, frequently, for a creditor to ascertain whether a debtor has actually consummated a fraudulent transfer of his property, or whether he is about to do so; and therefore the Legislature have [136]*136made these one ground for an attachment. Fraudulent sales are generally secret; and it may he very difficult to say, at a given moment, whether they are fully accomplished or not. Hence a party is permitted to state his ease in the alternative — that the defendant has assigned, disposed of, or concealed, or is about to assign, dispose of, or conceal, his property, with intent to defraud his creditors. And when regard is had to the manner in which the Legislature has enumerated the different cases in which attachments may issue, there can be no doubt that the second subdivision of section 2 (Eev. St. Wis. 1858, c. 130) was considered as constituting in fact one ground or cause of attachment.”

In Parsons v. Stockbridge, 42 Ind. 121, the court says:

“The ground of the motion to dismiss the attachment was the insufficiency of the affidavit in stating the cause for the attachment. * - * The objection to it is that it is in the alternative. The objection is not well taken. Where the disjunctive ‘or’ is used not to connect two distinct facts or different natures, hut to characterize and include two or more phases of the same fact, attended with the same results, the construction contended for is not applicable.”

In Tessier v. Englehart, 18 Neb. 167, 24 N. W. 734, the Supreme Court of Nebraska, in construing a similar statute, said:

“Here are nine distinct grounds or causes upon either of which an order of attachment may issue. Some of them embrace but one allegation, while others, and most of them, are compound in their character; but whether single or compound, each one contains but a single cause of action, and it cannot be urged as an objection to an affidavit or pleading under this section that it contains disjunctive language, as long as it contains but one of said' grounds or causes of action, and substantially follows the language of the statute.”

Mr. Drake in his work on Attachment, section 102, says:

“Let it be observed, however, that where the disjunctive ‘or’ is used not to connect two distinct facts of different nature, but to characterize and include two or more phases of the same fact, attended with the same results, the construction just mentioned (section 101a, referring to distinct statutory grounds) would be inapplicable.” This same doctrine is declared by the following authorities: Russell v. Ralph, 53 Wis. 328, 10 N. W. 518; McCraw v. Welch, 2 Colo. 284; Conrad v. McGee, 9 Yerg. (Tenn.) 428; Societe Fonciere v. Milliken, 135 U. S. 304, 10 Sup Ct. 823, 34 L. Ed. 208; Irvin v. Howard, 37 Ga. 18; Cannon v. Logan, 5 Port. (Ala.) 77; Wood v. Wells, 2 Bush. (Ky.) 197; 4 Cyc. 504; 3 Enc. Pl. & Pr. 24, 25; 1 Shinn on Attach, and Garnishment, 145, 146.

[137]*137Appellant’s next complaint is tbat the court erred in directing the jury to return a verdict for the defendant. A part of the goods levied upon was property which appellant purchased from Norris, the judgment debtor in the suit in which the writ of attachment and writs of execution were issued. At the time of the sale from Norris to appellant all of the goods were in the possession of Norris, and he continued in such possession for about four months -thereafter.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
86 P. 869, 31 Utah 126, 1906 Utah LEXIS 18, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-emery-utah-1906.