Jones v. Jones

134 P. 528, 75 Wash. 50, 1913 Wash. LEXIS 2200
Washington Supreme Court·Decided August 18, 1913·No. No. 11104·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinions

Main, J.

The purpose of this action was to obtain a decree of the court severing the bonds of matrimony then existing between the plaintiff and the defendant. The issues were framed by the complaint, the answer and cross-complaint, and the reply. In due time, the cause came on for trial before the court without a jury. The trial was concluded on the 5th day of February, 1913. Thereupon the court, by oral opinion, decided that the defendant would be granted a decree upon her cross-complaint. One of the important questions in the case was that of the property rights of the parties. On this question, the court announced that certain property located in British Columbia which had been previously conveyed to the defendant by the plaintiff should be retained by her as her sole and separate property; and in addition to this, that she should be awarded a property in Vancouver, B. C., which was designated as the Hastings Street property. To this property, the court stated, the plaintiff would be required to make and execute a deed therefor in [52]*52favor of the defendant and deposit it in the registry of the court. A colloquy then took place between the court and the respective counsel as to the time when the deed should be executed and deposited. Without following the details of this colloquy, it is sufficient to say that it was finally announced by the court that the plaintiff would have until the following Saturday, February 8, 1913, to conform to this requirement; and in event the deed was not made and deposited, a judgment would be entered against the plaintiff and in favor of the defendant in lieu thereof in the sum of $250,000. Immediately thereafter, and while the parties were all before the court, an order was prepared and entered enjoining and restraining the plaintiff from leaving and departing from the county of King, state of Washington, until the further order of the court. The plaintiff and his counsel then departed from the courtroom and immediately thereafter the court stated, as appears by the record:

“The Court: I do not think I will do that as an optionary matter about making this deed. He cannot take the option whether he will give the deed or take the judgment. He will make the deed if he is here, or I will put him in jail if he does not.”

On Saturday, February 8, 1913, the date fixed for the deposit of the deed in the registry of the court, counsel for the respective parties appeared before the court. The court was then informed that the plaintiff had departed from the jurisdiction of the court in violation of the order which had been previously entered. The plaintiff did not execute the deed as required, or at all. The court then announced that it would enter a judgment against the plaintiff and in favor of the defendant for alimony in the sum of $300,000, and $10,000 as attorney’s fee.

As above stated, it appearing that the plaintiff had departed from the jurisdiction in violation of the court’s order, the court ordered that an attachment issue forthwith to the sheriff directing him to attach the person of the plaintiff and [53]*53bring him before the court to show cause if any he might have why he should not be punished for contempt. This order was signed and entered on February 8, 1913. On February, 11, 1913, findings of fact and conclusions of law and final judgment were signed and filed. The judgment awarded to the defendant the property above referred to as having been previously conveyed to her, and the plaintiff was enjoined from making or asserting any claim or demand for or any right, title or interest therein or thereto. The custody of the son, Harold A. Jones, was awarded to the plaintiff, but it was recited that, the plaintiff being in contempt of court and having left the jurisdiction of the court in disobedience of the court’s order, that the decree awarding the custody of the boy to the plaintiff should not take effect until he should purge himself of the contempt. The judgment also decreed that the defendant be awarded alimony in the sum of $300,000, and $10,000 as attorney’s fee.

On February 18, 1913, the plaintiff gave notice that he appealed from the judgment entered on February 11, 1913. No bond was filed superseding the judgment. Within a few days thereafter, upon a transcript of the judgment, suit was brought in the courts of British Columbia. In that action, Harry A. Jones (the plaintiff here, the defendant there) presented an answer in which he pleaded that the superior court of the state of Washington in and for the county of King had no jurisdiction of the cause in which said judgment was entered for the reason that neither the plaintiff nor the defendant at the time the action was tried were subjects of or resident or domiciled in the state of Washington, and were not at any time subject to the jurisdiction of that court. The answer also makes claim to the property which, in the judgment of February 11, 1913, he was restrained from making any claim to. In the divorce action, the complaint verified by appellant stated:

“That the plaintiff is now a bona -fide resident of King county, in the state of Washington, and has been a bona [54]*54■fide resident of the state of Washington for more than one year immediately last past.”

On March 25, 1913, the respondent filed in this court her motion to dismiss the appeal of the appellant for the reason that he had fled the jurisdiction of the court in disobedience of its order and was in contempt thereof; and as an alternative motion, that the appellant be required within a fixed time to return and submit himself to the jurisdiction of the court, and in the event he should fail or refuse to do so within the time fixed, that then his appeal be dismissed. These motions were heard upon a transcript certified by the clerk of the superior court, which contains a copy of the pleadings, the orders, findings, and judgment of the court, the motion for new trial, and the cost bond; also upon affidavits setting forth facts which are not contained in the transcript. The facts as above stated do not, however, appear to be in dispute.

The questions to be determined upon the motion to dismiss the appeal are: (1) the power of the court to hear the matter upon affidavits; (2) whether the appellant has been guilty of contempt; and (3) whether the conduct of the appellant in attacking the jurisdiction of the courts of this state in the courts of British Columbia, and the fact of his disobedience' to the final judgment, are sufficient to warrant the dismissal of the appeal, either absolutely or provisionally.

I. The first question presented is the right or power of the court to consider facts which occurred subsequent to the signing and entering of the final judgment and which must be shown by affidavit. It is argued that, this not being a court of general jurisdiction, it can consider only those facts which are properly certified by the superior court, or contained in the clerk’s transcript. In support of this position, the case of Griffith v. Griffith, 71 Wash. 56, 127 Pac. 585, 128 Pac. 636, is cited. In that case it was held, overruling previous decisions, that this court would not entertain, pending an appeal in divorce cases, original applications for suit [55]*55money, attorney’s fees, and alimony. But it was not there held that the court lacked authority to have conveyed to it facts not in dispute occurring subsequent to the taking of the appeal which show that the controversy had ceased, or that the appellant had abandoned or waived the right of appeal.

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Jones v. Jones, 134 P. 528, 75 Wash. 50, 1913 Wash. LEXIS 2200 (Wash. 1913).

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