Lee v. Murphy

51 P. 549, 119 Cal. 364, 1897 Cal. LEXIS 903
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 18, 1897
DocketSac. No. 285
StatusPublished
Cited by60 cases

This text of 51 P. 549 (Lee v. Murphy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lee v. Murphy, 51 P. 549, 119 Cal. 364, 1897 Cal. LEXIS 903 (Cal. 1897).

Opinions

CHIPMAN, C.

On March 11, 1892, the defendant, M. E. Murphy, executed a promissory note for fourteen hundred dollars to W. H. Lee, plaintiff’s testator (and husband), and on the-same day he executed a mortgage on the premises described in the complaint to said Lee, to secure the payment of said note. The mortgage was acknowledged by Murphy before Lee, the mortgagee, and the name of the mortgagee given in the mortgage and the name of the notary were identical.

The consideration of this note was money paid by said Lee to one A. K. Boutwell, at the request of said Murphy, as the purchase price of the land described in the mortgage. The deed was made direct from Boutwell to Murphy, and as a part of the transaction Murphy mortgaged the premises to Lee as security for the purchase price paid to Boutwell.

The deed bore the same date as the mortgage, and was recorded March 12, 1892, twenty-three minutes past nine o’clock A. M. The mortgage was recorded the same day seven minutes-later.

On the twenty-fourth day of September, 1895, the defendant, ¡Rachel Murphy, filed in the office of the county recorder of Sutter county a homestead on the mortgaged premises.

On the eighth day of ¡November, 1895, plaintiff brought this action to foreclose said mortgage, making M. E. Murphy and his-wife, ¡Rachel, defendants. The cause was tried by the court, and judgment was rendered for plaintiff. The defendant, Bachel Murphy, appeals from the judgment, from the order denying defendant’s motion to vacate and set aside the judgment, and. for a new trial. The defense set up in the answer and relied on here is the homestead of defendant ¡Rachel Murphy.

Considerable space is given in the record and in briefs of counsel as to the alleged error of the court in allowing plaintiff to amend her complaint after having gone to trial and submitted the case for decision. One of the amendments allowed was to-the effect that the money loaned to Murphy was the purchase-money paid for the land mortgaged. Defendant moved to strike this amended complaint from the files and to vacate and set aside the order granting plaintiff leave to amend, which motion was denied and defendant excepted. The power given under section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure to allow [367]*367amendments in the interest of justice is uniformly held to he within the discretion of the trial court, and it has been frequently held that this court will not disturb the action of the trial court, except where an abuse of that discretion is shown. It is unusual to find it necessary to amend the complaint after a case has been submitted, but I find no limitation as to the time before judgment entered when the power of the court ceases, and even after judgment it may be exercised for the relief of a party where the judgment results from mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.

The plaintiff was called as a witness in her own behalf and testified at considerable length to several different relevant matters, at the conclusion of which defendant moved to strike out her entire testimony on the ground that in her affidavit, upon which permission was given to take further testimony in support of the amended complaint, she stated that she had discovered new facts, whereas her testimony showed she must have known these facts all the time. The motion was denied, and this is assigned as error. Her testimony was not confined entirely to-facts of which she showed she had previous knowledge. The objection was too broad. Her testimony tended to establish other and independent facts. Besides, it was a matter largely in the discretion of the court as to what further relevant testimony to allow. The record shows that “it was agreed that this hearing should be considered a continuation of the trial of the case had on December 13, 1895.”

When the mortgage was offered in evidence by plaintiff, defendant Baehel Murphy objected to it as irrelevant, immaterial, and incompetent. The objection was overruled, and this ruling is specified as error. It does not appear from the transcript that an exception was taken to the ruling. The mortgage was clearly admissible as to defendant M. E. Murphy, the mortgagor, and, being so, it was incumbent upon defendant in making this general objection to point out specifically wherein the evidence would be irrelevant, immaterial, or incompetent. (Thompson v. Thornton, 50 Cal. 142; Brumley v. Flint, 87 Cal. 471; Crocker v. Carpenter, 98 Cal. 418.) But the defendant did not except, and the objection must be deemed to have been waived. (McCartney v. Fitz Henry, 16 Cal. 184; Turner v. Tuolumne etc. Co., 25 Cal. [368]*368397; Keeran v. Griffith, 34 Cal. 580; Russell v. Dennison, 45 Cal. 338.)

The mortgage, however, is before us, having been offered by plaintiff and admitted by the court, and the fact was also shown that the mortgagee, W. H. Lee, now deceased, was the notary before whom it was acknowledged. There is no evidence, however, that defendant Rachel Murphy knew that it was acknowledged before the mortgagee, except such as would be imparted by the identity of the name of the notary and the mortgagee, but there is evidence, and the court so found, tending to show that she had actual knowledge of the mortgage prior to filing her homestead.

This brings us to consider defendants’ points: 1. That the mortgage upon its face shows it was acknowledged by the mortgagee; 2. That therefore the mortgage was not entitled to record, and is to be deemed not recorded; and 3. That actual knowledge of the mortgage by appellant would not prevent her from filing a homestead that would have priority of the mortgage.

1. Does the identity of the name with that of the mortgagee raise the presumption of the identity of person?

Section 1963, subdivision 35, of the Code of Civil Procedure declares that certain presumptions are satisfactory, if uncontradicted, and, among them, “identity of person from identity of name.”

In Thompson v. Manrow, 1 Cal. 438, defendant was sued in this state as John P. Manrow upon a judgment entered against John P. Manrow in the city of New York. There was no proof that they were the same persons. It was held that prima facie the defendant was the same person mentioned in the judgment. (See 1 Greenleaf on Evidence, sec. 575, note 3.)

In Mott v. Smith, 16 Cal. 534, it was held that the deed, from the identity of names, and by its reference to the source of title, contains sufficient prima facie evidence as to identity of person to admit it in evidence, and that before additional proof of such identity could be required, some circumstances must be shown to create doubts upon that point.

In Carleton v. Townsend, 38 Cal. 319, it was held that a deed offered in evidence to show the transmission of title from a for[369]*369mer grantee, in which, the name is identical with that of the grantee in the older deed, is prima facie evidence that the two persons are the same, even though the two deeds recite the residence of the person to be at different places.

In Douglas v. Dakin, 46 Cal. 49, it was held, where William J. Douglas was plaintiff in an action for rent, and the defendant set up a judgment obtained in another court against William J. Douglas without averring identity, that the identity of the parties is to be presumed from the identity of names. -

In Stapleton v. Pease, 2 Mont.

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Bluebook (online)
51 P. 549, 119 Cal. 364, 1897 Cal. LEXIS 903, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lee-v-murphy-cal-1897.