Lumas Film Corp. v. Superior Court

264 P. 792, 89 Cal. App. 384, 1928 Cal. App. LEXIS 107
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 21, 1928
DocketDocket No. 5868.
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 264 P. 792 (Lumas Film Corp. v. Superior Court) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lumas Film Corp. v. Superior Court, 264 P. 792, 89 Cal. App. 384, 1928 Cal. App. LEXIS 107 (Cal. Ct. App. 1928).

Opinion

HOUSER, J.

The facts in this matter appear to be that the petitioner herein is a foreign corporation; that in an action brought against it in this state an alleged service of summons was made in accordance with the provisions of subdivision 2 of section 411 of the Code of Civil Procedure; that thereupon the defendant made a motion to quash the service of summons, which resulted in the denial of said motion. Thereafter petitioner presented to this court its petition for a writ of prohibition to be directed to the lower court, restraining it from taking further proceedings in the action. An alternative writ was issued. On the principal ground that the petition does not state facts sufficient to entitle petitioner to the writ for which it prays, respondent has demurred to the petition.

In the lower court the motion to quash service of summons was heard on affidavits introduced by the respective parties appearing before the court. The gist of the question presented to such court was whether jurisdiction of the person of the defendant had been acquired. On the part of the moving party, the facts as set forth in the affidavits upon which it relied tended to establish that the corporation was not “doing business” in this state at the time it was served with the summons in the action; nor was the person upon whom the alleged service was had the or any officer denomi *386 nated in the statute as the proper person upon whom to serve such process. On the other hand, by affidavits introduced in its behalf, the respondent to such motion presented facts which showed to the contrary of the conclusions sought to be established by the moving party in the matter before the court. It thus becomes evident that in deciding the ultimate question of jurisdiction, the lower court was basing its conclusion upon the implied finding of facts, to wit: that at the time the action was commenced the defendant was “doing business” in this state, and that the service of process was properly had upon a person designated by the statute. In such circumstances it is also manifest that the granting by this court of the peremptory writ of prohibition necessarily would involve on its part an examination of the evidence adduced in the lower court solely with a view to a determination by this court of the correctness of the conclusion as to matters of fact reached by the lower court on evidence properly before it. No direct authority for such procedure has been produced by petitioner; nor is this court aware of the existence of any authority which would indicate that such a course would be'in accordance with settled procedure or correct in principle. On the other hand, the law is thoroughly settled that on appeal, findings of fact made by the trial court on substantial evidence in support thereof are conclusive so far as the appellate tribunals are concerned. This court is advised of no reason why a similar rule should not obtain in a proceeding of the nature of that here involved. To hold otherwise, and to reach a conclusion different in any respect from that reached by the trial court, would amount to nothing less than a new trial by this court on the facts, and a substitution of the conclusion by this court thereon for the conclusion with reference to such facts as found by the trial court.

In Beaulieu Vineyard Co. v. Superior Court, 6 Cal. App. 242 [91 Pac. 1015], it is held that the writ of prohibition lies to prevent a proceeding without or in excess of jurisdiction only; that it is a preventative and not a corrective remedy; and that it will not lie to review the regularity of the proceedings of a court within its jurisdiction, nor to determine the sufficiency of evidence to support its findings, nor any question of mere error in the exercise of jurisdiction. *387 To the same effect in principle is the case of Murphy v. Superior Court, 84 Cal. 592 [24 Pac. 310], where it is ruled that where a court has power to determine a jurisdictional fact, its determination cannot be collaterally attacked- upon an application for the writ of prohibition. With the exception that the case of Dickinson v. Zubiate Mining Co., 11 Cal. App. 656 [106 Pac. 123] was heard on appeal, in its material facts it closely resembles the instant case. It was there held that where, on a motion to quash the service of summons, the court acted on conflicting evidence, its conclusion could not be disturbed by the appellate court.

In the case of Mines D’Or de Quartz Mountain Société, etc., v. Superior Court, 91 Cal. 101 [27 Pac. 532], in principle the rule is laid down that the question of whether a court has acquired jurisdiction of the person of a defendant is primarily for the determination of such court, and that its decision thereon cannot be reviewed through the medium of the writ of prohibition. The syllabus therein is as follows: “Where a court has jurisdiction of the subject-matter of an action, and has ordered that the summons be served upon the defendants by publication, the question as to whether it acquires jurisdiction over the defendants so served is one which the court has authority to pass upon, and a writ of prohibition will not lie to restrain the court from further proceeding in the action until the defendants should appear or be personally served with the summons, on the alleged ground that the case is not a proper one for the publication of summons.”

In Lange v. Superior Court, 11 Cal. App. 1 [103 Pac. 908], a writ of prohibition was prayed for the purpose of restraining the execution of a judgment for contempt for the violation of an injunction. The ground upon which the writ was asked was that jurisdiction in the lower court was lacking in that the complaint in the action was defective and because of failure of proof of the violation of the injunction. In denying the peremptory writ, in part the court said:

“Jurisdiction is ‘authority to hear and determine a cause. Since jurisdiction is the power to hear and determine, it does not depend upon the regularity of the exercise of that *388 power or upon the rightfulness of the decision there made.’ (17 Am. & Eng. Ency. of Law, p. 1041.) . . .
“It is equally well settled that a wrong decision by a court as to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a finding cannot be questioned in this proceeding. (Beaulieu, Vineyard Co. v. Superior Court, 6 Cal. App. 250 [91 Pac. 1015]; Wreden v. Superior Court, 55 Cal. 504.)”

The rule that prohibition will not lie where the determination of the question of jurisdiction of the lower court properly depends, on a finding of fact by such court is aptly stated in 22 Ruling Case Law, page 12, as follows: “ ... if the court has jurisdiction of the subject matter, and the determination of the question as to jurisdiction of the person depends on contested facts which the inferior tribunal is competent to inquire into a/nd determine, prohibition will not be granted though the court should be of the opinion that the questions of fact have been wrongly determined by the court below, and, if rightly determined, would have ousted the jurisdiction. (In re Alix,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Mills Music, Inc. v. Lampton
104 P.2d 893 (California Court of Appeal, 1940)
Fels v. Justice's Court
83 P.2d 721 (California Court of Appeal, 1938)
August Belmont & Co. v. Superior Court
4 P.2d 158 (California Court of Appeal, 1931)
Jardine v. Superior Court
2 P.2d 756 (California Supreme Court, 1931)
Bullard v. Superior Court
288 P. 629 (California Court of Appeal, 1930)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
264 P. 792, 89 Cal. App. 384, 1928 Cal. App. LEXIS 107, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lumas-film-corp-v-superior-court-calctapp-1928.