Martin v. Minnekahta State Bank

64 N.W. 127, 7 S.D. 263, 1895 S.D. LEXIS 68
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 27, 1895
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 64 N.W. 127 (Martin v. Minnekahta State Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Martin v. Minnekahta State Bank, 64 N.W. 127, 7 S.D. 263, 1895 S.D. LEXIS 68 (S.D. 1895).

Opinion

Puller,-J.

This' action, which was to recover certain funds deposited with the defendant bank, by and to the credit of plaintiff, on the 14th day of August, 1890, was by stipulation tried to the court, without a jury, and resulted in a judgment in favor of plaintiff and against the defendant, for $1,647.57, including interest, costs and disbursements; and the defendant appeals. The complaint alleges, and the answer admits, that on the 14th day of August, 1890, plaintiff deposited with the defendant bank to his own account $1,428.52, and upon the same day drew a check against said account for $23.70, which was promptly paid when presented, and that a check drawn upon said account by the plaintiff upon the following day for the full amount remaining in the said bank to his credit, was presented, and payment thereof was refused. It appears from defendant’s answer, and from the evidence in the case, that on the 1st day of August, 1890, a default judgment was obtained against defendant and another for $1,410.65 in a cause entitled ‘‘Archibald Hanna v. Tolerton & Stetson Co., a corporation, and the Minnekahta Bank, a corporation”; that, on the 12th day of said month, by virtue of an execution issued upon said judgment, the sheriff levied upon $1,410.65 of the money found in defendant’s possession at its place of business, and, after the seizure thereof,, deposited, the same to his individual credit with the defendant bank, and as evidence of the transaction took a certificate of deposit, in the usual form, payable to his order upon the return thereof properly indorsed. The execution was thereupon returned fully satisfied, the judgment discharged of record, and [267]*267the certificate of deposit was endorsed and turned over to the plaintiff herein, who was one of the attorneys for the judgment creditor, and who surrendered the same, and apparently deposited with defendant, subject to check, the amount thereof, on the 14th day of August, 1890. On the 26th day of the same month, the court made an order vacating and setting aside said judgment previously discharged and satisfied of record, and the defendant Tolerton & Stetson Company was allowed 30 days within which to answer in said action..

.The only issue of fact presented by the pleadings in the case is whether the deposits of the money seized on execution by the sheriff and evidenced by a certificate of deposit issued to him, and which was indorsed to plaintiff, and by the defendant bank placed to the plaintiff’s credit, at his request, upon the surrender thereof, were unconditional and in the ordinary course of business, or made subject to an agreement and understanding that the money was in effect to remain the property of and in possession of defendant until after the motion to vacate the judgment was disposed of by the court, and was to be subject to plaintiff’s check only in the event said motion was denied. The certificate of deposit issued to Seth Gifford, sheriff, at the time he deposited the money seized on. execution in the defendant’s bank, contained no conditional stipulation other than a statement that the amount specified therein was payable in current funds to the order of Seth Gifford, upon the return of said certificate properly indorsed, and the entry made in the bank book delivered to plaintiff at the time he surrendered the certificate properly indorsed is unconditional, and indicates a deposit subject to check, according to the custom and usage of banks. The court, apparently upon its own motion, and without notice to defendant’s counsel, after finding the substantial issues in favor of plaintiff, and against the defendant, and after the finding and entry of such findings, together with its conclusions of law and the judgment rendered thereon, made certain additional, though consistent, findings of fact, conform[268]*268ing more specifically to the decision as orally announced at the conclusion of the trial; and these latter findings were filed nunc pro tunc as of November 7, 1892, bearing the date upon which the original findings of fact were filed and entered. It is maintained by counsel for appellant that a court is without power to make additional findings after the original findings of fact and conclusions of law have been filed and judgment entered thereon. As it does not clearly appear that the original findings were fatally insufficient, nor that appellant was prejudiced by the additional findings, the irregularity complained of should, in our’opinion, be disregarded.

Appellant proposed no findings of fact, and, so far as disclosed by the record, no exception was taken to the original findings of the court; and, as the findings are in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant, and appear to be sustained by the evidence, we would be reluctant to reverse the judgment upon this assignment of error. Hutchings v. Castle, 48 Cal. 152. Under our statute, the court may, in furtherance of justice, when the substantial rights of the adverse party are not affected by the exercise of its discretion, seasonably amend its written findings of fact to correspond to the oral announcement thereof at the time the decision was made, and file the same nunc pro tunc after the entry of judgment. Comp. Laws, Secs. 4938, 4939, 4941; Insurance Co. v. Boon, 95 U. S. 117; Williams v. Ely, 13 Wis. 1; Manufacturing Co. v. Adams (Minn.), 50 N. W. 360. Upon the evidence, which was conflicting, concerning the nature of the transaction between the sheriff and plaintiff, and with the defendant bank, the court was reasonably justified in making the following findings of fact: “9. That, on the 1st day of August, 1890, one Archibald N. Hanna obtained a default judgment in this court against the defendant in the sum of $1,410.65; that the said judgment was satisfied in full and discharged of record on August 14, 1890; that said judgment was satisfied by Seth Gifford, as sheriff of Fall River county, by making a levy, on August 12, 1890, upon certain [269]*269money in the hands of the defendant bank, to the amount of the said judgment, interest and accrued costs. 10. That, after making said levy and taking the said money into his possession, under the execution and in satisfaction of said judgment, the said Seth Gifford deposited the amount thereof with the defendant bank, on August 12, 1890, taking for said deposit the certificate of deposit hereinbefore referred to; that said deposit was made and said certificate issued absolutely, and in the usual course of business, and without any terms or conditions attached thereto other than as shown in the said certificate; that there was no understanding or agreement between the defendant and the said sheriff that the sheriff would hold the said certificate of deposit until an application of the defendant to set aside said judgment could be heard and determined; nor was it agreed between the said parties that if the said application should be determined in favor of the defendant, that the said sheriff would return the said certificate of deposit to the said defendant; nor were there other conditions or agreements between said parties in regard to the return thereof to the defendant. 11.- That, when the plaintiff received the said certificate of deposit by assignment from the sheriff, Seth Gifford, and also when he deposited the proceeds of the same with the defendant bank, he had no knowledge that there were any terms or conditions attached to the said certificate, except such as appeared upon the face of the certificate, or that any such terms or conditions were claimed by the defendant bank to be attached to the said certificate.

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Bluebook (online)
64 N.W. 127, 7 S.D. 263, 1895 S.D. LEXIS 68, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martin-v-minnekahta-state-bank-sd-1895.