Miller Press Factory Inc. v. Douglas

385 F. Supp. 874, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12167
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedFebruary 21, 1974
DocketCiv. No. 1002-73
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 385 F. Supp. 874 (Miller Press Factory Inc. v. Douglas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller Press Factory Inc. v. Douglas, 385 F. Supp. 874, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12167 (prd 1974).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

TOLEDO, Chief Judge.

This cause came to be heard on January 17, 1974. Plaintiffs had requested that an injunction issue against defendant and this Court issued on November 26, 1973, an order to defendant directing [876]*876that he appear on January 17, 1974 to show cause why the relief sought by plaintiffs should not be granted. On January 9, 1974, defendant filed a motion to dismiss based on three grounds: lack of diversity of jurisdiction between the parties; lack of jurisdiction over the person of defendant; and comity.

At the hearing on the motion to dismiss held on January 17, 1974, defendant relied on the sworn statement of defendant and on certified copies of pleadings and other documents filed in the courts of the State of Georgia. Plaintiffs presented the testimony of Herbert A. Miller and certain documents identified by him and admitted in evidence by this Court.

Based on the testimony and the documentary evidence presented by the parties, the Court makes the following

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Plaintiff Herbert A. Miller resided in Puerto Rico from 1956 to 1970. In 1956 he organized, together with Doris Douglas Miller, then his wife, Miller Dress Factory, Inc. of Puerto Rico, a Puerto Rican corporation. The corporation operated in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, for several years, but for various reasons, it ceased operations on or before 1961. Shortly thereafter, all the machinery of the corporation was shipped to the State of Georgia, specifically to the location of another plant owned by another corporation of which Herbert A. Miller was principal stockholder. That other corporation was organized under the laws of the State of Georgia as Miller Dress Factory, a Georgia corporation, Baxley, Georgia.

2. Plaintiff Herbert A. Miller lived and worked in Puerto Rico up to 1970 for various employers. He filed income tax returns in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico up to the year 1969. There is no evidence that he owned property in Puerto Rico after the discontinuation of the operations of Miller Dress Factory, Inc. of Puerto Rico in 1961 and it is clear that he has owned no property in Puerto Rico since at least 1970.

3. Herbert A. Miller possesses an expired driver’s license issued by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and maintains a post office box in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

4. Plaintiff Miller travels three or four times a year to Puerto Rico for personal, not business, reasons and on those occasions he lodges at a house in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, provided free of charge by a friend.

5. Miller stated that his only income is a monthly disability benefit of $240.00 paid to him by the Government of the United States. The checks for this amount are mailed to the Arecibo Post Office box. Miller stated that he picks up the checks on his visits to Puerto Rico. This Court finds it difficult to believe that the $240.00 monthly check constitutes Miller’s sole income.

6. Plaintiff Miller owns a house in Appling County, Georgia, where he currently resides with his only close relative, his mother. The house stands on over 200 acres of land also owned by plaintiff. Miller also owns two airplanes and a junked helicopter which he keeps on his property in Appling County, Georgia. He also owns an automobile in Georgia and has stated in sworn pleadings that he owns a factory and a restaurant in Georgia, which he alleges are unlawfully detained by defendant.

7. Miller Dress Factory, a Georgia corporation, and Miller Dress Factory Inc. of Puerto Rico, according to sworn pleadings filed by plaintiffs before the Courts of the State of Georgia, currently operate from a location in Appling County, Georgia. These corporations have no other offices or places of operation elsewhere.

8. Herbert A. Miller, Miller Dress Factory, a Georgia corporation, and Miller Dress Factory, Inc. of Puerto Rico have filed a petition for injunction against John T. Douglas, defendant herein, before the Superior Court for the County of Appling, State of Georgia. In that action the same allegations are made as in the case now before us and [877]*877the same relief is sought. That action was filed on May 23, 1973 and is still pending before the Georgia Court. The only difference between that action and this is that the Georgia corporation is not a party to the present action. This might be explained by the fact that inclusion of the Georgia corporation in the case at bar would immediately defeat jurisdiction.

9. Herbert A. Miller has filed an action for divorce in the Georgia Courts, against Dorothy Kauffman wherein he alleges that he is a resident of Georgia. In the application for a marriage license with Dorothy Kauffman, Miller gave his residence as Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

10. Herbert A. Miller is also contesting before the Courts of Georgia a divorce judgment decree rendered by the Superior Court for Appling County. That decree was rendered in the case of Doris Douglas Miller against Herbert A. Miller in 1967 and awarded Doris Douglas Miller title to the property involved in the case at bar. Herbert A. Miller has also filed an action before the Georgia Courts where he is contesting various matters related to the last will and testament of Doris Douglas, among which is the title to the property involved in the case at bar.

11. Defendant John T. Douglas, according to his own sworn statement and as admitted by Herbert A. Miller on the witness stand, had never been in Puerto Rico prior to the commencement of this action. All of the actions complained of in the petition for injunction took place in Georgia. The sole basis for plaintiffs’ claim that this Court has'jurisdiction over the person of defendant is that both plaintiffs are allegedly citizens of Puerto Rico.

In view of the. above, the Court arrives at the following

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

The citizenship of a person for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction, under Title 28, United States Code, Section 1332, is determined by his domicile. Brown v. Keene, 8 Pet. 112, 33 U.S. 112, 8 L.Ed. 885 (1834). A person’s domicile is determined by two factors: the objective fact of a person’s residence or physical location and the subjective element of a person’s intention. Mitchell v. United States, 21 Wall. 350, 88 U.S. 350, 22 L.Ed. 584 (1874). Thus, a soldier is ordinarily not considered to be domiciled in the place where he is stationed by military superiors, but in the place where he maintans a home. Similarly, a student is not considered to be domiciled where he goes to attend school, but at the place whence he left.

A Court must look for indicia of intentions once the physical fact of residence has been established. A person’s statement of intention, if believed by the Court, is of course relevant. Other factors must also be considered, such as the place where a person maintains a residence or a place of business, where he owns property, pays taxes and exercises political rights. Mitchell v. United States, supra.

In the case at bar, Herbert A. Miller, has had certain ties to Puerto Rico, but these seem insubstantial at the present time.

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

Related

General Electric Co. v. Cugini
640 F. Supp. 113 (D. Puerto Rico, 1986)
White v. All America Cable & Radio, Inc.
642 F. Supp. 69 (D. Puerto Rico, 1986)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
385 F. Supp. 874, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-press-factory-inc-v-douglas-prd-1974.