Montgomery v. Realty Acceptance Corp.

15 F. Supp. 665, 1936 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2090
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedJuly 24, 1936
DocketNo. 25
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 15 F. Supp. 665 (Montgomery v. Realty Acceptance Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Montgomery v. Realty Acceptance Corp., 15 F. Supp. 665, 1936 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2090 (D. Del. 1936).

Opinion

NIELDS, District Judge.

This is a motion for a summary judgment against a surety on a supersedeas appeal bond.

A judgment of $80,500 was entered against Realty Acceptance Corporation in the above suit on May 1, 1929. An appeal was taken and defendant gave a supersedeas appeal bond for $90,000 with American Employers’ Insurance Company as surety on June 7, 1929. The condition of the bond is as follows:

“Whereas, the above named Realty Acceptance Corporation, has prosecuted an appeal to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, to reverse the judgment rendered in the above entitled suit, by a Judge of the District Court of the United States for the District of Delaware.
“Now, therefore, the condition of this obligation is such, that if the above named Realty Acceptance Corporation shall prosecute its appeal to effect and answer all damages and cost if it fail to make its appeal good, then this obligation shall be void, otherwise the same shall be and remain in full force and virtue.”

This supersedeas appeal bond was given pursuant to section 1000, U.S.R.S. (28 U.S.C.A. § 869), and rule 13 of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. They provide:

Sec. 1000. “Every justice or judge signing a citation on any writ of error, shall, except in cases brought up by the United States or by direction of any department of the Government, take good and sufficient security that the plaintiff in error or the appellant shall prosecute his writ or appeal to effect, and, if he fail to make his plea good, shall answer all damages and costs, where the writ is a supersedeas and stays execution, or all costs only where it is not a supersedeas as aforesaid.”

Rule 13. “Supersedeas bonds in the district courts must be taken, with good and sufficient security, that the plaintiff in error or appellant shall prosecute his writ or appeal to effect, and answer all damages and costs if he fail to make hi* plea good.”

January 15, 1930, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the [666]*666judgment in the following language: “Affirmed on the findings made by Judge Morris and on his reasoning in entering the verdict.” 51 F.(2d) 636, 641.

February 3, 1930, a petition for rehearing was filed in the Court of Appeals. March 5, 1930, certain after-discovered evidence having come to the knowledge of the attorneys for defendant, defendant petitioned the Court of Appeals for leave to apply to this court to request the court of appeals to remand the cause to this court “to the end that said district court on defendant’s motion might vacate the said judgment in plaintiff’s favor and reopen the cause for the purpose of taking and considering certain newly discovered evidence.” March 25, 1930 an order was entered in the Court of Appeals permitting defendant to “file a petition in the District Court of the United States for the District of Delaware asking the said district court, at its option, to request this court to remand this cause and the record therein to the said district court to the end that it may, if persuaded by the defendant-petitioner, vacate the judgment therein and reopen said cause for the purpose of taking and considering certain newly discovered evidence bearing solely on the quantum of the judgment * * April 10, 1930, defendant moved this court to request the court of appeals to remand the cause to this court. June 23, 1930, this court entered an order requesting the Court of. Appeals to dismiss the appeal of the defendant without prejudice and to remand the cause to this court to the end that this court may vacate the judgment and on application of the defendant reopen said cause for the purpose of taking certain newly discovered evidence bearing solely on the quantum of the judgment. June 28, 1930, the Court of Appeals entered an order dismissing the appeal of defendant without prejudice and remaining the cause to this court pursuant to its request. June 30, 1930, this court entered an order vacating and setting aside the judgment of May 1, 1929, and reopening the cause for the purpose of taking and considering certain newly discovered evidence bearing solely on the quantum of the judgment. Plaintiff appealed from the order of June 30, 1930, upon the ground that this court was without jurisdiction to set aside its judgment after the expiration of the March term, 1929. July 6, 1931, the Circuit Court of Appeals declared:

“The order of the District Court opening the judgment and awarding a new trial on a single issue after the term at which the judgment was entered is on this second appeal reversed. That, on the issuance of the mandate, restores the judgment as entered. The order of the Circuit Court of Appeals dismissing the first appeal is vacated. That reinstates the first appeal in this court. It also automatically revives the suspended petition for rehearing. The petition for rehearing is now denied. That releases the order of affirmance in the first appeal and liberates the mandate. Then the mandate shall go down in due course under the rule. When that is done the judgment below will stand affirmed as entered.
“These several orders however are made without prejudice to the defendant’s right to seek relief by bill in equity.” 51 F.(2d) 642, 644.

October 19, 1931 the Supreme Court of the United States granted a certiorari. 284 U.S. 604, 52 S.Ct. 25, 76 L.Ed. 518. February 15, 1932 that court held: “It follows that the Circuit Court correctly held that what was done subsequently to the affirmance of the judgment in the first appeal was improvident and unauthorized and should be rescinded, and the order which accomplished this end and reinstated the original judgment is affirmed.” 284 U.S. 547, 552, 52 S.Ct. 215, 217, 76 L.Ed. 476.

March 5, 1932, defendant sought relief in this court by bill in equity as suggested at the end of the opinion of the Circuit Court of Appeals. May 10, 1934, this court dismissed defendant’s bill of complaint, finding that relief should be denied for lack of due diligence on defendant’s part. 6 F.Supp. 593. On appeal the decree of this court was affirmed. (C.C. A.) 77 F.(2d) 762. Certiorari was denied. 296 U.S. 590, 56 S.Ct. 103, 80 L.Ed. 418.

Plaintiff, conceives that he is entitled to a summary judgment against the surety on the supersedeas appeal bond given June 7, 1929. Accordingly, December 3, 1935, plaintiff gave written notice to the American Employers’ Insurance Company, surety on that bond, that on December 6, 1935, he would “move for summary judgment against you for the full amount of the supersedeas bond of ninety thousand dollars ($90,000) filed in the above entitled cause, and upon which bond you are surety * * December 6, 1935, plaintiff [667]*667“moves for summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against American Employers’ Insurance Company, a Massachusetts corporation, upon the bond in favor of said Henry G. Montgomery for the sum of $90,000.00 dated June 6, 1929, filed in the above entitled cause by the defendant above named, as principal, and by said American Employers’ Insurance Company, as surety * * December 11, 1935, American Employers’ Insurance Company demurred to plaintiff’s motion on the ground that this court is without power to enter a summary judgment against it.

In Delaware there is no summary judgment statute.

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

Related

American Employers' Ins. v. Montgomery
101 F.2d 1005 (Third Circuit, 1939)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
15 F. Supp. 665, 1936 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2090, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/montgomery-v-realty-acceptance-corp-ded-1936.