Nolan v. Glynn

183 Iowa 21
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedMarch 12, 1918
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 183 Iowa 21 (Nolan v. Glynn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nolan v. Glynn, 183 Iowa 21 (iowa 1918).

Opinion

Gaynor, J.

This appeal is from the action of the court in sustaining a demurrer to a petition filed by the plaintiff, in which she alleges the following facts as a basis for recovery :

On the 20th day of November, 1911, she obtained judgment against the defendant William H. Glynn. On the 15th day of February, 1912, the said William H. Glynn, defendant, appealed to the Supreme Court from the judgment so rendered, and for the purpose of staying further pro[22]*22ceedings on said judgment, executed a bond, the material provisions of which are as follows:

“Now if the said appellant, W. H. Glynn, shall pay to said appellee all costs and damages that shall be adjudged against said appellant on said appeal, and shall also satisfy or perform the said judgment or order appealed from, in case it shall be affirmed, and any judgment or order which the Supreme Court may render or order to be rendered by the said district court, then this obligation to be void, otherwise to be and to remain in full force and effect.”

The bond so executed was signed by the other defendants as sureties. The case so appealed was duly submitted to the Supreme Court, and, on the 25th day of September, 1913, the judgment was reversed, and the cause remanded to the district court for further proceedings. A procedendo issued, directing the district court to proceed in the manner required by law, and in harmony with the opinion. On the 30th day of March, 1914, the district court, in obedience to the order of the Supreme Court, proceeded to a retrial of said cause to a jury, and on the 3d day of April, 1914, another verdict was rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant Glynn, and judgment entered thereon. No part of the last judgment has been paid by the defendant or anyone for him, and said judgment remains wholly unsatisfied. The plaintiff claims that the failure to pay said last named judgment constitutes a breach of the conditions of the appeal bond given by the defendant to supersede the execution of the first judgment.

Plaintiff further alleges that, in order to protect her rights, as evidenced by said judgment, she has been compelled to employ counsel, and incurred expense for counsel fees in a large sum. She also alleges that the costs in neither the first nor the second trial have been paid. She further alleges that defendant Glynn, after filing the bond, disposed of all his property, leaving insufficient to pay [23]*23either of said judgments. She prays that she may have judgment against the defendants, as sureties upon the appeal bond, for the amount of the last named judgment,, together with the costs accruing on both trials, with expenses for attorneys’ fees, etc.

To this petition defendants demurred, on the ground that the petition shows on its face that the Supreme Court reversed the judgment entered in the lower court, and remanded the said cause to the district court for further proceedings, and specifically shows that no judgment was rendered in the Supreme Court against these defendants' or either of them; nor did the said court order any judgment entered in any other court against either of these defendants, and the only judgment entered by said Supreme Court was a judgment against the plaintiff.

This demurrer was sustained by the court, and judgment was entered, dismissing plaintiff’s petition. From this, plaintiff appeals.

The only question presented here is whether the facts stated by the plaintiff entitle her to the relief prayed for.

The action originally brought was to recover damages for a breach of promise of marriage. This was tried to a jury, and a judgment rendered in plaintiff’s favor. Defendant appealed from the judgment, claiming that the judgment was not binding on him as a judgment, for the reason that errors were committed in procuring the same, to the prejudice of the defendant. To stay the execution of the judgment, pending the appeal, he gave the bond in question, with the defendants herein as sureties. This is what is denominated a supersedeas bond, and is provided for in Section 4128 of the Code of 1897, and reads as follows:

“No proceedings under a judgment * * * shall be stayed by an appeal, unless the appellant executes a bond with one or more sureties * * * to the effect that he will pay to the appellee all costs and damages that shall be [24]*24adjudged against him on the appeal; and will satisfy and perform the judgment * * * • appealed from in case it shall be affirmed, and any judgment * * * which the Supreme Court may render, or order to be rendered by the inferior court. * * * When thus filed and approved, the clerk shall issue a written order requiring the appellee and all others to stay all proceedings under such judgment.”

The bond given was given under this statute, and the only purpose and object of the bond, and all that it accomplished, was to stay proceedings under the judgment appealed from until final disposition in the court to which the appeal was taken.

The conditions of the statute and of the bond were:

1. That the sureties on the bond will pay to the appellee all costs and damages that shall be adjudged against him on the appeal.

2. To satisfy and perform the judgment appealed from, in case the same is affirmed.

3. To pay any judgment which the Supreme Court may render.

4. To pay any judgment which the Supreme Court may order to be rendered in the court from which the appeal was taken.

1. The liability of the sureties must be found in their obligation, and cannot be extended beyond that. Their duty and their obligation are contractual ones, and must be found within the limits of the contract made. No obligation is imposed upon the sureties by the bond, except those obligations which they assumed in their contract. Had the sureties bound themselves to pay, or had the bond been conditioned for the payment of any judgment that might subsequently be rendered against the defendant, a different , question would be presented. Here, the only obligation assumed by the sureties was to pay costs and damages-assessed against the defendant on appeal. No costs or damages were assessed against the defendant on appeal.

[25]*252. To satisfy and perform the judgment appealed from in case it was affirmed. It was not affirmed, and this condition on which they were required to pay did not arise..

3. To satisfy any judgment which the Supreme Court may order. The only judgment ordered by the Supreme Court was a judgment against the plaintiff for the costs of the appeal.

4. To satisfy any judgment which the Supreme Court on the appeal found the plaintiff entitled to, and ordered the district court to enter. On appeal this court did not find the plaintiff entitled to anything, reversed the case, and remanded it for retrial.

The reversal constitutes a declaration that the judgment below was not rightly entered, on account of errors found in the record which vitiated the judgment. A declaration from- this court that the judgment was- wrongly entered against the defendant is, in effect, a declaration that the plaintiff had no judgment which she had a right to enforce against the defendant. The giving of the supersedeas bond in question, therefore, was to stay the execution of a judgment which this court found was wrongfully entered against the defendant. The staying of such a judgment worked no prejudice to the plaintiff.

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

Related

Crozier v. Freeman Coal Mining Co.
2 N.E.2d 293 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1936)
United States v. Murphy
261 F. 751 (Eighth Circuit, 1919)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
183 Iowa 21, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nolan-v-glynn-iowa-1918.