Odeneal v. Halley

1952 OK 312, 251 P.2d 1048, 207 Okla. 642, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 873
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 30, 1952
Docket34129
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 1952 OK 312 (Odeneal v. Halley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Odeneal v. Halley, 1952 OK 312, 251 P.2d 1048, 207 Okla. 642, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 873 (Okla. 1952).

Opinion

PETERSON, S. J.

This is an action attacking the validity of a tax deed. For convenience the parties will be referred to as plaintiffs and defendant as they appeared in the trial court.

The material allegations set out in plaintiffs’ petition are in brief as follows: That plaintiffs are the owners of all the title in and to, and are entitled to the immediate possession of, the following described land in Wagoner county, State of Oklahoma, to wit: West % of the N.W. y4; and N.E. % of the N.W. y4 of Sec. 22, Twp. 19 N., Range 16 E.; that the defendant is wrongfully in possession of said land; that defendant claims some right, title or interest therein, the exact nature of which is unknown to plaintiffs; and that such claim should be canceled.

The defendant, in his answer to the petition, denies that plaintiffs own any title but avers that he claims all of the fee-simple title in and to said land, and rests his title upon a county treasurer’s resale deed, dated May 1, 1939, issued to one Harry Dyer, who purchased the land at the 1939 tax resale in Wagoner county, and who, on June 9, 1939, by quitclaim deed conveyed all the title to defendant; that defendant has been in peaceable and exclusive possession thereof ever since, paying all taxes thereon.

To the defendant’s answer the plaintiffs replied in part as follows:

“Said plaintiffs further state that the tax deed mentioned and set forth in defendant’s answer is void and said sale therein referred to was void for the following reasons, to-wit:
“1. House Bill 121 of the Acts of the 1939 Legislature contains the emergency clause and became immediately effective as to all parts thereof, except Sections 1 and 11, upon the approval thereof on April 15, 1939. That Section 17 of said Act repealed Sections 12753, 12754 and 12755, Oklahoma Statutes, 1931. Said repeal withdrew all authority of the County Treasurer of Wagoner County to sell said property at resale.
“The emergency attached to said Act was not effective as to Sections 1 and 11, thereof, until July 18, 1939, so therefore on May 1, 1939, there was no law in effect in the State of Oklahoma authorizing the sale of property for delinquent taxes.
“2. The notice of the 1939 resale was published in the Record Democrat, Wagoner, Oklahoma, for the first time on March 16, 1939. That on March 16, 1939, the fourth quarter of the 1938 taxes were not delinquent. That the county treasurer in said notice stated:
“ * * provided that for each parcel, or tract other than vacant lots situated in a city or town, the bidder offers a sum equal to or greater than the full amount of ad valorem and special taxes, including paving assessments and drainage assessments due and unpaid thereon, together with all interest, penalties and costs accrued. * * *’.
“That in said resale notice, said treasurer inserted the total amount of $258.70, which total amount included the fourth quarter of the 1938 taxes, which were actually due, but which were not delinquent at the time of first publication of said notice.
“3. That the county treasurer of Wagoner county in selling the above described property at the 1939 resale sold the same for all taxes due including all of the 1938 taxes, and endorsed on the 1938 tax rolls the statement: ‘1938 taxes cancelled at 1939 resale.’
“4. That the notice of resale of the above described premises for the year of 1939 set forth as the amount of taxes delinquent in a sum in excess of the correct legal amount.”

The issues, which were joined by the pleadings as above stated, were tried *644 to the court without the intervention of a jury. Naomi M. Harris, deputy county treasurer of Wagoner county, was the only witness testifying on behalf of plaintiffs. This witness, in brief, testified that Vol Odom was the county treasurer in 1939; she identified the official record of the proceedings covering the sale of the land had at the 1939 resale. She was asked by counsel for plaintiffs: “I notice at the bottom of this record it has the total delinquent as $252.42 and the total due $258.70; do you know what represents the difference there between the total due and the total delinquent, if you know?” Witness answered, “No, sir; I don’t know.”

The witness further testified that all the figures appearing in the record were not those of the present county treasurer or his deputies but were those of former county treasurer, Vol Odom. That the 1938 tax roll relating to the land shows the 1938 taxes canceled.

On cross-examination the witness stated that the total taxes on said land for the year 1938 was $27.09. That one-fourth of $27.09 is $6,771/4 and that the sum of $6,771/4 and $252.70 is $259.19y4, which, she stated, does not correspond with the $258.70. Defendant’s counsel then asked the witness: “Can you say now whether the taxes for the last quarter of 1938 were added to that figure, or not?” Answer: “I do not know.”

The witness further testified that the records show that the land was sold to Harry Dyer for $275 and deed, dated May 1, 1939, was issued to the purchaser, and that the surplus of $16.30 went to the former owner.

The plaintiffs introduced documentary evidence relating to the resale proceedings of the land, including copy of the list of delinquent taxes and copy of the notice of the 1939 sale of the property.

At the conclusion of the testimony submitted by plaintiffs and defendant, the defendant demurred to the evidence of the plaintiffs and moved for judgment on the evidence in his favor. The court sustained the demurrer and motion and dismissed plaintiffs’ petition.

In due time the plaintiffs asked for a new trial and gave the following as their reasons therefor:

“1. Error of the court in sustaining the demurrer of the defendant, Harry L. S. Halley.
“2. Error of the court in granting judgment to the defendant Harry L. S. Halley.
“3. Error of the court in not entering a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, cancelling the tax deed.
“4. Newly discovered evidence, material for plaintiffs, which they could not, with reasonable diligence, have discovered and produced at the trial.”

The following affidavit, omitting the formal portion thereof, was attached to the motion for new trial:

“Fred W. Martin, being first duly sworn, states: That on the afternoon of Saturday, February, 19th, 1949, he ac-cidently met Mrs. Vol Odom, who was the county treasurer of Wagoner county, Oklahoma, in 1939. That Vol Odom does not now live in Wagoner, and said affiant did not know that he would be here on said date. That Mr. Vol Odom is now employed by the State Examiner and Inspector, and was in Wagoner on his way to Muskogee, Oklahoma, to attend the meeting of the State League of Young Democrats. That in discussing this case with Vol Odom, said affiant discovered for the first time that if he was called as a witness in this case that he would testify as follows:
“That he (Vol Odom) prepared the notice of resale held in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, in 1939.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1952 OK 312, 251 P.2d 1048, 207 Okla. 642, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 873, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/odeneal-v-halley-okla-1952.