People ex rel. O'Connell v. Noonan

114 N.E. 928, 276 Ill. 430
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 21, 1916
DocketNos. 10560-10382
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 114 N.E. 928 (People ex rel. O'Connell v. Noonan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People ex rel. O'Connell v. Noonan, 114 N.E. 928, 276 Ill. 430 (Ill. 1916).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Cooke

delivered the opinion of the court:

At the June term, 1913, of the county court of Cook county the county collector of Cook county made application for judgment and order of sale against certain real estate for delinquent taxes and special assessments. Among the tracts against which judgment was sought were certain lots in Edward T. Noonan’s subdivision of the city of Chicago, against which there had been extended amounts aggregating about $4200 on account of a special assessment. Appellant Edward T. Noonan filed objections to the application for judgment against these lots. A hearing was had upon these objections and the cause was taken under advisement. On July 31, 1913, judgment was rendered against all lots and tracts as to which no objections had been filed, but no judgment was then rendered against the lots involved in this appeal. Thereafter, in June, 1914, the collector advertised appellant’s lots for sale under the judgment of July 31, 1913. Noonan thereupon filed his motion to quash the process and notice of sale, alleging that there had been no judgment and order of sale against said lots. The court sustained this motion, and on October 20, 1914, entered an order finding, in substance, that no judgment had been rendered against said lots on July 31, 1913, and directing that said process and notice of sale be quashed. Afterwards, on December 5, 1914, the county court rendered judgment and entered an order of sale against said lots on the application of the county collector made at the June term, 1913. The judgment order recites, among other things, that E. T. Noonan was present in person and by W. J. Donlin, his attorney, and that the order was entered with the consent of the said E. T. Noonan. It also recites that said E. T. Noonan did there in open court waive and release all errors in the judgment and order or in the prior proceedings, and agreed that no appeal should be prosecuted from said judgment, that no writ of error should be sued out thereon, and that no steps of any kind should ever be taken, by a bill in chancery or otherwise, to prevent or interfere' with the collection thereafter of the said special assessment, by the sale of the property assessed or otherwise. This judgment was thereafter attacked in the county court of Cook county by two separate proceedings, one by appellant Edward T. Noonan, who on September 22, 1915, filed what he designated a motion under section 89 of the Practice act to correct certain errors of fact by striking out of the judgment- order those portions which stated that he was present in person and by attorney and consented to the entry of the order and waived and released all errors, etc. The other proceeding was a motion by appellants George I. Hicks, trustee, Joseph Hedrick, trustee, and John A. McCormick, to quash the process and notice of sale under said judgment upon two grounds: (i) That the judgment of December 5, 1914, was not a valid judgment; and (2) that said judgment was invalid because of the prior order and judgment of October 20, 1914, wherein, it was alleged, the same matters were adjudicated and settled adversely to appellees. Both motions were decided against appellants and judgments were entered accordingly. Separate appeals followed, which have been consolidated in this court.

In support of the motion of appellant Noonan to correct certain errors of fact under section 89 o,f the Practice act by striking out portions of the judgment order of December 5, 1914, he offered the affidavits of John E. Owens, who was the judge of the county court at the time'the judgment of December 5, 1914, was rendered, and of William J. Donlin, Noonan’s attorney, and also his own affidavit, which in substance set forth that said judgment of December 5, 1914, was rendered upon the last day of the term of office of said Owens; that the order was handed to said Owens by counsel for the city of Chicago, who stated to him that the matter was pending under advisement and requested him to sign the same; that neither said Noonan nor said Donlin, his attorney, was present in court when the judgment order was signed, and that said order is incorrect in its recitals to the effect that Noonan was present in person and by attorney, that he consented to the order and that he released all errors, etc. The judgment order of October 20, 1914, was also offered in connection with the affidavits. The collector appeared and filed objections to the form and sufficiency of the motion. As a motion of this kind is in the nature of a new suit, (Domitski v. American Linseed Co. 221 Ill. 161,) the motion took the place of a declaration and the objections made amounted to a demurrer.

Section 89 of the Practice act abolishes the writ of error coram nobis, and provides that all errors in fact committed in the proceedings of any court of record, and which by the common law could have been corrected by that writ, may be corrected by the court in which the error was committed, upon motion in writing made at any time within five years after the rendition of final judgment in the case, upon reasonable notice. It will thus be seen that while the writ of error coram nobis has been abolished, the same errors which at the common law could have been corrected by that writ may now be corrected, under section 89 of the Practice act, upon motion in writing, by the court in which the error was committed.

“The office of the writ of coram nobis is to bring the attention of the court to and obtain relief from errors of fact, such as the death of either party pending the suit and before judgment therein; or infancy, where the party was not properly represented by guardian; or coverture, where the common law disability still exists; or insanity, it seems, at the time of the trial; or a valid defense existing in the facts of the case, but which, without negligence on the part of the defendant, was not made, either through duress or fraud or excusable mistake, these facts not appearing on the face of the record, and being such as, if known in season, would have prevented the rendition and entry of the judgment questioned.” (5 Ency. of Pl. & Pr. 27.) This text is amply supported by authority. It will thus be seen that it is only such errors of fact as do not appear upon the face of the record which could be cured by the writ of error coram nobis or may now be corrected under section 89 of our Practice act. The alleged errors here sought to be corrected are findings of fact contained in the judgment order itself. It is only concerning matters of which the judgment itself is silent that the court may entertain a motion, under section 89 of the Practice act, to correct errors in fact, and affidavits in support of such motion cannot be heard to contradict the record.

It is elementary that the judgment of a court imports absolute verity. In Mains v. Cosner, 67 Ill. 536, a motion was made under this provision of the Practice act to correct .an error in fact and to set aside the judgment for the reason that at the time of the issuing and service of the summons and pleading and entry of judgment the defendant was a minor under the age of twenty-one years and appeared by attornéy instead of by guardian. It was there held that nothing can be assigned for error which contradicts the record, and whéther a minor appeared by attorney can be determined only by an inspection of the record itself. In passing upon this question we said: “The question whether or not plaintiff in error appeared only by an attorney is one which underlies the entire merits of the application and can be determined by us only by inspection of the record itself.

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

Related

Southmoor Bank & Trust Co. v. Willis
155 N.E.2d 308 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1958)
Taylor v. State
120 N.E.2d 165 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1954)
Bishopp v. Risser
79 N.E.2d 835 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1948)
Thompson v. the People
75 N.E.2d 767 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1947)
The People v. Rave
65 N.E.2d 23 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1946)
People Ex Rel. Waite v. Bristow
62 N.E.2d 545 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1945)
Nugent v. Toman
23 N.E.2d 43 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1939)
People v. DuBois
13 N.E.2d 87 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1938)
People v. Williams
11 N.E.2d 640 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1937)
Woodward v. Ruel
188 N.E. 911 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1933)
First National Bank v. Galbraith
271 Ill. App. 240 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1933)
The People v. Bruno
179 N.E. 129 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1931)
Central Trust Co. of Illinois v. Hagen
171 N.E. 531 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1930)
Martin v. Starr
255 Ill. App. 189 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1929)
Hickman v. Ritchey Coal Co.
252 Ill. App. 560 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1929)
Cole v. Blankenship
30 F.2d 211 (Fourth Circuit, 1929)
Mitchell v. Eareckson
250 Ill. App. 508 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1928)
Central Trust Co. v. Hagen
249 Ill. App. 507 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1928)
McCord v. Briggs & Turivas
249 Ill. App. 516 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1928)
Jacobson v. Ashkinaze
249 Ill. App. 479 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1928)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
114 N.E. 928, 276 Ill. 430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-oconnell-v-noonan-ill-1916.