Prime v. Hinton

244 A.D. 181, 279 N.Y.S. 37, 1935 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5787
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedApril 12, 1935
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 244 A.D. 181 (Prime v. Hinton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Prime v. Hinton, 244 A.D. 181, 279 N.Y.S. 37, 1935 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5787 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1935).

Opinion

Merrell, J.

Plaintiff, the wife of the defendant, brought this action to recover alimony claimed to be due under a final judgment of divorce granted in the State of Nevada in 1931. The defendant contends that the Nevada judgment was obtained by plaintiff [182]*182through fraudulent representations which induced the defendant to submit himself to the jurisdiction of the Nevada court. Plaintiff and defendant were married in New York on November 7, 1925. The defendant was a practicing physician. The evidence shows that the parties lived together harmoniously and without any disagreement or trouble until July, 1931. According to the affidavits in opposition to plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment it is stated, and is not denied by plaintiff, that plaintiff, on July 3, 1931, told the defendant that she was unhappy and desired a divorce because of the fact that the defendant was so wrapped up in his profession that he neglected her; and that he did not pay her the attention that he should. The defendant was greatly surprised at such statement, and endeavored to dissuade plaintiff from taking steps for a dissolution of their marriage. The defendant particularly inquired of plaintiff, when she thus expressed herself, whether she was interested in or in love with any other naan, telling her that if there was any other man involved he would look at the matter quite differently, and that in such a case plaintiff could expect no help or co-operation from him. Plaintiff positively denied the suggestion that she was interested in any other man, and induced the defendant to accede to her wishes. The proofs clearly show that at that time and for some time prior thereto plaintiff had been engaged in adulterous relations with a man by the name of William Truesdell, and had accepted expensive gifts from Truesdell, and had been guilty of improper conduct with him on many occasions. Relying on the truth of plaintiff’s protestations that she was not interested in any one else, the defendant, on August 6, 1931, entered into a formal separation agreement, a copy of which is annexed to the complaint as Exhibit B. Immediately thereafter plaintiff went to Reno, Nev., where she sojourned for six weeks, and then brought action in that State for divorce, and on September 29, 1931, fifty-four days after the making of the separation agreement, plaintiff obtained a decree of divorce in the Nevada court. Relying on plaintiff’s assertion that she was interested in no one else, and in entire ignorance of her relations with Truesdell, the defendant, at the request of plaintiff, was induced to and did appear in the Nevada action by attorney, thus conferring jurisdiction which otherwise could not have been obtained. No defense was interposed by the defendant in the Nevada action. Thereafter and until June, 1933, the defendant paid the alimony provided in the separation agreement. In June, 1933, the defendant learned of the falsity of plaintiff’s representations whereby he had been induced to appear in the Nevada divorce action, and at once ceased making any further payments of alimony. There is no denial on [183]*183the part of the plaintiff as .to her representations made to defendant to induce him to appear in the Nevada divorce action. Indeed, the affidavit of Dr. Jerome Selinger, who was present at one of the conversations wherein plaintiff protested her innocence of any impropriety, clearly corroborates the affidavit of the defendant as to the false representations made. A large number of affidavits were produced by defendant in opposition to plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment. These affidavits were from eyewitnesses who described many displays of affection and many instances showing an opportunity for the gratification of a lecherous desire oh the part of the plaintiff. It appeared that plaintiff and Truesdell occupied adjoining rooms in the Arundel plantation at Georgetown, S. C., where the plaintiff was sojourning; that they met alone frequently, and were in each other’s company evenings and until late hours of the following mornings. In one of these affidavits, that of Jannett Lord Tucker, who accompanied plaintiff to the Arundel plantation at Georgetown, S. C., in January, 1931, the affiant made oath of having seen plaintiff and Truesdell embrace and kiss each other. She stated that, after Truesdell arrived at the plantation, he and the plaintiff spent the evenings together, remaining up together until the early morning hours; that plaintiff and the affiant occupied the same room during their stay at the plantation, and that plaintiff awakened the affiant when she came into their room to go to bed, and that when she did return in the early morning from being in Truesdell’s company, she was in a nervous and disheveled condition; that on one such occasion she stated to affiant that she desired to commit an indiscretion with Mr. Truesdell, as the temptation was very great in that she could not become pregnant and there was no risk. The affiant states in her affidavit that she remonstrated with plaintiff at length, saying that she would make a terrible mistake to do such a thing and that it might result in ruining her life; and that, though plaintiff then said she agreed with affiant, she remained up with Truesdell the next two nights until three or four o’clock of the following mornings. These affidavits in opposition leave no doubt in my mind that defendant will be able to show at the trial that the Nevada divorce was procured by fraud and misrepresentation, and that the plaintiff was a very bad woman; that only through such fraud was jurisdiction conferred upon the Nevada court.

Jurisdiction over the defendant having been procured through fraudulent representations, which induced defendant to appear in the Nevada action by attorney, the judgment of the Nevada court may be attacked collaterally. A judgment fraudulently obtained is not entitled to protection under the full faith and credit clause [184]*184of the Federal Constitution. (Dobson v. Pearce, 12 N. Y. 156; Andrews v. Andrews, 188 U. S. 14; Hunt v. Hunt, 72 N. Y. 217, 225; Gray v. Richmond Bicycle Co., 167 id. 348, 355.) In Gray v. Richmond Bicycle Co. (supra) the court said (at p. 355): “ Both parties concede that a judgment recovered in a sister State through the fraud of one party in procuring the appearance of another, is not binding on the latter when an attempt is made to enforce such judgment in this State.” (Italics are the writer’s.) When jurisdiction is acquired as the result of a fraudulently induced appearance, a judgment based thereon is fraudulently procured and may be attacked collaterally. (Greenbaum v. Greenbaum, 147 Misc. 411; affd., 239 App. Div. 912; Abercrombie v. Abercrombie, 64 Kan. 29; 67 P. 539; Gray v. Richmond Bicycle Co., 167 N. Y. 348, 355.) Beyond any dispute, the appearance by the defendant by attorney in plaintiff’s action brought in the State of Nevada conferred jurisdiction upon the Nevada court. Without such appearance the judgment obtained by plaintiff would have been of no force or effect in the State of New York. (Cross v. Cross, 108 N. Y. 628; Baylis v. Baylis, 207 id. 446; Matter of Haffner, 254 id. 238, 240.) In Greenbaum v. Greenbaum (147 Misc. 411; affd. by this court, 239 App. Div. 912) the plaintiff brought an action for separation and a decree invalidating a prior Nevada divorce obtained by defendant. In that case plaintiff had been induced to appear in the Nevada action by false and misleading statements.

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Bluebook (online)
244 A.D. 181, 279 N.Y.S. 37, 1935 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5787, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/prime-v-hinton-nyappdiv-1935.