Reeves v. Reeves

123 N.W. 869, 24 S.D. 435, 1909 S.D. LEXIS 52
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 15, 1909
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 123 N.W. 869 (Reeves v. Reeves) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reeves v. Reeves, 123 N.W. 869, 24 S.D. 435, 1909 S.D. LEXIS 52 (S.D. 1909).

Opinion

SMITH, J.

Elizabeth B. Reeves, the plaintiff and respondent, brought an action in the circuit court of Lincoln county, against Harry L. 'Reeves, defendant -and appellant, alleging in her complaint, that she and the defendant were husband and [436]*436wife; 'that the plaintiff at the beginning of this action, and for more than six months immediately prior thereto', was and had been in good faith a bona fide resident of the state of South Dakota; that Janette Reeves, a daughter nine years of age is the only issue of the marriage; that plaintiff and defendant have not lived or cohabited together since Tanuary i, 1905, and, particularly during 1905, the defendant has treated the plaintiff in ■an extremely cruel and inhuman manner. The complaint also negatives any connivance or collusion on the part of plaintiff and defendant, and prays for an absolute divorce. The defendant, Harry D. Reeves, appearing by his counsel thereunto duly authorized, filed an answer in said action, 'denying all the allegations of the complaint except the marriage, and birth and age of the minor daughter, which are admitted. Thereafter the parties plaintiff and defendant, through their counsel, entered into a written stipulation, under which the issues in said cause were duly tried before the Honorable Joseph W. Jones, presiding judge of that circuit, on the 6th day of August, 1906, the defendant appearing by his duly -authorized attorney, and thereafter findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a decree of absolute divorce were duly rendered and entered in favor of the plaintiff and against defendant, on the 6th day of August, 1906. Notice of filing and entry of said findings, decree and judgment, was duly served on defendant's attorney on the 7th day of August, 1906. On the 20th day of July, 1907, the defendant, through his attorney, served a notice of intention to move for a new trial, specifying as grounds therefor: First, insufficiency of the evidence to sustain the finding, conclusion and decree; second, insufficiency of the evidence to justify the finding that plaintiff’s bona fide residence and domicile were in the state of South Dakota. Said notice of intention specified that the motion for a new trial would be based upon the minutes of the court. For some reason not disclosed by the record the motion for a new trial appears never to have been passed upon by the trial court. On the same day — the 20th of July, 1907 — the defendant also served upon plaintiffs counsel a motion to- set aside, annul, and vacate the findings and decree on the grounds (1) that «aid [437]*437judgment was obtained by fraud and deceit, -and (2) that the court did not have jurisdiction of said cause and of the parties, or jurisdiction to pronounce said judgment or decree, because neither party to said cause had a domicile in South Dakota or was a bona fide resident of the state of South Dakota. Said notice of motion was based upon certain affidavits served therewith, and upon the pleadings, files, record, and stenographer’s report of the testimony. Upon the return day of the motion, and before the hearing thereof, plaintiff filed written objections thereto-, to the effect -that the court was without jurisdiction, under the provisions of the statutes or any rule of the law, to consider such motion. Thereafter, and on the 21st day of November, 1907, the court entered an order overruling and denying appellant’s motion, which order contained the recital, “This ruling is not made upon consideration of its merits, but solely upon the ground that the defendant, having appeared in this 'action, answered, and participated in the trial, had full, ample remedy for the matters now complained of by motion for a new trial, and he cannot lawfully maintain the present motion.” To the making and entering of this order, appellant duly excepted, and has brought this exception to this court for review. It appears from this record that the trial court did not pass upon the cpiestions of fact thus presented, but held that the findings and judgment of the court could not be attacked in the manner proposed by this motion. .The precise views of the trial court upon the question presented by -the motion are not clearly disclosed by the recitals in thi-s order, but it may be fairly assumed that what the court meant was merely, that on -the whole record, as then presented by appellant, he could not raise such questions by this motion. Assuming that this was the view entertained by that court, it becomes necessary to very briefly examine the motion itself, and -the showing presented by appellant’s accompanying affidavits and record, for the purpose of determining whether the motion and showing are such as would warrant the relief demanded under it, and to ascertain the precise character of the attack upon the findings and judgment.

Briefly stated, appellant’s contention was that the facts he [438]*438presented show conclusively that the court which enered the judgment was absolutely without jurisdiction, because neither party was ever domiciled within the state of South Dakota, and the findings and decree were not valid and binding upon either plaintiff or defendant. The evidence presented to the court upon the trial, bearing on the question of plaintiff’s residence and domicile within the state, is set out in full, and upon its face is entirely sufficient to sustain the findings and conclusions of the court on the subject of residence or domicile. Pollock v. Pollock, 9 S. D. 52, 68 N. W. 176. The contention of appellant appears to lie that by certain facts stated in these affidavits, which occurred after the trial, it was made conclusively to appear that- the evidence of the plaintiff as to her residence and domicile, given before the trial court, was false and perjured, and therefore the court was without jurisdiction because of the lack of domicile thus disclosed. Very briefly stated,: The facts shown by the affidavits are to the effect that, within a day or two after the entry of this judgment and decree, respondent disappeared from the state of South Dakota, and on- the 10th day of August, 1906, registered as a guest at a hotel m the city of Philadelphia, Pa., and on the nth day.of August, 1906, was married to one Walls, a resident of that city, and since said -time, respondent, with her -husband, has been a resident of the city of Philadelphia. Upon this showing, the trial court was asked to hold that the judgment and decree of the court wert ■absolutely null and void for want of jurisdiction, and that the same should be vacated and set aside. The argument of appellant’s counsel is that the facts disclosed by 'the affidavits referred to show conclusively that, at the time of the trial and prior thereto, there was an entire absence of animus manendi on the part of the plaintiff, and for that reason the court was without jurisdiction. It is a sufficient answer to this contention of appellant that the cuestión of domicile, which was before the trial court for determination as a question of fact, involved necessarily, a consideration by that court of the animus manendi ais an element of domicile. The motion was merely an attempt to prove to the trial court by affidavits that the testimony of [439]*439the plaintiff upon the subject of her residence and domicile within the state prior to the granting of the decree was false and fraudulent. In this examination of appellant’s motion, we have not gone into respondent’s showing by affidavits, as lo her residence, controverting the appellant’s affidavits. We have considered only appellant’s showing, and are not called upon to decide anything as to controverted facts.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
123 N.W. 869, 24 S.D. 435, 1909 S.D. LEXIS 52, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reeves-v-reeves-sd-1909.