Robinson v. Bossinger

112 S.W.2d 637, 195 Ark. 445, 1938 Ark. LEXIS 13
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJanuary 24, 1938
Docket4-4911
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 112 S.W.2d 637 (Robinson v. Bossinger) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robinson v. Bossinger, 112 S.W.2d 637, 195 Ark. 445, 1938 Ark. LEXIS 13 (Ark. 1938).

Opinion

Smith, J.

This is the second appearance of this case in this court. The former opinion, reported under the style of Robinson v. Means, Judge, 192 Ark. 816, 95 S. W. 2d 98, was an application for a writ of prohibition to restrain the trial of that case in the Hot .Spring circuit court, upon the ground that the purported service of process conferring jurisdiction of the case upon that court had been obtained by trickery and fraud. The opinion in that case recites the facts relating to the manner in which the service was had, and will not be here repeated.

The relief there prayed was denied, for the reason, stated in a headnote to that case, that “Where jurisdiction depends upon certain facts, that question must be decided by the trial court; and though he should decide wrong, the error can be corrected only by appeal.”

Notwithstanding- this refusal to pass upon the question of .fact there presented in the application for a writ of prohibition, the intimation is rather strong that if the facts there alleged to be true were shown to be true, on the final appeal of the cause, the service would be quashed as having been obtained in a manner which could not be condoned.

After the writ of prohibition had been denied the matter was further heard upon the trial from which this appeal comes'. Upon this further hearing of the motion to quash, additional testimony was offered, which leaves no doubt that Robinson was inveigled into Hot Spring county by the false statement that his services were desired as chauffeur to drive Kelly Hall, a near relative of one of the three plaintiffs who had on that day filed suits for damages ag'ainst both Robinson, the chauffeur, and Mrs. Austeel, his employer and the owner of the taxicab which Robinson was driving- at the time the collision occurred which resulted in the injuries to compensate which the suits had been brought. The testimony makes certain the fact that Hall was acting for and on behalf of all three plaintiffs pursuant to a prearranged plan, that Robinson, by deception, should be induced to come within the confines of Hot Spring county and be served with process there, and that upon the service thus secured service might later be had upon Mrs. Austeel at her home in Garland county. The testimony was so convincing that the trial judge, in commenting upon it and in overruling the second motion to quash the service, stated that if the case had been as fully developed originally he “would have had no hesitation in quashing the service, because the court would have thought the service ought to be quashed under the circumstances. ’ ’

Notwithstanding this view of the court as to the impropriety of the practice under which service was had, the motion to quash was overruled, for the reason that the defendants had, in the meantime, consented to a continuance of the cause and to an order of the court setting the cause down for a day certain for trial. This action of the court is said to have been based upon the authority of the case of J. C. Engleman, Incorporated, v. Briscoe, 172 Ark. 1088, 291 S. W. 795, particularly, as well as certain other cases cited in the briefs, holding that an application for a continuance is an affirmative act which enters an appearance, even though the original service was defective.

Section 1398 of Pope’s Digest provides that transitory actions (such as the instant case) may be brought in any county in which the defendants, or one of several defendants, resides, or is summoned, and the insistence is that Robinson having been served in Hot Spring county it was thereafter permissible to sue his employer in the same county by obtaining service on her m G-ar-land county, where she resides.

It is undisputed that neither defendant resides in Hot Spring county, so that it was essential, to give the Hot Spring circuit court jurisdiction, that valid service be had on one of the defendants in Hot Spring county.

We do not think the service sufficient for that purpose. In the case of Hot Springs Street Railway Co. v. Henry, 186 Ark. 1094, 57 S. W. 2d 1050, a headnote reads as follows: “Where a defendant by prearrangement permitted himself to be served with process in a county not of his residence, in order to enable plaintiffs to obtain jurisdiction over a nonresident codefendant, the cause will be dismissed as a fraud upon the court. ’ ’ As ground for so holding we quoted from the case of Wernimont v. State, 101 Ark. 210, 142 S. W. 194, Ann. Cas. 1913D, 1156 as follows: “ ‘If the transaction is color-able and collusive and, the resident person not a defendant in fact and in good faith, then service of process upon him would be incapable of laying the foundation for jurisdiction of the court over nonresident defendants served with summons in other counties. Upon such facts being' made known to the court, it would be its duty to quash the service of summons upon such nonresident defendants. Such defendants cannot be dragged from the forum of their residence by any sham or contrivance to evade suit against them in a court in the county where they reside. Such a perversion of the court’s process is a fraud practiced upon the court, which should receive its condemnation upon being made aware of it.’ ”

At § 17 of the chapter on Process in 21 R. C. L., p. 1275, it is said: “If a person is induced by artifices or fraud to come within the jurisdiction of a court for the purpose of obtaining service of process on him, and process in an action broug’ht against him in such court is there served, it is an'abuse of legal process and the fraud being shown, the court will, on motion, set aside the service. The same rule applies where the presence of the defendant within the jurisdiction of the court is procured by force, or by abuse of criminal process.”

We conclude,' therefore, that the motion to-quash the service should have been sustained.

The application for a writ of prohibition was denied by- this court on June 8, 1936. Thereafter an answer was filed on July 13, 1936, but the case was not called for trial at the regular term of the court which convened July 20, nor was it called for trial at the adjourned term of that court held in October immediately following.

This answer contained the following allegations and recitals:

“The defendants, Elmer Robinson and Mrs.

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

Related

Trelfa v. SIMMONS FIRST BANK OF JONESBORO
254 S.W.3d 775 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2007)
Raymond v. Raymond
36 S.W.3d 733 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2001)
Raymond v. Raymond
19 S.W.3d 52 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2000)
Oden Optical Co. v. Optique Du Mond, Ltd.
598 S.W.2d 456 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1980)
Little Rock Distributing Co. v. Ouachita County Circuit Court
531 S.W.2d 33 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1975)
William Penn Fraternal Ass'n v. Hickman
506 S.W.2d 823 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1974)
Carter v. Cummings
473 S.W.2d 437 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1971)
Cowan v. Patrick
448 S.W.2d 336 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1969)
Tickle v. Barton
95 S.E.2d 427 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 1956)
American Farmers Insurance Co. of Phoenix v. Thomason
234 S.W.2d 37 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1950)
Goodyear Tire Rubber Company v. Meyer
191 S.W.2d 826 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1945)
Margos v. Moroudas
40 A.2d 816 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1945)
Sinclair Refining Co. v. Bounds
127 S.W.2d 629 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1939)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
112 S.W.2d 637, 195 Ark. 445, 1938 Ark. LEXIS 13, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robinson-v-bossinger-ark-1938.