Rocky Mountain Packing Co. v. Branney

393 P.2d 131, 1964 Wyo. LEXIS 140
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedJune 10, 1964
Docket3199
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 393 P.2d 131 (Rocky Mountain Packing Co. v. Branney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rocky Mountain Packing Co. v. Branney, 393 P.2d 131, 1964 Wyo. LEXIS 140 (Wyo. 1964).

Opinion

Mr. Justice GRAY

delivered the opinion of the court.

On October 16, 1962, appellee, Frances Branney, commenced an action in conversion for damages in the sum of $1,000.00 against the defendants, V. J. Simms and Bonita W. Simms, hereinafter identified as “debtors”; and on the same day, charging that debtors had absconded with intent to defraud creditors, caused a writ of attachment to issue out of the district court accompanied by a notice of garnishment to the Wyoming National Bank, Casper, Wyoming. Service of the writ and notice was made on the same day, and on October 24, 1962, garnishee answered that it had in its possession and under its control the sum of $998.07 belonging to debtors. In the meantime, on October 19, 1962, appellant Rocky Mountain Packing Co., Inc., another creditor of debtors, commenced an action on an open account against debtors and also caused a writ of attachment and notice of garnishment to be served on the Wyoming National Bank. Following this, appellant filed its application to intervene in appellee’s action. In essence, the pleading of appellant as a result of its garnishment alleged a lien upon the funds in the hands of the garnishee; alleged that appellee’s action was wholly without merit; alleged that it was a mere fraudulent pretense to acquire funds belonging to the debtors; and by its proffered answer prayed that appel-lee’s attachment and garnishment be voided. Appellee denied the charges of appellant and asked that appellant’s application to-intervene be denied. Thereupon the trial court proceeded to hear the matter and by order to which further reference will be-made, granted the intervention.

Upon trial, the court found generally for the appellee against debtors and appellant; entered judgment for appellee in the-full amount of the sum garnisheed; and. directed that the garnishee forthwith deposit said sum with the clerk of court for satisfaction of appellee’s judgment. Appellant, appeals from the judgment entered and from the order granting it the right to. intervene.

The complaint of appellant concerning the order permitting intervention is that it unduly restricted appellant’s participation in the proceedings by attempting to confine the issues between appellant and appellee to the charge of fraud. In this, connection it should also be noted that while appellee at all times vigorously resisted the intervention of appellant, she-has not appealed from the order allowing it. For that reason we shall assume without deciding that appellant is correct in its basic premise that it came into the action as a matter of right and therefore as inter-venor its participation could not be so limited. Notwithstanding, we find no basis, for appellant’s complaint.

By its application appellant asked to be let in for the purpose of showing that ap-pellee’s claim of conversion “is completely without merit and the above entitled action was filed merely as a means of attempting to acquire” moneys belonging to debtors. At the time it also tendered a proposed answer to appellee’s action, which in substance simply reiterated the charges made in the application but in addition contained a general denial of appellee’s complaint. The prayer was for the court to determine that appellee’s attachment was “completely without merit and without any legal foundation whatever and is therefore void” and further that appellant’s attachment be adjudged as “legally authorized” pursuant to its “just claim” against debtors.

*133 Upon hearing, the trial court as indicated above granted intervention; and while it is true that the order by way of summarization might be regarded as indicating that appellant was limited as contended, we do not so read it. The significant language is that appellant “is hereby allowed to intervene in the above entitled action for the purpose of showing that the plaintiff’s claim against the defendants is completely without merit and that the same was filed merely as a means of attempting to secure unto her possession certain moneys which have been attached and which are on deposit with the Wyoming National Bank, of Casper.” Compare this with appellant’s stated purposes for intervention as made in its application. The substance is the same. Of course, we would readily agree that the order is somewhat ambiguous and that the meaning of the language employed is unclear as demonstrated by the difficulty encountered by the trial court and counsel in the trial of the case. Nevertheless, it would seem that appellant, having employed the language in the first instance and having had its request granted in full by the order assailed, can scarcely be heard here to complain.

Further than this, appellant admits that even though terms of the order could be regarded as imposing limitations in deprivation of its claimed rights, such limitations were not enforced and the record bears this out. Appellant’s answer was permitted to stand; appellee was required to go forward with proof to establish her claim against debtors; appellant’s counsel was accorded unrestricted cross-examination of appellee’s witnesses; and appellant without hindrance was permitted to introduce evidence on its own behalf, all of which went to the merits of appellee’s claim. Under the circumstances, if there was error in the terms of the order, it is not shown here that such error in any way prejudiced appellant.

Reverting now to the claimed erroneous judgment, appellant first argues that there was insufficient evidence to sustain the judgment upon appellee’s theory of conversion. We need not dwell upon that contention for the reason that by way of amendment to her complaint appellee stated an alternative claim against debtors for breach of contract, and as we view it the record sustains the judgment on that theory. Of course, appellant does not concede that the amendment is properly before us, but we hold that it is. It was first offered and allowed at the pretrial conference, subject to a showing of prejudice by appellant which was never made. Further than this, no objection was made to evidence introduced by appellant to sustain such claim, and under Rule 15(b), W.R.C.P., the pleadings are deemed amended in that respect. Apparently anticipating that such might be the holding here, appellant then asserts that even on this theory the evidence was insufficient.

In support of this contention it is first advanced that appellee, failed to prove damage as the result of the claimed failure of debtors to fulfill the terms of their agreement. Such a contention has, of course, been decided adversely to appellant by the trial court, and as a consequence our only concern is to determine whether or not the record contains substantial evidence sufficient to support the finding made. Woolsulate, Inc. v. Fremont Lumber Company, 75 Wyo. 492, 297 P.2d 818, 820.

Turning to pertinent portions of the evidence, the appellee testified that as the owner of restaurant premises and equipment operated in conjunction with her motel she entered into a lease agreement without term with the debtors sometime in the month of November 1961 whereby debtors were to take over and operate the cafe at a rental of $500.00 per month. The equipment had been purchased new in March 1961 from Knapp Supply at Casper, Wyoming, at an approximate cost of $10,-480.00.

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Bluebook (online)
393 P.2d 131, 1964 Wyo. LEXIS 140, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rocky-mountain-packing-co-v-branney-wyo-1964.