Salisbury v. LaFitte

22 Colo. App. 90
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 15, 1912
DocketNo. 3428
StatusPublished

This text of 22 Colo. App. 90 (Salisbury v. LaFitte) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Salisbury v. LaFitte, 22 Colo. App. 90 (Colo. Ct. App. 1912).

Opinion

Walling, J.

[92]*92In tlie district court, the appellee, plaintiff in the action, recovered judgment against the defendants therein, Salisbury and Wildeboor, who have appealed from that judgment;

1. Defendants demurred to the complaint on the ground that it did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action; and that objection being renewed here by a suitable assignment of error, it will be considered at the outset. The complaint, which was filed August 27th, 1907, was one to recover damages for alleged conversion by the defendants of a promissory note, secured by deed of trust on real estate, executed to a public trustee. The objections urged against the sufficiency of the complaint are: First, that it failed to show that the plaintiff was in possession, or had the right to immediate possession of the note at the time of the supposed conversion; second, that it did show that the note and trust deed were in custodia legis, at the time of the alleged conversion thereof, and consequently, that plaintiff could not have had such possession or right of possession, as would sustain her subsequónt action for conversion of the same. Neither of these objections appears to be valid. The first is based upon the initial allegation of the complaint, that “she (plaintiff) is the owner and entitled to possession of” the described note. But the sufficiency of the complaint cannot be determined from that allegation alone. It was further therein alleged that the note and trust deed were levied upon by the sheriff of Pueblo county, “and garnished in the hands of said public trustee, who then had possession for the purpose of foreclosure” and that the same were given over to said sheriff by [93]*93order of court, upon an execution in favor of defendant Salisbury against the plaintiff, “to be sold by tbe sheriff and proceeds applied on said execution or judgment;” and that Salisbury wrongfully prevented the sale of the note, and induced the sheriff to turn over to him the note and trust deed, and, after that was done, “wrongfully and fraudulently converted said note and deed of. trust' to his own use and benefit,” etc. Construing the complaint liberally, as we are bound to do upon this demurrer, it appears therefrom, in a general way,* that the securities in controversy were taken from the possession of plaintiff’s bailee, by garnishee process under execution against appellee in favor of Salisbury, and, pursuant to an order of the court out of which the process issued, turned over to' the sheriff for sale, the proceeds to be applied on the execution; and that Salisbury in some manner induced the sheriff to turn the note and trust deed over to him, without any sale, and thereupon converted the securities to his own use. If these allegations are true, Salisbury was clearly liable to appellee for the wrongful conversion of the securities; and it could not avail him to say that they were in the custody of the law, by virtue of the levy and garnishment proceedings, under execution, if he in fact obtained possession of the securities, by in*ducing the sheriff to violate his duty under the order of the court and the writ.

It was further alleged that the note was amply secured and was worth its face value with accrued interest; and that at some time, not stated, “the defendant Salisbury wrongfully and fraudulently transferred or delivered the note and deed of trust [94]*94to the defendant Wildeboor;” followed by allegations to the effect that the latter acquired no better title than Salisbury had, and that each of the defendants had wrongfully converted the securities. It may be conceded that the allegations of the complaint were wholly uncertain and ambiguous; but it was sufficient to state a cause of action as against the objections made on behalf of appellants.

2. It is further insisted, for the appellants, that the district court erred in its ultimate findings and judgment against them, as well as in overruling their motion for a new trial; and the argument in that behalf, requires a further investigation of the pleadings and proceedings.

The defendants filed an answer to the complaint, which contained six separate alleged defenses. Appellants rely on the first and fourth of those defenses only; and the determination of the question arising on the appeal does not demand special consideration of the rest of the answer. By the first defense, defendants denied each and every allegation of the complaint, “ except as herein expressly admitted and stated.” The defense did not indicate what was included in the exception from the general denial, and, for that reason, was evasive and insufficient, if attacked by motion or demurrer. The code expressly authorizes ‘ a general or specific denial of each material allegation in the complaint intended to be controverted by the defendant.” Mills’ Ann. Code, sec. 56. It is believed to be correct practice when the defendant does not wish to deny all allegations of the complaint, to admit a part and deny generally the remainder. But when that form of denial is adopted, it should definitely ap[95]*95pear what is admitted, and what is intended to be. controverted. It is probable, from an examination of the entire answer, that the exception from the general denial in the first defense was intended to refer to an admission, in the so-called sixth defense of the answer, of the allegations of the complaint respecting the levy upon the note and trust deed by the sheriff of Pueblo county, under execution, and the order of court in the garnishment proceeding, turning them over to the sheriff for sale, etc. To be sure, each separate defense must be regarded as if it stood alone, and should be complete in itself, unless it distinctly and intelligibly refers to what is stated elsewhere in the answer; but, inasmuch as no objection was made to the form of the denial, by motion or demurrer, it may be regarded-as putting in issue the material allegations of the complaint. — Bessemer I. D. Co. v. Woolley, 32 Colo., 437, 444.

The fourth defense of the answer set forth in ipsis verbis an “order and judgment,” alleged to have been duly given and made on the twenty-first day of December, 1903, in an action then pending in the district court of Pueblo county, “between George Salisbury, plaintiff, and Mary LaFitte, defendant, and Belle Buckley, intervenor, and A. T. Stewart, garnishee.” This judgment recited a hearing upon the petition of Belle Buckley, intervenor, “the answer of George Salisbury, plaintiff,” as well as the “traverse of Mary LaFitte disclaiming any interest in the matter in controversy,” the trial of “the issue in said cause” by a jury, and the verdict of the jury finding “the issues joined in favor of the plaintiff, George Salisbury, and against the intervenor, [96]*96Belle Buckley. ’ ’ Whereupon the Pueblo county district court found that the note therein described (being the same note described in the complaint in the instant case) “was the property of Mary LaFitte at the time of the service of the garnishment process herein on the fourteenth day of August, 1903,” and that the note was in the custody of the clerk of the court. And it was adjudged that said note be turned over to the sheriff of Pueblo county to be sold, “upon a writ of venditioni exponas to be issued out of this court, or upon a special order in pursuance of the judgment and decree herein to be prepared by the clerk of this court;” and the application of the proceeds of the sale by the sheriff was directed.

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

Related

Anderson v. Sloan
1 Colo. 33 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1867)
Golden Paper Co. v. Clark
3 Colo. 321 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1877)
Gargan v. School District No. 15
4 Colo. 53 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1878)
McClure v. Smith
14 Colo. 297 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1890)
Wilson v. Hawthorne
14 Colo. 530 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1890)
Kannaugh v. Quartette Mining Co.
16 Colo. 341 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1891)
Bessemer Irrigating Ditch Co. v. Woolley
32 Colo. 437 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1904)
People ex rel. La Fitte v. District Court
33 Colo. 257 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1905)
Mortgage Trust Co. of Pennsylvania v. Redd
38 Colo. 458 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1906)
La Fitte v. Salisbury
43 Colo. 248 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1908)
Baldridge v. Leon Lake Ditch & Reservoir Co.
20 Colo. App. 518 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1905)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
22 Colo. App. 90, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/salisbury-v-lafitte-coloctapp-1912.