Sandoval v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.

100 P. 816, 12 Ariz. 348, 1909 Ariz. LEXIS 106
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 20, 1909
DocketCivil No. 1093
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 100 P. 816 (Sandoval v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sandoval v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 100 P. 816, 12 Ariz. 348, 1909 Ariz. LEXIS 106 (Ark. 1909).

Opinion

CAMPBELL, J. —

The complaint alleges that in April, 1907, one Epes Randolph recovered a judgment in the district court of Santa Cruz county, against the defendants in this action, A. Sandoval and P. Sandoval, for the sum of $10,528.33; that the defendants appealed from the judgment to this court, and applied to the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, a corporation (hereinafter referred to as the Guaranty company), for a bond to be given on appeal to stay the judgment; that in the application for the bond the defendants covenanted “to reimburse said company for any and all loss, costs, charges, suits, damages, counsel fees, and expenses of whatever kind or nature which said company shall or may for any cause at any time sustain or incur or be put to for or by reason or in consequence of said company having entered into or executed said bond”; that in consideration of the [351]*351agreement the Guaranty company agreed to and did execute the bond on appeal, in a sum double the amount of the judgment and costs; that the judgment of the court below was affirmed by this court on or about March 27, 1908, and judgment rendered against the defendants, and against the Guaranty company, for the amount recovered in the lower court, together with interest and costs; that a motion for rehearing was filed and denied on or about the 16th of May, 1908; that thereafter, and prior to the twenty-fourth day of June, 1908, the plaintiff received notice from the governor of the Territory of Arizona to the effect that the judgment of the supreme court of the Territory of Arizona had not been paid; that more than thirty days had elapsed from the rendition of the judgment, and to the effect that, unless the judgment was paid, or sufficient excuse for the nonpayment thereof shown, the company would forfeit its rights to transact business as a surety company in the Territory of Arizona; that plaintiff promptly notified the defendants of said notice having been received by them from the governor, and that defendants, on the twenty-fourth day of June, 1908, had wholly failed to pay the said judgment or to appeal therefrom to the supreme court of the United States, and that on the twenty-fourth day of June, 1908, plaintiff paid Randolph, in satisfaction of the judgment and interest, the sum' of $11,484.95, and that upon said date said sum was due and owing upon the said judgment; that the plaintiff has paid, for charges and expenses, by reason and in consequence of having entered into and executed the bond, the sum of $676.75; that the plaintiff has demanded of the defendants that they reimburse it in the said several sums paid out, and that the defendants have refused to reimburse the plaintiff in said sum, or any part thereof; that in order to collect the said sum from the defendants, it has become necessary for the plaintiff to employ counsel to bring and institute this action, and plaintiff has agreed to pay said counsel a reasonable fee and charge for the institution and prosecution of this suit, and as plaintiff is informed and believes, the reasonable cost of the institution and prosecution of this suit will be the sum of $3,000, be the same more or less. Judgment was demanded in the sum of $13,911.70, together with interest. The defendants demurred to the complaint, on the ground that it does [352]*352not state a cause of action, and by way of answer admit the facts set forth as to the judgment having been rendered, the application for, and the execution of, the bond, the appeal, the affirmance of the judgment by this court, and the denial, of the motion for a rehearing, deny that the plaintiff received the notice from the governor of the Territory, as alleged, and also deny that the plaintiff paid to Randolph for the defendants, in satisfaction of the judgment, any sum of money, or that any sum of money was due upon the said judgment, and allege that after the judgment was affirmed in this court, and the motion for rehearing denied, a notice of appeal was • duly given to the supreme court of the United States; that said cause was thereafter transferred to the supreme court of the United States, and is now pending in said court; that no execution has ever been issued upon said judgment, and that, if the plaintiff in this case has ever paid the amount of said judgment, it has done so by reason of its own negligence, voluntarily, and not at the request-of the defendants, or by any order of the court, or in satisfaction of any judgment The cause was tried to the court without a jury, and resulted in a judgment for $14,683.25 and costs, in favor of the Guaranty company. From this judgment, and from an order refusing a new trial, this appeal is brought.

The testimony shows that on March 27, 1908, the judgment of the district court was affirmed in this court, and that pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 1592, Civil Code of 1901, judgment was also entered against the Guaranty company as surety upon the appeal bond. Thereafter, within the time allowed by law, a motion for a rehearing was made, which motion was denied by this court May 19, 1908. The action having been tried before the court without a jury, an appeal to the supreme court*of the United States from the judgment of this court was prayed, and was allowed by one of the justices of the court on June 20, 1908. In the order allowing the appeal it was directed that the judgment be stayed upon the appellants filing their supersedeas bond in the sum of $20,000, to be approved by any justice of this court. This order was filed with the clerk June 22, 1908. A bond in proper form was approved by one of the justices on July 14th, and filed with the clerk on July 15, 1908. Citation was issued July 18,1908, and served on July 31,1908. It also [353]*353appears that on or about June 18th, the judgment creditor, Randolph, demanded of the Guaranty company that it pay the judgment; that on June 24, 1908, the Guaranty company paid the judgment in full, and thereafter, and as a part of the transaction, took from Randolph a bond, with collateral ■security, for the return.of the amount paid him, with interest, should the supreme court of the United States reverse the judgment of this court.

Appellants assign as error the overruling of their demurrer, insisting, first, that the complaint is bad for the reason that it does not show that the Sandovals had not paid the judgment at the time that the Guaranty company paid it. The complaint alleges that “said defendants, on the twenty-fourth day of June, 1908, had wholly failed to pay the said judgment, . . . and upon said date said sum was due and owing upon said judgment, ’ ’ and this, we think, is clearly sufficient.

It is also complained that the complaint fails to allege that the amount sued for in this ease was unpaid by the Sandovals to the Guaranty company at the time of the commencement of this action. The allegation of the complaint in this respect is that “this plaintiff has demanded of the said defendants that they reimburse this plaintiff in the said several sums paid out as aforesaid, and that the defendants have refused to reimburse the plaintiff in said sum, or any part thereof. ’ ’ While this allegation might not have been sufficient as against a special demurrer, we do not regard it as an entire failure to state an essential fact, but only a defective statement of the fact of nonpayment, good when tested only by a general demurrer.

In considering the question whether the complaint as an entirety states a' cause of action, it will be helpful to notice the statutes of the United States governing appeals from this court to the supreme court of- the United States, and the decisions of the supreme court construing them.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
100 P. 816, 12 Ariz. 348, 1909 Ariz. LEXIS 106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sandoval-v-united-states-fidelity-guaranty-co-ariz-1909.