Sebree v. Rosen

374 S.W.2d 132
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedJanuary 13, 1964
Docket49887
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 374 S.W.2d 132 (Sebree v. Rosen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sebree v. Rosen, 374 S.W.2d 132 (Mo. 1964).

Opinion

STORCKMAN, Presiding Judge.

This is the second appeal in an equity suit involving controversies among the children of Pete and Sarah Rosen concerning property of their deceased parents. The first amended and supplemental petition consisting of fourteen counts sought to cancel and set aside an inter vivos trust agreement, supplements thereto, deeds and agreements, and to recover money, real and personal property, and for other relief. From the judgment rendered at the first trial, cross-appeals were taken and this court on review of the judgment affirmed in part and reversed in part. Sebree v. Rosen, Mo., 349 S.W.2d 865, 892. Three counts, including Count VIII, were reversed and remanded to the trial court. The present appeal is from the judgment and decree on Count VIII rendered November 13, 1962, following the remand. Reference is made to the original opinion for a complete statement of the facts developed at the first trial and the issues decided on appeal. For present purposes we are concerned only with Count VIII.

In Count VIII of the first amended and supplemental petition, the administrator of the estate of Sarah Rosen, deceased, and certain of the children alleged the existence of a fraudulent conspiracy among the defendants Jacob Rosen, Betty Rosen, Sue Hyken, Carl Hyken, Mary Bodney and Bernard Bodney to influence Sarah Rosen unduly and to coerce and trick her into executing a written document dated July 13, 1954, referred to as the “forgiveness agreement” purporting to forgive, release, and annul various notes and receivables of the face amount of $46,000, which belonged to Sarah Rosen in her lifetime and thereafter were assets of her estate. Further, the count sought to set aside a purported warranty deed to Mary Bodney of certain real estate which was the subject of an option contract and on which there remained an unpaid balance which constituted a receivable described in the forgiveness agreement, and to set aside all purported satisfactions of said receivables *135 including the contract of sale and cancellations of deeds of trust securing the receivables and to restore the obligations to full validity and enforceability against the respective makers and for ancillary relief. 349 S.W.2d 871-872.

At the first trial the judgment on Count VIII was in favor of the defendants, but on appeal this court found that the forgiveness agreement and the related transactions were fraudulent and void. The judgment was reversed and Count VIII was remanded. In doing so, this court at 349 S.W.2d 883 stated that the judgment on Count VIII was reversed and the cause was “remanded with directions to enter judgment in conformity herewith.” Further, at page 892 of 349 S.W.2d, the opinion states that the three counts, including Count VIII, were reversed and “said counts remanded for further proceedings in conformity herewith.”

After remand of the cause, the plaintiffs filed a motion for entry of a separate judgment and decree on Count VIII and attached thereto a form of judgment and decree which they sought to have entered. Neither party undertook to amend the pleadings. At the hearing on plaintiffs’ motion, the plaintiffs offered no evidence; the defendants, over the plaintiffs’ objection, offered evidence bearing on the balance due on the six promissory notes and the Bodney option contract. The judgment and decree entered on Count VIII followed the format and substance of the decree tendered by the plaintiffs except that it gave credits for payments made on the notes and option contract generally in accordance with the proof offered by the defendants. From this judgment both parties have again appealed. The plaintiffs contend that they are entitled to recover an additional amount of $21,-005.44 by way of principal and interest on the six promissory notes and an additional sum on the Bodney option contract. The defendants’ appeal asserts that the trial court erred in decreeing an excessive amount of interest contrary to the terms of the notes.

The plaintiffs make four principal contentions and numerous subsidiary ones, .some of which overlap or are so related that they may properly be treated together. The first general assignment is that the reversal and remand of the judgment on Count VIII was with directions in the opinion and mandate which required the trial court to enter judgment without considering “new issues or additional evidence” as to the balance due on the promissory notes and that the trial court was without jurisdiction to do otherwise than to enter the judgment directed. On the other hand, under their fourth point, the plaintiffs contend that the equity court on remand had jurisdiction to declare tha,t the Bodneys had defaulted under their op,tion contract and forfeited the money paid thereunder, and that the court had discretion to award the plaintiffs the full value of the real estate and its reasonable rental value since July 1954 when the forgiveness agreement and the warranty deed were executed and the Bodneys stopped making monthly payments on the option contract. There can be but little dispute as to the legal principles involved. In some instances the parties cite and rely upon the same cases. The primary differences relate to the proper construction of the opinion and maní-date.

As we have previously noted, the opinion, after deciding the issues presented with regard to Count VIII, stated that the judgment was reversed and the count .“remanded with directions to enter judgment in conformity herewith.” 349 S.W.2d 883. At the conclusion of the opinion, the direction was “for further proceedings in conformity herewith.” The mandate which transmitted the opinion to the trial court concludes with the statement that “the said cause be remanded to the said Circuit Court of Jackson County for further proceedings therein on said Counts III, VII, and VIII, in conformity with the opinion of this court herein delivered.” If there were specific directions to enter a particular judgment, it must be found in the above statements and the treatment of the issues on Count VIII ac *136 tually presented on appeal and decided by the opinion.

Where a judgment is reversed and remanded with specific directions to enter a particular judgment, the mandate is in the nature of a special power of attorney and must be followed by the trial court without deviation, but the rule is not applicable where a judgment is reversed and remanded for further proceedings in accordance with the opinion because in every case of remand further proceedings should be “in accordance with the opinion" whether or not that admonition is appended. Murphy v. Barron, 286 Mo. 390, 228 S.W. 492, 494 [2]; Abrams v. Scott, 357 Mo. 937, 211 S.W.2d 718, 721 [1-3] ; Feinstein v. McGuire, Mo., 312 S.W.2d 20, 23-24 [1-3].

On the previous appeal, the only issues presented as to Count VIII (as shown by the briefs of the parties) were that the forgiveness agreement and the “deed from Sarah to Mary Bodney for 5th and Minnesota” were invalid and that the notes, deeds of trust and option contract were valid and outstanding obligations. These issues were decided in favor of the plaintiffs and became res judicata although the opinion did not undertake to spell out the particulars of the judgment to be entered on remand.

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Bluebook (online)
374 S.W.2d 132, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sebree-v-rosen-mo-1964.