Sichler v. Look

29 P. 220, 93 Cal. 600, 1892 Cal. LEXIS 610
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 11, 1892
DocketNo. 14472
StatusPublished
Cited by70 cases

This text of 29 P. 220 (Sichler v. Look) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sichler v. Look, 29 P. 220, 93 Cal. 600, 1892 Cal. LEXIS 610 (Cal. 1892).

Opinion

Harrison, J.

Action for the foreclosure of a mortgage. Judgment by default was entered against all of the defendants. The defendant Arrasmith has appealed, upon the grounds that the court had no jurisdiction to enter the judgment against him, and that the judgment as entered exceeds the allegations of the complaint.

The service upon the appellant was by the publication of the summons. It is recited, in the judgment, “ that [605]*605P. H. Look .... and D. A. Arrasmith, the above-named defendants, have been duly and regularly summoned to answer unto the plaintiff’s complaint herein, and that the said defendants, and each of them, have made default in that behalf,” etc., and in the judgment roll is found an affidavit which was filed December 29, 1890, sufficient in form and substance, of a publication of the summons in the Santa Ana Standard, commencing September 20, 1890. The judgment roll also contains a document which was filed March 4,1891, which purports to be a copy of an affidavit made January 5,1891, of the deposit on the 19th of September, 1890, pursuant to an order of the court,” of a copy of the summons and complaint in the post-office, directed to the appellant at Keokuk, Iowa. A memorandum of the default of the appellant, bearing date December 29, 1890, is attached to the complaint, and the judgment was rendered January 8,1891. There is printed in the transcript, after the judgment roll and notice of appeal, a document which purports to be an order for the service of the summons upon the appellant by publication in the Santa Ana Standard for two calendar months from the nineteenth day of September, 1890. This order bears the date of September 23, 1890, and was filed on that day, and is authenticated by a certificate of the county clerk that it is a “ correct copy of the original on file in my office.”

1. It is contended by the appellant that the constructive service shown by this record was insufficient to give the court jurisdiction over him, for the reason that the deposit in the post-office and the first publication of the summons, having been made prior to the date of the order therefor, were of no effect, and that the publication after the date of the order was not for the period of time therein directed; also, that the only evidence of mailing a copy of the summons is a copy of an affidavit made after the memorandum of the default had been attached to the complaint, and not filed until after the entry of judgment.

The presumption of verity which attaches to the rec[606]*606ord of a domestic judgment is the same upon a direct appeal therefrom as exists in a collateral attack, the only difference being, that upon a direct appeal it is essential for the party seeking to sustain the judgment to show by the record itself that the court had jurisdiction of the defendant, whereas in a collateral attack the entry of the judgment is itself conclusive of such jurisdiction. Upon a direct attack, there is no presumption in favor of the existence of any fact essential to the jurisdiction of the court over the defendant,- but in all matters of which the judgment contains a record, its verity, in the absence of any contradictory evidence, will be presumed as fully as upon a collateral attack. The defendant may, upon a direct appeal, by bill of exceptions, present evidence outside of the record for the purpose of showing that the court did not have jurisdiction over him, while in a collateral attack such objection is available only when it appears from the record itself. In both cases the record is conclusive as to all matters as to which it speaks, unless impeached in the foregoing manner. As was said by Mr. Justice McFarland in Lyons v. Roach, 84 Cal. 30: “ The main difference between collateral and direct attacks is, that in the former the record alone can be inspected, and is conclusively presumed to be correct; while on direct attack the true facts may be shown, and thus the judgment itself on appeal may be reversed or modified.” The recitals in a judgment are the court’s record of its own acts, and although upon a direct appeal the jurisdiction of the court is not to be established by its mere assertion in the judgment that it had acquired jurisdiction, yet if such recital finds support in other portions of the record, which under any condition of facts could exist, it will be presumed, in the absence of any contradictory showing, that such condition of facts existed.

The record of the judgment is the judgment roll. The documents which shall constitute this record are specified in section 670 of the Code of Civil Procedure to be: In case the complaint be not answered by any defend[607]*607ant, the summons, with the affidavit or proof of service, and the complaint, with a memorandum indorsed thereon, that the default of the defendant in not answering was entered, and a copy of the judgment”; and section 415 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that “proof of the service of summons and complaint must be: .... 3. In case of publication, the affidavit of the printer, or his foreman or principal clerk, showing the same, and an affidavit of a deposit of a copy of the summons in the post-office, if the same has been deposited.”

Under these provisions, we must hold that the record of the judgment in the present case affirmatively shows that the court had jurisdiction of the appellant. It is recited therein that he had been “ duly and regularly summoned,” and there is found in the judgment roll, in support of this recital in the judgment, an affidavit of publication of the summons, and of a deposit of a copy thereof, as required by the statute. The statute has provided that, under certain circumstances, the court may obtain jurisdiction of a defendant by a service of the summons by publication, and what shall be the proof of such service; and in support of the judgment of the court, it will be presumed upon a direct appeal, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, that this mode of service was made under a proper order of the court therefor, and that a sufficient affidavit for such order was presented to the court before making the order.

The order of publication bearing date September 23, 1890, cannot be considered for the purpose of impeaching the record of the judgment, and cannot be used in contradiction of such record, any more than any other order or minute of the court made in the action. Upon an appeal from a final judgment, the only papers that can be considered, where there is no bill of exceptions, are the notice of appeal and judgment roll. (Spinetti v. Brignardello, 53 Cal. 283.) If the appellant had desired to show that no order -for publication was made until September 23d, and that the publication and mailing of the summons were premature and unauthorized, he [608]*608should have presented such facts in a bill of exceptions by which the proofs upon which he would rely would be properly authenticated.

Under the same rule, it must be intended that the original affidavit of mailing had been lost, and that the copy found in the judgment roll was substituted therefor by the order of the court upon a proper showing (Code Civ. Proc., sec. 1045); also, that the indorsement upon the complaint of the default of the defendant prior to the date of the affidavit was made upon proper proof of such mailing, even though the same does not now appear in the record. The jurisdiction of the court did not depend upon the preservation of the proof of the service, but upon the fact that the service had been made (In re Newman, 75 Cal. 220; 7 Am. St. Rep.

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

Related

Sumitomo Bank v. Davis
4 Cal. App. 4th 1306 (California Court of Appeal, 1992)
Call v. Los Angeles County General Hospital
77 Cal. App. 3d 911 (California Court of Appeal, 1978)
Laubisch v. Roberdo
277 P.2d 9 (California Supreme Court, 1954)
Grossblatt v. Wright
239 P.2d 19 (California Court of Appeal, 1951)
Otsuka v. Balangue
208 P.2d 65 (California Court of Appeal, 1949)
Darlington v. Hart
77 P.2d 1082 (California Supreme Court, 1938)
Anderson v. Barr
62 P.2d 1242 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1936)
Starkweather v. Minarets Mining Co.
43 P.2d 321 (California Court of Appeal, 1935)
Stewart v. Rockdale State Bank
52 S.W.2d 915 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1932)
Evans v. District Court
293 P. 323 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1930)
Vail v. Jones
287 P. 99 (California Supreme Court, 1930)
Grieve v. Huber
283 P. 1105 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1930)
Giesy v. Aurora State Bank
256 P. 763 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1927)
Johnson v. Kaeser
239 P. 324 (California Supreme Court, 1925)
Harrison v. Beals
222 P. 728 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1924)
Streby v. State Industrial Accident Commission
215 P. 586 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1923)
Shank v. Blackburn
215 P. 559 (California Court of Appeal, 1923)
Bateman v. Kellogg
211 P. 46 (California Court of Appeal, 1922)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
29 P. 220, 93 Cal. 600, 1892 Cal. LEXIS 610, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sichler-v-look-cal-1892.