Speyrer v. Miller

108 La. 204
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJuly 1, 1902
DocketNo. 14,309
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 108 La. 204 (Speyrer v. Miller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Speyrer v. Miller, 108 La. 204 (La. 1902).

Opinions

Tihe opinion of the court was delivered by

Provosty, J.

Three of the creditors of the plaintiff, Joseph Speyrer, obtained judgment against him in the Justice of the Peace Court, and caused execution to issue against him and his property to be seized. Between these creditors there existed no privity of interest; the judgments and the executions were separate.

[205]*205The property was already under seizure by virtue of an execution issued by the District Court, and the seizures were made on the top of this other seizure, and there was pending in the District Court an injunction suit involving the question of the liability of said property to seizure, the same being claimed to the homestead. Under these circumstances it was thought advisable to stay proceedings on the -three seizures until this question of homestead should have been determined in the District Court suit, and accordingly the parties entered into an agreement to that effect, and in pursuance of this agreement proceedings were stayed on the three seizures. And so matters remained until the termination of the District Court suit, when the constable proceeded to advertise the property for sale without renewing his notice to the seized debtor that he would so proceed unless the debt was paid. The District Court suit had been settled without a trial, and therefore had not determined the question of the alleged exemption of the property from seizure.

In proceeding with the three executions the constable for economy’s sake consolidated the three notices of sale into one, heading it with the titles of the three suits, and announcing that the sale was being made to satisfy the three writs.

The plaintiff then went into the District Court and sued out the present injunction.

The grounds of injunction are, first, that at the time of the advertisement the writs in the constable’s hands had expired; second, that plaintiff “has never been notified of the advertisement of his said properties for sale, nor of the contemplated date of the sale thereof, nor has he been notified to appoint an appraiser on a date fixed to meet the appraiser to be selected by the plaintiffs to appraise his property before the sale thereof”; third, that the property is exempt from seizure under the homestead law; except the roan horse, the buggy and the cqw Betsey, which are exempt because not belonging to the plaintiff, but to his children.

The constable and all the creditors in the seizure were made defendants.

They excepted that the District Court could not enjoin the process of the justice court. This exception was -overruled as to the immovables and sustained as to the movables.

Defendants then further excepted on the grounds, that the affidavit [206]*206was insufficient; that the order granting the injunction does not fix the amount of the bond to be furnished; that there was a misjoinder of parties; and that the bond is a joint one and does not name the amount of the obligation of the plaintiff and his surety towards each of the three defendants. They prayed the dissolution of the writ with statutory damages.

These exceptions having been overruled, the defendants answered to the merits; pleading, first, that in view of the fact that the proceedings under the writs were stayed in pursuance of an agreement with plaintiff, the latter is estopped from taking advantage of the expiration of the writs; second, “that the stay of execution granted by the District Court in plaintiff’s suit against Berkson Bros, operated a stay of execution of other executions until the determination of said injunction suit; third, that plaintiff was served with all legal notices required by law; fourth, that “the only legitimate manner of legally testing the value of the homestead claimed by this plaintiff is as provided under Article 244 of the Constitution of Louisiana for the year 1898, to-wit: that the property must be offered for sale by the executive officer under due process of law, when it shall not be sold unless the sale thereof realizes more than the sum of $2000, in which case the beneficiary shall be entitled to that amount; respondents declare that a sale of said property will realize more than the sum of $2000.”

They prayed the dissolution of the writ with $50 damages as attorney’s fees.

The court made the injunction peremptory, basing its judgment cn the want of notice, and abstaining from passing on the question of homestead.

Under this state of the facts and the pleadings the first question coming up for examination is the exception to the jurisdiction.

The rule is that one court cannot enjoin the process of another, and in this state that rule has matured into statute law. C. P. 629, 617; State ex rel. vs. Livaudais, 39 Ann. 984; Arthurs vs. Sheriff, 43 Ann. 414.

An exception to the rule is recognized where the property of a third person is seized and the value of the property exceeds the limits of the jurisdiction of the seizure court as prescribed by the constitution. In such a case the only question that can be raised is that of the ownership of the property seized; and the v-a-lue of the property tests the [207]*207jurisdiction oí the court, and the claimant must go into the court having jurisdiction according to amount. Parent vs. Cross, 26th Anm 591; Munday vs. Lyons, 35th Ann. 990; Bruneau vs. Haughton, 16th Ann. 47; Gayarre vs. Hays, 21st Ann. 307; Testard vs. Belot, 31st Ann. 795.

Even ias to the defendant in execution an exception is admitted in eases where the execution comes from another parish. Lawes vs. Chinn, 4 N. S. 388. The defendant may in such cases apply for relief' to the courts of his own parish. This exception had its origin early in our jurisprudence, at a time when the means of communication were-so imperfect and slow that to confine the defendant to the court of the execution for relief would have operated a denial of justice in many cases, as he would not have had time to reach that court. Founded in necessity, or supposed necessity, the exception has persisted to these days of rapid communication, when the necessity has long ago ceased. Police Jury vs. Michel, 4 Ann. 84; Hopgood vs. Brown, 2 Ann. 323; Arthurs vs. Sheriff, 43 Ann. 414.

The rule against one court enjoining the process of another is not,, then, without exceptions; and the present inquiry is whether another exception should not be recognized in the case of a homesteader seeking to rescue from the clutches of a seizure his homestead of a value either going above -or falling below the limits of the jurisdiction of the-seizure court.

The solution of the question depends upon the ascertainment of' what is, in such a case, the matter in litigation. The matter in dispute being ascertained, the question solves itself; for no court can entertain jurisdiction of a matter. whose value either falls below or goes above the limits of its jurisdiction as prescribed by the constitution. To say otherwise would be to say that a mere rule of general jurisprudence, or an article of the Code of Practice, can stay the operation of the provisions of the constitution prescribing the limits of the jurisdiction of the several courts of the State.

Where, then, a person enjoins the seizure and sale of property as béing his homestead, what is the matter in dispute? To put the question more pointedly, in such a ease, is the matter, in dispute the amount of the judgment sought to be executed, or is it the value of the property claimed as homestead?

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Bluebook (online)
108 La. 204, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/speyrer-v-miller-la-1902.