United States v. Eisenbeis

112 F. 190, 50 C.C.A. 179, 1901 U.S. App. LEXIS 4084
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedOctober 7, 1901
DocketNo. 691
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 112 F. 190 (United States v. Eisenbeis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Eisenbeis, 112 F. 190, 50 C.C.A. 179, 1901 U.S. App. LEXIS 4084 (9th Cir. 1901).

Opinion

HAWLEY, District Judge,

after stating the facts as above, delivered the opinion of the court.

The arguments of counsel covered a wide, range of legal principles, and innumerable authorities were cited by them in support of their respective views. The various assignments of error herein are based upon the action of the United States court in sustaining the demurrer to the answer of the plaintiffs in error, and raise the question as to the jurisdiction of the respective courts, national and state, in the various proceedings set forth in the statement of facts concerning the subject-matter of the controversy between the parties. The contention of the plaintiffs in error, as claimed by counsel, embodies the following propositions: (i) That the act of congress conferred jurisdiction upon the United States court to condemn land for governmental purposes. (2) That the proceedings to condemn were special proceedings, and the jurisdiction conferred was special to the particular courls named, and that jurisdiction was exclusive. (3) That, the jurisdiction to condemn being exclusive, the jurisdiction to award and distribute the damages or compensation for the land, including the decision of the question as to who was entitled to such damages or compensation, was an incident to the principal cause, and likewise exclusive. (4) That the government, having filed its petition to condemn the land in the United States district court on February 4, 1898, then and there drew into that court the res, and with the res the jurisdiction, power, and duty to hear and determine every question which could be raised in that proceeding, including the decision of the ownership of the fund in court. (5) That after the suit was commenced the state court had no jurisdiction to entertain the suit commenced by Long et al. against Eisenbeis et al. on February 7, 1898, concerning the title to said land or its proceeds in the United States court, nor to determine any question therein, and that its so-called judgment of December 5, 1899, was and is void. (6) That said state court was without jurisdiction to decide any question or render any judgment in said suit of February 7, 1898, affecting said fund in the federal court, because the custodian of said fund v/as not made a party to said suit. (7) That said state court was without jurisdiction to entertain said suit of February 7, 1898, or to render any judgment therein, because there was already a judgment of the same court, between the same parties, upon the same cause of action, concerning the same subject-matter, rendered on November 1, 1895, and which remains unreversed and unmodified. (8) That the cause of action between Long and Eisenbeis was merged in the judgment of November 1, 1895, and that judgment was a complete bar to said suit of February 7, 1898, and to said so-called judgment of December 5, 1899, in said state court, and in the court below, and in every other court. (9) That the right and title to the land having been adjudicated between the parties in the judgment of November 5; 1895, that judgment was the only competent [194]*194evidence before the court below as to the ownership of the fund in court, and was conclusive.

It will not be necessary to discuss these propositions seriatim. It will be sufficient to declare the views we entertain, and state our conclusions in regard to the question whether or not the United States district court erred in sustaining the demurrer of the defendants in error to the answer of the plaintiffs in error to the petition of the defendants in error for the distribution of the funds in the registry of the court. The main contention and controversy in' regard to this ruling of the court relates to the question whether or not the state court in Jefferson county, Wash., had jurisdiction of the suit commenced therein on February 7, 1898, of the subject-matter thereof and parties thereto. The general rule is well settled that, where different courts have concurrent jurisdiction, the court which first acquires jurisdiction of the parties, the subject-matter, the specific thing, or the property in controversy, is entitled to retain the jurisdiction to the end of the litigation, without interference by any other court. It is the duty of the court which first obtains full and complete jurisdiction over the whole case to keep control' of it, to the exclusion of the other court that had not obtained such full jurisdiction, and to grant the relief prayed for. This general principle is well settled. The only difficulty lies in its application to the facts of any given case. The authorities in its support are very numerous, embracing a great variety of subjects and different kinds of actions, and presenting the question in all of its various forms and phases. Many of them are cited in Rodgers v. Pitt (C. C.) 96 Fed. 668, 670, et seq.; Id., 43 C. C. A. 600, 104 Fed. 387, 389,—to which reference is here made. In the present case the entire subject-matter of the various suits and proceedings referred to in the statement of facts was not within the concurrent jurisdiction of the national and state courts. Proceedings instituted to condemn land are usually designated as special “statutory proceedings,” wherein the court exercises a limited and statutory jurisdiction, and usually confines the issues to those matters which are material to, and directly connected with, the judgment sought to be rendered therein. The ordinary controversies arising in proceedings of this character are (1) the right of the party instituting the same to condemn the land, which is a question for the court to decide; (2) to have the value of the land assessed by a jury, or by commissioners appointed for that purpose. In many cases it has been expressly held that the value of or damage to the land is the only question that should be submitted to the jury. 7 Fnc. PI. & Prac. 573, and authorities there cited. It is the duty of the court to whom jurisdiction is given to take such steps and pursue the practice provided for in the statute. It must therefore be evident that the statte court had no jurisdiction over the condemnation proceedings in the present case,—certainly not as to the right of condemnation of the land involved and the awarding of proper damages therefor. The national court acquired exclusive jurisdiction thereof by virtue of the act of congress entitled “An act to authorize condemnation of land for sites of 'public buildings, and [195]*195for other purposes,” approved August 1, 1888 (25 Stat. 357; 1 Supp. Rev. St. 601). But it does not .necessarily follow, by the commencement of such proceedings in the national court, that the title to the land, if in dispute, must be tried therein, and cannot be tried, heard, and determined in any other court.* This is a matter over which the state courts have jurisdiction, especially where, as here, the parties adversely claiming title to the land are all residents of the state wherein it is located. But conceding, for the purposes of this opinion, that the national court had jurisdiction to determine who owned the land, or to determine who 'were entitled to the fund in the registry of the court, which stood in the place of the land, it is apparent that its jurisdiction in this respect was not in any manner interfered with by the state court. The national court did exercise its jurisdiction, and based its decision upon the result of.the litigation in the state court concerning the title, which was properly brought to its attention by the petitioners, Long et al., in their application to have the fund paid to them.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
112 F. 190, 50 C.C.A. 179, 1901 U.S. App. LEXIS 4084, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-eisenbeis-ca9-1901.