White v. Prigmore

29 Ark. 208
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedNovember 15, 1874
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 29 Ark. 208 (White v. Prigmore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
White v. Prigmore, 29 Ark. 208 (Ark. 1874).

Opinion

English, C. J.

On the 19th of March, 1873, Prigmore obtained a judgment in the circuit court of (Grant county against White, for $1,100; and White appealed to this court.

The transcript was filed on the 17th of May, 1873, and White entered into a supersedeas bond, with M. L. Bell and Met. L. Jones as sureties, before the clerk of this court, in the form prescribed by the statute. Gantt’s Dig., 1085.

The judgment was affirmed, and this court rendered judgment against White and his sureties in the supersedeas bond for the amount of the judgment of the court below, ten per •cent, damages and costs. Execution was issued upon the judgment, 4th of April, 1874, to the sheriff of Jefferson county, levied upon lands of White, and returned wdthout sale. On -the 8th July, 1874, a vend. ex. was issued, and on the 1st of August following the lands were sold, and purchased by Bell .and Jones on a credit of three months, who gave bond for the purchase money, with Bocage as surety. On a return of pur•chase money not paid, an execution was issued against Bell, •Jones and Bocage, and White applied to this court to recall and quash the execution, and set aside the sale, etc., on the the following grounds:

1. That this court had no constitutional power to render the judgment against White and. his sureties in the supersedeas bond, and that the judgment and the executions issued thereon were null and void

2. That White tendered to the sheriff, before the sale of the lands, the amount of the judgment and costs, in state scrip, which he refused to receive, and proceeded to sell, etc.

I. That this court had j urisdiction to render the j udgment against White, on the affirmance of the judgment appealed from, there can be no doubt (Gantt’s Dig., secs. 1101, 1104); and inasmuch as his lands only were sold to satisfy the judgxnent, lie has no very just cause to complain that his sureties-in the supersedeas bond were included in the judgment, etc.

But we will, nevertheless, proceed to consider whether the court had jurisdiction to render judgment against the sureties.

It is contended that the rendering of the judgment against them was the exercise of original and not of appellate jurisdiction.

It may be conceded for the purposes of this case, without going into a question heretofore much mooted, that the supreme court, under the constitution of 1868, had appellate- and supervisory jurisdiction only, to be exercised in the manner prescribed by law. Art. YIL, secs. 4, 5, 15.

That the time and mode of taking and prosecuting appeals- and writs of error, and the indemnification of parties against cost, damages and losses from delays, or stays of execution, were proper subjects of legislation, under the constitution of 1868, as well as under the constitution of 1836, and under the-present constitution, there can be no doubt.

Judgments of the circuit courts are brought into this court-for review, by writ of error or appeal, and neither the issuance of a writ of error nor the granting of an appeal stays execution of the judgment of the court below without supersedeas. Gantt’s Dig., secs. 1056, 1057, 1058, 1083-4.

A supersedeas is not issued until the appellant causes to be executed, before the clerk of the court which rendered the-judgment, or the clerk of the supreme court, by one or more sufficient sureties, to be approved by such clerk, a bond to the-effect that appellant will pay to the appellee all costs and damages that may be adjudged against the appellant, on the appeal, and also that he will satisfy and perform the judgment appealed from, in case it should be affirmed, and any judgment which the supreme court may render, etc. Gantt’s Dig., sec. 1083.

Upon the affirmance of a judgment, etc., for the payment of money, the collection of which, in whole or in part, has been superseded, this court is required to award against the appellant ten per cent, damages on the amount superseded. Gantt’s Dig., sec. 1101.

Upon the affirmance of any judgment, etc., which has been wholly or in part superseded, judgment may be rendered against the securities on the supersedeas bond, and execution awarded thereon. Id., sec. 1102.

Thus, taking the provisions of the statutes together, the appellant, who desires a stay of execution pending an appeal, causes a supersedeas bond to be executed, and the sureties on the bond become, in legal effect, parties to the suit, and agree that if the judgment be affirmed, judgment may be rendered against them by the supreme court, 'for costs, damages, and the amount of the judgment below, etc., the statute authorizing this judgment being part of their contract as fully as if incorporated into the supersedeas bond executed by them.

The awarding of costs, damages, and the rendering of judgment against the sureties in the supersedeas bond, as well as the appellant on affirmance, is but the exercise of jurisdiction in matters growing out of or incidental to the appeal, and not in any proper sense the exercise of original jurisdiction. No new cause of action or subject matter of jurisdiction is brought before this court on the appeal. by the execution of the supersedeas bond, but the sureties in the bond merely agree that judgment may be entered against them, as well as the appellant on affirmance for the amount of the judgment appealed from, with costs and damages, which are incidents of the appeal and stay of execution.

The sureties in the bond are, in legal effect, new parties to the suit, but the subject matter of the suit continues to be the same in which the court below rendered the judgment appealed from, and the rendering of judgment against new parties is not the exercise of original jurisdiction as to the subject matter of the suit in this case, any more than it is where the appellant or appellee dies after the appeal is taken, and his administrator, executor or heirs, are made parties, and judgment rendered for or against them on affirmance or reversal, which frequently occurs. See Carpenter v. Thomas, 5 Mich., 52 ; Davidson v. Farrell, 8 Minn., 258 ; Duncan v. McGee, 7 Yerger, 103. In this case judgment was rendered by the supreme court of Tennessee against the sureties in the supersedeas bond. See also Wright v. Simmons, et al., 1 Sm. & Mar., 389.

Prior to the passage of- the act of 1871 (Gantt’s Dig., 1102), authorizing this court to render judgment against the sureties in the supersedeas bond, on affirmance, the appellee had to resort to an original suit upon the bond or recognizance, and was subjected to the delay and expense of prosecuting the suit; and the statute authorizing a summary j udgment against the sureties, in accordance with their undertaking, and avoiding such delay and expense, has much to commend it.

To the argument of counsel, that the sureties have no day in court, it may be answered, that they have the same day in court that the appellant has, having, in legal effect, made themselves parties to the appeal, and agreed to abide and satisfy the judgment.

But it is said by counsel, that the sureties may wish to plead non est factum to the bond, and this being a court of appellate jurisdiction only, the law has provided for no jury to try an issue to such plea.

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Bluebook (online)
29 Ark. 208, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-prigmore-ark-1874.