Willis v. Willis

75 N.E. 655, 165 Ind. 332, 1905 Ind. LEXIS 135
Indiana Supreme Court·Decided October 13, 1905·No. No. 20,574·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

Jordan, J.

This was a proceeding by appellant againát appellee for a writ of habeas corpus to obtain the custody of a child.

The petition presented for the writ shows, among other things, substantially the following facts: The petitioner and the respondent are husband and wife, living separate and apart, and are the parents of the child in controversy, Mary Frances Laura Willis, of the age of two years. This [333] child is in the custody of its mother at the town of Ladoga, Montgomery county, Indiana. On September 1, 1901, and prior to the commencement of this action, said parties were living separately, said child at that time being in the custody of the petitioner. On said date the respondent instituted an action of habeas corpus against the petitioner and his mother, Ella Willis, in the Marion Circuit Court, for the purpose of securing the possession and custody of the child now in controversy. On the hearing of said proceeding, the Marion Circuit Court found in favor of the respondent, and by its judgment and decree awarded to her the possession, care and custody of said infant child. Thereupon the petitioner herein moved for a new trial. This motion was denied, and an appeal in term time was prayed to the Supreme Court of said State,' which was granted, upon the condition that the petitioner file an appeal bond in the penal sum of $5,000 within ten days from September 26, 1901. This bond was filed within the time given, and approved by the court, and thereupon said petitioner moved and requested the court to remand said child to his care and custody during the pendency of said appeal. This motion was afterwards withdrawn, and the’ following was in open court entered of record: “Come now the parties, and the respondents, by leave of court, withdraw their motion to remand Mary Erances Laura Willis to the care and custody of respondents pending the decision of this cause by the Supreme"” Court on appeal, and it is agreed by all the parties to this action that pending the appeal in this cause, and until the Supreme Court shall have finally passed upon the appeal herein, said Mary Frances Laura Willis shall be and remain in the care and custody of her mother, said Hattie Belle Willis, and the court does now order that said child, Mary Erances Laura Willis, shall be and remain in the care and custody of her'mother, as aforesaid, until said appeal shall finally be determined, and that said child shall during [334] the pendency of said appeal, and until said appeal shall have been finally determined, be kept by the mother within the jurisdiction of this court.”

The appeal was perfected. Within fifteen days after the making of the above order said Hattie B. Willis took said child to Ladoga, Montgomery county, Indiana, where it is now under her custody and charge. Prayer for a writ of habeas corpus, and that on the hearing of the petition the possession, care and custody of the child be given to the petitioner. The petition was duly verified, and thereon a writ of habeas corpus was issued. Respondent appeared in court, and,' through her counsel, moved to quash the writ for insufficiency of the facts alleged in the petition. This motion, over petitioner’s exception and objection, was sustained, and judgment was rendered against him for costs. Erom this judgment he appeals, and assigns that the court erred in sustaining the motion to quash the writ of habeas corpus.

1. The propositions presented by counsel to show that under the facts alleged in the petition appellant was entitled to the possession and custody of the child, and that therefore the court erred in quashing the writ, are: (1) Appellant having filed an appeal bond, and taken and perfected an appeal to the Supreme Court from the judgment of the Marion Circuit Court in the former action 'between him and appellee, therefore all proceedings on the judgment or decree from which the appeal was prosecuted were stayed, and he was entitled to retain the possession and custody of his infant child during the pendency of «the appeal to the Supreme Court, notwithstanding the fact that the care and custody thereof under the judgment had been awarded to appellee; (2) under the above agreement, which she entered into in court, she bound herself to keep the child within the jurisdiction of the Marion Circuit Court, and that in taking the child to Ladoga, Montgomery county, to reside with her, she violated and broke said agreement, for [335] the reason that said county of Montgomery is not within the jurisdiction of the Marion Circuit Court, within the meaning of the provisions of the agreement in question. Appellee having therefore violated the agreement by taking the child beyond the jurisdiction of the Marion Circuit Court, appellant was thereby restored to his former right to have and retain the custody of the child during the pendency of the appeal, by virtue of the fact that he had filed an appeal bond to stay the proceedings on the judgment of tlfe Marion Circuit Court, from which he had appealed.

Neither of the above propositions, as advanced by appellant’s learned counsel, is tenable. Under the laws of this State there certainly are no sufficient grounds or reasons to sustain the first proposition. The fact that appellant, as shown, filed an appeal bond, and appealed to the Supreme Court, from the judgment in the former habeas corpus proceedings, did not operate to give him the right over the judgment, to retain the custody of the infant child during the pendency of the appeal in controversy.

It is true that §650 Burns 1901, §638 E. S. 1881, in respect to a term-time appeal, provides: “When an appeal is taken during the term at which judgment is rendered, it shall operate as a stay of all further proceedings on the judgment, upon an appeal bond being filed by the appellant, with such penalty and surety as the court shall approve, and within such time as it shall direct, payable to the appellee, with condition that he [appellant] will duly prosecute his appeal and abide by it and pay the judgment and costs which may be rendered or affirmed against him.” This section contains further provisions in regard to the condition of such appeal bond, where the appeal is taken from a judgment for the recovery of real property or the possession thereof, or from a judgment for the return of personal property, etc. The effect of this section has been considered by this court in several cases.

In Padgett v. State (1884), 93 Ind. 396, it was held that [336] an appeal to this court by remonstrators, in compliance with the provisions of this section, from a judgment of a circuit court awarding an applicant a license to retail intoxicating liquors, did not operate to suspend the right of the applicant to take out the license granted to him under the judgment. The court in that appeal held that the issuing of the license could not be regarded as a proceeding on the judgment within the meaning of the above statute. One of the reasons assigned for the court’s conclusion was that the judgment in question was self-executing, as the entry thereof entitled the applicant to the license granted without any other proceeding on the judgment.

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

Willis v. Willis, 75 N.E. 655, 165 Ind. 332, 1905 Ind. LEXIS 135 (Ind. 1905).

75 N.E. 655 (Willis v. Willis) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

PASSWATER, ETC. v. Winn
229 N.E.2d 622 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1967)
Henderson v. Kleinman
109 N.E.2d 905 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1953)
Sakraida v. Sakraida
233 P.2d 762 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1951)
Scott v. Scott
86 N.E.2d 533 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1949)
American Indemnity Co. v. Muñoz
52 P.R. 11 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1937)
Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. Board of Supervisors
168 S.E. 617 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1933)
Tillman v. Walters
108 So. 62 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1925)
McDonald v. Short
130 N.E. 536 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1921)
State ex rel. McGhee v. Superior Court
99 Wash. 619 (Washington Supreme Court, 1918)
Hughes v. Moncur
152 P. 968 (California Court of Appeal, 1915)
Nichols v. Ingram
146 P. 988 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1915)
Porter v. Small
120 P. 393 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1912)