Dunbar v. Osbun
Dunbar v. Osbun
Opinion of the Court
Appellants, unsuccessful as plaintiffs in an action upon a surety company bond, claim errors by the court in ruling upon points of law and in entering judgment upon findings unsupported by competent evidence. The case at bar was filed in 1934. To consider intelligently the appeal herein, we must refer to another action brought two years previously. On January 23, 1932, Messrs. Osbun, Cox and Brenneman, unit-holders in a trust known as Bell View Oil Syndicate, had filed a suit against the trustees of that organization, charging conspiracy and various derelictions against them, seeking injunctions and praying for the appointment of a receiver to take over and administer all the assets and business of the syndicate. The application for a receiver was acted upon ex parte, the plaintiffs in that ease posting a bond of $10,000 required by the court, and the receiver qualifying on the same day suit was filed. An inquiry upon a show cause order, as to whether the order appointing the receiver should continue in force until the termination of the action, was decided on February 11, 1932, when the court discharged the receiver and required him to account, at the same time placing the trustees under mandatory instructions in regard to methods of handling the syndicate business, and impounding certain moneys and securities which the trustees had placed in a safe deposit box. On March 25, 1932, the receiver’s account, containing various items of expense incurred by him, was approved, with the exception of a single item, by the trial court at a hearing attended by counsel for all parties. An appeal from this order of approval was dismissed by the Supreme Court under date of May 10, 1932, following a dismissal of the action itself in the superior court on May 2, 1932, upon a stipulation entered into by counsel reading as follows:
“In the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of Los Angeles. A. Osbun, R. L. Cox and*686 R. S. Brenneman, Plaintiffs, v. Bell View Syndicate, an Unincorporated association, et al., Defendants. No. 334,121. Stipulation. It is Hereby Stipulated and Agreed that the above entitled action shall be dismissed, each of the parties thereto to pay its and their own costs and disbursements herein, and the clerk of said court is hereby authorized and directed to enter such dismissal.
“It is Hereby Further Stipulated and Agreed that said Superior Court may forthwith make an order releasing all funds and property heretofore impounded in said action.
“Dated'this 29th day of April, 1932.
“(Signed) W. R Law,
“Attorney for Plaintiffs.
“Walter F. Haas,
“Attorney for Defendants heretofore appearing.”
The trustees of the Bell View Oil Syndicate, .who were sued in the 1932 case, are Messrs. Dunbar, Horton and Morris, plaintiffs and appellants in this case. They sought to recover from Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland the sum of $9,462.06 claimed as damages resulting from expense incurred in connection with the receivership business. The undertaking furnished at the institution of the 1932 action was written by respondent, and bound the company “in the sum of Ten •Thousand ($10,000.00) Dollars, lawful money of the United States, to the effect that said plaintiffs will pay to the defendants all costs and damages which they may sustain by reason of the appointment of said receiver and the entering by him upon the performance of his duties, if it shall be finally determined that the said plaintiffs were not entitled to said order”.
Appellants contend, and cite various cases in support of their theory, that since the receiver was discharged upon a hearing after holding office for twenty days, that the liability for all expense arising from the appointment and services of the receiver became fixed upon the respondent under the $10,000 bond. We think it proper to consider in this connection the fact that the court made no order vacating the appointment order, but approved the various items of expense shown in the receiver’s account, including one for $500 for the receiver’s attorney, and another for $750 for the receiver’s own services, minus a deduction of $270, the single item that was disallowed. And more important than the
Counsel for appellants believe that the court erred in receiving testimony of conversations had between the parties and their attorneys before the stipulation for dismissal was signed, claiming that this was an attempt to alter or enlarge by parol testimony the terms of a written instrument, to wit, the dismissal. We do not so understand it. A situation of strife existed between the parties. They decided to terminate this condition of affairs according to certain terms which they agreed upon. Concerning these terms, the court took testimony and found that the respondent was exonerated
Appellants feel aggrieved by the failure of the trial court to grant a new trial on affidavits filed by two witnesses, who would have contradicted the testimony of Mr. Cox or Mr. Osbun, or both. But such testimony, if received, would only intensify the conflict in the evidence, and the court was within its rights in deciding not to receive it.
The judgment is affirmed. The appeal from the order denying motion for a new trial, not being authorized in a civil action, is ordered dismissed.
York, Acting P. J., and Doran, J., concurred.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.