Knowlton v. Mackenzie
Knowlton v. Mackenzie
Opinion of the Court
The defendant Mackenzie was engaged as a stockbroker in San Francisco, and on the 3d of December, 1886, made an assignment for the benefit of his creditors to C. H. Kaufman, the appellant herein, under the provisions of title III, part II, division' IV, of the Civil Code, and on the same day transferred to him ■certain money and other personal property. Included in the property so transferred were certain mining stocks belonging to M. H. McDonald, which were subsequently sold by Kaufman under directions from one Scott, to whom McDonald had transferred her claim agáinst Mackenzie, and for which Kaufman realized'the sum of $5,316.55. The court found that the sum of $1,494.03, which had been received by McDonald from Kaufman, should be considered as a payment upon this claim, and found, as a conclusion of law, “ that the intervenor, George O. Davis, is entitled to a judgment against the defendant C. H. Kaufman, assignee of John Mackenzie, in the sum of $3,822.52.” Davis was the successor in interest through Scott to the claim of McDonald, and had filed a complaint in intervention in the action. These findings of the court were filed January 21, 1889, and judgment thereon was signed and filed on the same day, and entered of record January 31, 1889, by which it was adjudged “ that the intervenor, George O. Davis, do have and recover of and from the defendant O. H.
1. The finding that Kaufman realized the sum of $5,316.55 from the sale of the stocks belonging to McDonald, the respondent’s assignor, is the basis of the judgment against him, and, in the absence of any qualifying finding of fact, would have authorized a judgment against him for that amount. The further finding that of the moneys received by McDonald the sum of $1,494.03 Was to be deducted from this amount, and that the remainder of the moneys received by her were to be treated as a dividend upon her general claim against Mackenzie, must be regarded upon this appeal as authorized by the evidence before the trial court. If the appellant would question the conclusion of this finding, it was incumbent upon him to except thereto, and have the evidence thereon presented in a statement or bill of exceptions. This finding is placed after the conclusions of law, and is given as a fact resulting from the other findings of fact, but does not cease to be a finding of fact by reason of its position. Upon the findings, therefore, the court was authorized to render the judgment which was originally given and entered in favor of the intervenor.
3. It is urged by the appellant that the court erred in entering the judgment against him individually, rather than in his representative capacity; that as the findings of fact show that he received the money realized from the sale of the stocks as the assignee of Mackenzie, the judgment should run against him in the same manner. It is not necessary to determine whether this was error, as the respondent in his brief has consented that the judgment may be modified in this respect.
4. A motion was made to dismiss the appeal herein upon the ground, that the transcript fails to show that the notice of appeal was served upon the respondent. In reply thereto the appellant has filed as a portion of the record in the cause in the superior court a copy of certain proceedings therein properly certified by the clerk of that court, from which it appears that the original notice of appeal has been lost, and that it has been established to the satisfaction of that court that the notice of appeal (a copy of which is set forth in the printed transcript herein) was, on the twenty-eighth day of January, 1880, served upon the attorney of record for the respondent herein, and a written admission of the service that said notice was by such attorney indorsed upon the same, and that the said notice of appeal was on the
It was held in Perri v. Beaumont, 88 Cal. 108, that if the evidence of the service of a notice of appeal as contained in the transcript is defective, the appellant will be allowed to show by proper proof that a sufficient service had been made, and, under the rule there given, an appeal will not be dismissed for failure of the transcript to contain proof of the service of the notice, if the appellant is able to show that service has been, in fact, properly made. Section 1045 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that: “If an original pleading or paper be lost, the court may authorize a copy thereof to be filed and used instead of the original ”; and, upon the order of the court made in the present case, the substituted papers are entitled to the samé weight as would be the originals.
The motion to dismiss the appeal is denied, and the superior court is directed to strike from the judgment the modification made therein May 24, 1889, and to cause the judgment against the appellant Kaufman to be entered against him as assignee of John Mackenzie, and in favor of the respondent Davig, for the sum of $3,822.52, as of the date of its original entry, January 31,1889.
Garoutte, J., and Van Fleet, J., concurred.
Hearing in Bank denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- ROBERT B. KNOWLTON v. JOHN MACKENZIE and C. H. KAUFMAN, C. H. KAUFMAN, GEORGE O. DAVIS, Intervenor
- Cited By
- 30 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Judgment against Assignee of Insolvent — Payment to Assignor oi> Claimant — Finding of Fact among Conclusions of Law—Conolusiveness upon Appeal.—Where judgment was rendered against an assignee for the benefit of creditors of an insolvent stockbroker, in favor of an intervening creditor, for the difference between the amount realized by the assignee from the sale of stocks belonging to the intervenor’s assignor, and a sum of money deducted therefrom on account of moneys received by such assignor, the finding that such sum was to be deducted from such amount is a finding of fact, although placed after the conclusions of law; and, in the'absence of the evidence presented thereon in a statement or bill of exceptions, such finding of fact is conclusive upon, appeal. Id.—Unauthorized Modification of Judgment. — After the court has rendered judgment in accordance with its findings, neither the findings nor the judgment can be changed except through a motion for a new trial, or upon appeal, and the court loses all power to change its findings of fact after the entry of judgment, in the absence of a motion for a new trial, and has no power, in the absence of such motion, to modify the judgment drawn from the findings of fact as made. Id.—Stipulation for Modification of Judgment—Statement of Attorney.—Where some of the parties to the action stipulated for a modification of the judgment, but the attorney for the appellant expressly' refused to sign any stipulation, and merely verbally expressed the willingness of his client to obey the order of the court, such statement is not the equivalent of a stipulation, and does not prevent his client from objecting upon appeal to the want of authority in the court to modify the judgment. Id.—Authority of Attorney to Bind Client—Presumption—Knowledge of Client’s Instructions.—Although, as a general rule, a stipulation of an attorney will be presumed to have been authorized by the client, yet, when the adverse party, as well as the court, is aware that the attorney is acting in direct opposition to his client’s instructions or wishes, the reason of the rule ceases, and the court ought not to act upon the stipulation, nor can the adverse party claim the right to enforce a judgment rendered by reason thereof. Id.—Consent to Modification of Judgment—Authority of Attorney. For the purpose of prosecuting and defending an action the authority of an attorney ordinarily terminates with the entry of judgment except for the purpose of enforcing it, or seeking to have it set aside of reversed; and, when the judgment has once been entered under the direction of the court, the rights of the client have been determined, and the attorney ceases to have any authority to consent to its modification, to the prejudice of the client, without his consent. Appeal—Dismissal—Proof of Service of Lost Notice—Supply of Record.— Where a motion is made to dismiss an appeal upon the ground that the transcript fails to show that the notice of appeal was served upon the respondent, the appellant in reply thereto may file as a portion of the record a certified copy of proceedings in the superior court, showing that the original notice of appeal has been lost, and that it has been established to the satisfaction of that court that the notice of appeal set forth in the printed transcript was duly served, and a written admission of the service made by the attorney for the respondent indorsed upon the same, and that said notice of appeal was filed in the office of the clerk of that court; and that the court thereupon made an order directing that a copy of the notice of appeal, together with the affidavit showing its original filing and service, be filed nunc pro tunc; and the substituted papers made upon such order of the court are entitled to the same weight as the originals.