Gibson v. Staghorn Cattle Co.
Gibson v. Staghorn Cattle Co.
Opinion of the Court
Writ of error by the plaintiff in the lower court to reverse a judgment against him in his suit to quiet title to real property, filed October 26, 1910. All defendants except Christy filed a disclaimer; he filed a general denial and pleaded the seven years’ statute of limitations concerning unoccupied lands, sec. 4090, Rev. St. 1908, and also a decree of the Kiowa District Court quieting the title in his grantor against certain defendants, among whom was plaintiff’s immediate grantor. Replication by general denial. Plaintiff proved title in himself. Defendant introduced a tax deed as color of title, but' failed to show payment of taxes for seven successive years.
The plaintiff offered the judgment roll in evidence and the defendant objected tO' it because it was inadmissible under a general denial, and the objection was sustained.. The roll so offered shows the decree invalid because of a defective affidavit of publication. It appears, therefore, that judgment has been obtained in this case based upon a void decree, and, the law and substantial justice demand that suc'h judgment be reversed.
It has been repeatedly held by this court and the Supreme Court, from Jansen v. Hyde, 8 Colo. App. 38, 44 Pac. 760, to the latest announcement in King v. Foster, No. 3966, of this Court, ante 120, 140 Pac. 930, and particularly in McLauglin v. Reichenbach, 52 Colo. 437, 122 Pac. 47, that a judgment, when offered and “relied upon as an estoppel, as an adjudication upon the subject matter, or as establishing any particular state of facts of which it is the judicial result, can be proved only by offering in evidence a Complete record, or a duly authenticated copy, of the entire proceedings in which the judgment was rendered.” As to the particular contention, however, that this rule does not apply when the plea of the judgment is met by general denial, only, it is not an absolute necessity that such question be specifically determined, here, for.the reason that the pleader in this case, in pleading the decree, stated that the “defendants were duly and legally summoned.” Under the general rule as to pleading a judgment of a court of general
Judgment Reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.