Jahl v. Lewis
Jahl v. Lewis
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court:
In the court below, the plaintiff Lewis filed his complaint against the defendant Jahl, praying for “judgment against the defendant for compensatory damages in the amount of $750.00, with interest thereon at eight per cent, per annum, from the eighteenth day of December, A. D. 1909, less fifty dollars, and for his costs herein; and that in addition thereto the plaintiff have judgment against the defendant for punitive damages in the sum
Neither in the complaint or the prayer, nor in the summons was there any intimation that the plaintiff desired or intended to invoke the extraordinary remedy of an execution against the body of the defendant. While the complaint contained allegations of fraud and willful deceit, and the summons stated that it was an action in the nature of one for deceit, and that the defendant had obtained a loan of money from the plaintiff through fraud, yet the statutory relief on account of such wrongs that was requested by the plaintiff was a money judgment for exemplary damages as provided in sec. 2067 Rev. St.
The prayer of the complaint and the summons apprized the defendant that the relief sought by the plaintiff was a money judgment, the costs, and, at most, an ordinary execution for enforcement. Sec. 3024 Rev. St. provides, “In any civil action, pending or hereafter brought in a court of record * * * where it shall appear from the summons and other papers in the cause, that the action is founded upon tort * * '* the plaintiff may have execution as hereinafter provided against the body of any defendant,” etc.
“The relief granted to the plaintiff, if there be no answer, shall not exceed that which he shall have demanded in his complaint; but in any other case the court may grant him any relief consistent with the case made by the complaint and embraced within the issue.”
The preceding sec. 185 provides that in an action arising upon contract for the recovery of money or liquidated damages only, the clerk shall enter the default of the defendant, and immediately thereafter, if the complaint is verified, enter judgment for the amount specified in the summons. And in other actions the clerk or judge shall enter the default, and, thereafter, the plaintiff may apply at any time to the court or judge for the relief demanded in the complaint. Sec. 55 of the Code provides what' a complaint shall contain, and the third and last thing mentioned is a “demand for the relief which the plaintiff claims, and if the recovery of money or damages be demanded the amount thereof shall be stated. ’’
This demand for relief, which a plaintiff claims, is generally referred to as the prayer, and when sec. 186 speaks of what is demanded in the complaint, it undoubtedly refers to the demand or prayer mentioned in sec. 55. — Russell v. Shurtleff, 28 Colo. 414 at 420, 65 Pac. 27, 89 Am. St. 216. In Kayser v. Maugham, 8 Colo. 232, 6 Pac. 803, speaking with reference to the effect of sec. 150 Code 1883, which was the same as sec. 186 Rev. Code ’08, this court said, that the office of the prayer for relief required by sec. 55 aforesaid “would seem to be that of indicating the relief allowable where no answer is filed; in contested cases the prayer is a matter of' no significance.”
It may be argued that the relief granted in this case was consistent with the case made by the complaint, and that the court made the proper findings to support that relief. That may be so, and had there been an answer, the judgment may not have been erroneous, in view of the opinion in Kayser v. Maugham, supra; but there was no answer, and in such a case the statute plainly says
In Ruth v. Smith, 29 Colo. 154, 68 Pac. 278, it was held error to enter judgment upon default for $86.00 when the amount demanded in the complaint was $60.00. In Pickett v. Handy, 9 Colo. App. 357, 48 Pac. 280, there "were two defendants, only one of whom answered; judgment was prayed for a certain amount, but interest was not demanded; it was held erroneous to give judgment for the amount prayed for and interest. In McKenzie v. Peck, 74 Wis. 208, 42 N. W. 247, the action was for a balance due for work in skidding and hauling logs, for which a statute gave a lien on the logs. The complaint alleged all facts essential to entitle the plaintiff to the statutory lien, but the only relief prayed for was a money judgment. The defendant made no appearance, and, on default, judgment was rendered for the money due, and for a lien upon the logs. The statute provided the same as our sec. 186, that where no answer is filed the relief cannot exceed that demanded in the complaint. The court said:
‘ ‘ That portion of the judgment which makes the amount thereof a lien upon the logs skidded and hauled by the plaintiff cannot be upheld. No such relief is demanded in the complaint, and no answer*114 has been interposed. In snch case the statute is imperative that the relief cannot exceed that demanded in the complaint. It is immaterial that the complaint alleges sufficient facts to show the plaintiff entitled to a lien, had he demanded it. In the ab-' sence of such a demand, and of an answer, those allegations are inoperative. E. S. sec. 2886. The case of Zwickey v. Haney, 63 Wis. 464, [23 N. W. 577] is identical in principle with the present case. See also Eldeman v. Kidd, 65 Wis. 25, [26 N. W. 116] and Morris v. Peck, 73 Wis. 482, [41 N. W. 623]. But it is unnecessary to cite adjudications on the subject for the statute is too plain and imperative to admit of any question as to its meaning, or any evasion of its requirements. That it rules a case under the law giving a lien upon logs and timber for labor performed thereon, we cannot doubt.”
In Northern Trust Co. v. Albert Lea College, 68 Minn. 112, speaking of a like statute, it was said:
“The reason and fairness of this statutory rule, which is practically.the old equity rule, is obvious. The defendant by his default submits, without con-, test on his part, to the court, only the claim of the plaintiff for the relief prayed in the complaint. But if a different or greater relief were demanded, he might appear and contest it as unjust; hence the statute wisely limits the power of the court in awarding judgment by default to that asked for in the complaint, to the end that the defendant may safely omit to appear in eases where he is willing to submit to the court, without contest, the claim of the plaintiff to the specific relief invoked in his complaint.”
In Leland & Co. v. Rose, 11 La. Ann. Rep. 69, plaintiff petitioned that the defendant, in default of payment of the judgment, be compelled to surrender his property. Upon the filing of the defendant’s schedule, the plaintiffs filed charges of fraud, asking that the prayer of the defendant for exemption be rejected, and also for general relief. The district judge refused to imprison the defendant, for the reason that the plaintiffs had in no
“It is true there is also a prayer for general relief, and in such cases we hold that the party making it are (is) entitled to any and all ordinary decrees or orders which the pleadings and evidence under the pleadings may justify; but this relief does not extend to the extraordinary remedy of the imprisonment of a, debtor under a highly penal statute. The presumption is, when a party fails to invoke such a remedy, that he waives it, and the defense is conducted accordingly.”
In the case at bar, the district court evidently rejected the plaintiff’s demand for exemplary damages in money on account of the fraud alleged, and, in place of this relief which was demanded, substituted the extraordinary relief of imprisonment, which was not demanded at all. In this the court exceeded its authority.
The judgment is affirmed, in so far as the recovery of $825.00 and costs is concerned, and reversed as to the part allowing execution against the body of the defendant, and ordering’ him imprisoned, and the cause is remanded for such further proceedings as may be in accordance with law, if any can be had.
Judgment affirmed in part and reversed in part.
Decision en lane.
Mr. Justice Gabbebt, Mr. Justice White and Mr. Justice Hill not participating.
Reference
- Status
- Published