Peck v. Truesdell
Peck v. Truesdell
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This was an action in the district court of Cloud county, brought by the defendant in error to recover certain real estate upon which she held tax deeds. A trial was had at the January term, 1891, at which the court found for the defendant, to which the
The principal question in this case is, Can a district court, more than five years after it has rendered a judgment setting aside a tax deed, but at the first term of the said court after its judgment has been affirmed by the court of appeals which had been asked to reverse it, upon a motion of the defeated party under paragraph 6996, General Statutes of 1889, adjudge the successful claimant to pay the holder of the tax deed the taxes paid on the land, with interest and costs, as provided in said section? It was not er-. ror for the court to fail to do so at the time the judgment was rendered, as there was no demand or request for it.
Does the fact that the original case involving the validity of the tax deeds was pending in the court of appeals on proceedings in error prevent the statute from running?
The supreme court of the United States has held that proceedings in error are a continuation of the original suit and not a new one. (Nations et al. v. Johnson et al., 24 How. 195; Cohens v. Virginia, 6 Wheat. 410; Clarke v. Matthewson, 12 Pet. 164.)
The holder of a tax deed cannot be required to waive his right to test the validity of his title in the courts of last resort in order to entitle him to- take advantage of paragraph 6996 of the General Statutes of 1889, as would be the case if the theory of the plaintiff in error is correct.
We are now for the first time met with the contention that the original action was not begun in time, and consequently no recovery can be had for taxes. We think this comes too late. After this matter has been waived, and the defendant has recovered judgment on the pleadings and evidence in the court below, he is estopped from pleading the statute of limitations in the original case.
I have grave doubts of the authority of the district court to add to its judgment at the time and under the circumstances as it was done, measuring that authority by the rule of law announced in the decisions of courts in such cases, but the result reached is so eminently just that I am constrained to yield an acquiescence.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.