Hopkins v. Ward
Hopkins v. Ward
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
In this case, the Court below, by an interlocutory order, entered at the May term, 1849, directs Hopkins by the next term, to pay the amounts due the complainants Dougherty, Smedley,and Morgan, without ascertaining the amounts to be paid; and afterwards in July, 1850, a decree is rendered, which after reciting that defendant Hopkins had failed to pay the money as directed by the former decree, directs absolutely, a sale of so much of the mortgaged property as will satisfy and. pay Dougherty and Smedley the sum of $2850 10, with interest from the date of the decree — that the commissioner shall sell the property in the order required by law in sales under execution, and that the said commissioner shall also ascertain and report the amount due Morgan on the debts secured by the mortgage. These decrees are wholly erroneous:
1st. The preliminary order does not state what amount shall be paid by Hopkins to the defendants in
The amount decreed to Dougherty and Smedley, is $2850 10, when there is nothing presented in the whole record from beginning to end, in the pleadings, exhibits, or proof, from which it can be learned,what amount Hopkins is indebted to Dougherty and Smedley, or whether he is, or is not, indebted to them in any sum whatever.
It directs the sale of as much of the mortgaged property, without specifying the property or describing the mortgage, as may be necessary (and it may take the whole,) to pay Smedley and Dougherty the sum stated, without ascertaining the amount, if any, due to Morgan, who as a joint mortgagee, would be entitled to a pro rata share of the proceeds of the sale, and without having made John G. Parker a party to the suit, who is also in one of the mortgages from Hopkins, a joint mortgagee with Dougherty, Smedley, and Morgan, and of course a necessary party whose interests should be presented and settled, if any he has. On account of the objections stated, and because the pleadings of these
Wherefore the said interlocutory order and subsequent decree are reversed, and the cause remanded with directions that the parties have leave to amend the existing, and file additional pleadings, to file their exhibits and take proof, and for such other proceedings as may lead to a correct and final adjustment of all the matters in controversy, in default óf which that the answers and cross bills of the defendants in error, be dismissed without prejudice.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.