Currie v. Pierce
Currie v. Pierce
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiffs, in these consolidated cases, attack a sale made on the fifth of April, 1871, by Jonathan O. Pierce to his son John O. Pierce of an undivided half part share and interest of and in a large and valuable plantation lying in the parish of Carroll called “The Oakland plantation,” and they seek to have the sale annulled and set aside on the alleged ground that it was made in fraud of their rights and for the purpose of placing the property out of their reach and shielding it from being made subject to the debts owing them by Jonathan O. Pierce. They allege and show that they are creditors of said Jonathan O. Pierce to large amounts, and they aver that he was in insolvent circumstances at the time he made the sale, which they allege is fictitious, simulated and fraudulent.
Curators ad hoc were appointed to represent the several absent parties made defendants. John O. Pierce answered, denying all the allegations of the plaintiffs, charging him with fraud and simulation in the purchase of the property in question, and averring that he gave in payment of the price a part in cash and the remainder in his obligations, to be paid in installments, which he has been discharging as they have matured. He- pleads in bar of the action brought against him the prescription of one year. In the lower court there was judgment in favor of the plaintiffs annulling and setting aside the sale so far as it affected the plaintiffs’ rights, and rendering judgment in favor of the plaintiffs against Jonathan O. Pierce for the amounts claimed, and ordering that the property be seized and sold to pay the said debts of the plaintiffs. J. O. Pierce, Jr., has appealed.
The record contains a large amount of testimony. The plaintiffs have used much industry to draw out of J. O. Pierce, Sr., by searching interrogatories to him and by a long cross-examination of J. O. Pierce, Jr., on the witness stand, evidence to show that the sale was simulated, and in truth without consideration. The mother of J. O.
It is therefore ordered that the judgment of the district court be annulled and reversed. It is further ordered that the defendants have judgmen-t in their favor; the plaintiffs paying costs in both courts.
Rehearing refused.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Currie, King & Co. v. J. O. Pierces. Scott & Brother v. The Same. (Consolidated.)
- Status
- Published