National Surety Co. v. Love
National Surety Co. v. Love
Opinion of the Court
In this action the National Surety Company sued the defendant, Love, to recover the sum of $650.80 upon a written contract executed by Love to indemify the company for any loss, damage or expense it should sustain by reason of becoming his surety upon an attachment bond executed on the 8th day of May, 1914, in a case where he sued one A1 Crystal in the circuit court of Klamath county, Oregon, to recover the sum of $1,000. The case was tried to the court without a jury, and, on May 12, 1919, resulted in a judgment dismissing plaintiff’s action. Plaintiff appeals, assigning as error that the judgment is contrary to law and to the evidence.
But appellant insists that there was an adjudication that there was no settlement by Crystal and that the' attachment wrongfully issued, in an action in the same Oregon court, wherein Crystal sued the National Surety Company and Love for damages on the attachment bond on the alleged ground that the writ wrongfully issued. The last case was begun on March 8, 1915, and
Moreover, there is in the instant case no proof of the judgment of the Oregon court, except what purports to be a copy thereof certified by the clerk of the court only. There is no certificate of the presiding judge, as required by section 7979, Rev. St. 1913, which this court has held to be indispensable to its authentication. Chapman v. Chapman, 74 Neb. 388. However, what purports to he a copy of the judgment of the Oregon court shows that, on January 7, 1916, Crystal recovered a judgment for $500 against “the defendant, National Surety Company,” only. We are of the opinion, therefore, that the judgment of the Oregon court in the case , of Crystal v. The Surety Company is not, in any view, conclusive upon Love, who was a nonresident, and had no notice of the suit, and that there was no adjudication against the settlement or of the wrongful issuance of the attachment. Those questions were still open at trial of this case, and depended for their decision upon the evidence. Henderson v. Eckern, 115 Minn. 410; Ann. Cas. 1912D, 989. In 22 Cyc. 106, it is said: “The omission to give notice to the indemnitor does not go to the right of action against him, but simply changes the burden of proof, and imposes upon the indemnitee the necessity of again litigating and establishing all of the actionable facts.”
We have seen that there is ample evidence to establish the fact that the ease in which the attachment bond was given was fully settled and dismissed, and that there is no evidence whatever that the attachment was issued wrongfully, but, on the contrary, a fair inference is that it was properly issued. The surety company, therefore, had a good defense against the action brought against it by Crystal in Oregon. In short, there was, in our opinion, no liability against the company on the attachment bond, and this defense is still available to this plaintiff indemnitor. It is against only actual legal liabilities that the contract of indemnity engages, and not against such as are fictitious or imaginary. Still, it may be urged that the surety company was sued in Oregon, and paid a judgment, and at least was put to the expense of interposing a defense. To this suggestion we have to say that the foregoing observations are sufficient answer. But there is still another fact which deserves attention in this connection. It is true that in the trial of the Oregon case of Crystal v. The Surety Company, plaintiff herein, the company “set up” in its answer the. defense that the attachment suit had been settled. But, it must be added, the company neglected to establish it by evidence. The evidence of O’Neill, who had left Klamath Falls, might have been taken by deposition, but it was not. Even Manning, his partner, who lived at Klamath Falls, could have been produced as a witness, but no attempt was made to do so. Love was absent in Nebraska, and only feeble and futile efforts were made to reach him for the service of summons, and none at all to get Ms testimony. In fact one or both attorneys for the surety company seem to have been favorably impressed with Kenner’s unique theory that, while he was
This case was loosely tried in the court below. Depositions of the attorneys, Renner, Kent, Rntenie, and the clerk, Chastain, were taken twice. Some were offered in evidence and some were not. At the close of the trial, on June 3, 1918, a stipulation was made that plaintiff’s attorneys might take additional depositions, which was done in November, 1918. All depositions are attached to the hill of exceptions. Other questions are raised by both parties, but our conclusions obviate the necessity of considering them.
The evidence is sufficient to sustain the judgment of the trial court, and ibis right.
We recommend that the judgment of the district court he affirmed.
For the reasons stated in the foregoing opinion, the judgment of the district court is affirmed, and this opinion is adopted by and made the opinion of the court.
A-eeirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- National Surety Company v. Thomas Love
- Status
- Published