Betker v. Oppel
Betker v. Oppel
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiffs appeal from a summary judgment denying relief for the reason that the issue was res judicata.
The trial court “received” the attached pleadings as “evidence” under a stipulation in open court that the documents were true copies. The court thereupon ruled that the undisputed evidence showed the action to be barred and granted a nonsuit. The granting of the nonsuit was, strictly speaking, an error in nomenclature. The case was not disposed of because of a failure by the plaintiffs to prove the allegations of their complaint, a futile exercise which they were properly spared. Rather, the judgment went against them because the pleadings as a whole revealed that the plaintiffs were estopped to relitigate the case. While the judgment would have been more accurately characterized as a judgment on the pleadings, it is a judgment that must be affirmed.
The pleadings and judgment from the former case which were attached to the answer showed conclusively that the plaintiffs had previously attempted to recover from the defendants the same money for the same asserted reasons, and that they had been denied recovery on the merits. The court held in the former case that the vendors were entitled to the return of the real property and other relief as provided in the contract against defaulting purchasers. The default of the purchasers was established in that action, and that judgment was not appealed.
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- BETKER et ux v. OPPEL et ux
- Status
- Published