Baird v. Ford
Baird v. Ford
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The appellants request us to find from the evidence submitted to the auditor and printed in their paper book that A. J. Ford’s judgment is collusive and fraudulent. It is a question of fact to which they direct our attention and their complaint here is that it was erroneously decided against them by the auditor and the court below. It is not necessary to cite authorities in support of the familiar proposition that an auditor’s finding of facts when approved by the court to which his report is made is entitled to the same consideration here as the verdict of a jury and will not be reversed except for palpable error. In this case the burden of maintaining the charge of fraud by satisfactory and convincing evidence is on the appellants. They are seeking to set aside a judgment which is regular on its face and prima facie entitled to the fund for distribution. There is no presumption that it is fraudulent, and they cannot take any portion of the fund which appears to belong to it until they have proven that it is. An examination of the testimony on which they rely to support their charge has failed to satisfy us that the auditor erred in finding affirmatively, as he substantially did, that there was no collusion between the parties to the judgment, or fraud practiced or intended by either of them in obtaining or reviving it. There is no evidence showing or tending to show that there was any agreement or understanding between the Ford brothers
In the fact that A. J. Ford allowed the lien of his judgment to expire in January, 1887, and did not revive it until March, 1890, there is but little significance. The lien of the judgment was lost more than three months before his purchase of the Tidball property, and when it was a valid obligation for the whole amount, and when he revived it appellant Baird’s judgment was a prior lien. The loss of the lien and the delay in reviving it are quite as indicative of carelessness or of confidence in John’s solvency as of a conspiracy to defraud creditors.
We have carefully examined and considered the evidence
The specifications are not sustained.
Appeal dismissed at the cost of the appellants.
See also the next ease.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.