Martínez v. Moreno
Martínez v. Moreno
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
This was a suit brought by the plaintiff against the defendant on the 17th day of March, 1905, in the District Court of Mayaguez, seeking an injunction to prevent the defendant
The case was argued orally before this court on the 24th of November, and taken under advisement.
The district judge in his opinion dissolving the injunction states that in the petition for the preliminary injunction it had not been set forth that the judgment rendered by the trial court declaring the suit of forcible detainer well founded, had been affirmed by the Supreme Court on appeal taken by the same petitioner, nor did he state that a writ of injunction restraining him from executing certain acts had already been issued against him, and was still in force. However, the court having come to a knowledge of these facts held, that a judgment which had been reviewed on appeal by the Supreme Court of the Island, and affirmed in all its parts, declaring the former suit of forcible detainer well founded, and ordering the defendant to vacate the property, could not be enjoined or suspended by a writ from the district court which only had jurisdiction to order its execution; and further, that the writ of injunction being an extraordinary remedy could not prevail against a judgment in which a final decision had been reached. And even if the district court had jurisdiction to do such a thing, it could not leave a judgment of a higher court unexecuted, unless it had been demonstrated clearly that the same had been rendered by accident, error, mistake,
The fact, as set out in the judgment of the court below that there had been on the part of the complainant a suppression or concealment of the facts of the case, would have been in
Plaintiff’s attorney in this court, without referring to the point just mentioned, contends that the grounds given by the district court for dissolving the injrTnction are erroneous; that the matter decided by the Supreme Court is one thing, and the matter applied for by him is another, and that the injunction being applied for in a different suit, in which the annulment of the dominion title in favor of Moreno and the annulment of the ejectment proceeding, is sought, is not the same as the matter formerly adjudicated, but merely seeks to retain matters in the same condition that they were found at the beginning of the said last-mentioned suit, and that therefore the injunction should be made perpetual.
At appears to us that this distinction is shadowy, and has no existence in fact. The whole litigation is in regard to the same tract of land, the 50 acres known as “Bejuco.” The defendant, Maria Moreno, had recovered the land in a suit for forcible detainer and sought for and obtained perpetuated injunction against the plaintiff, Martinez, restraining him from gathering the crops, or in any manner interfering with her rights in regard to the same. When the suit for forcible de-tainer was affirmed by the Supreme Court, she had a right to her execution putting her in possession of the property, and it would have been highly improper in the district court to perpetuate an injunction restraining her from rights which had been formally and finally adjudged to her, not only in the district court, but in the Supreme Court, and establishing her claim as the owner in fee simple of the property in question.
Mr. Justice Figueras in an opinion written in the case of
“Writs of injunction should be granted with great caution, and only in cases where the reason and necessity are clear. To grant an injunction hastily and without due consideration endangers the economic interests of the country, as well as the rights of parties and the well-established precedents of the courts.
“A person who has his remedy provided by the law, but does not avail himself of it, and fails to show wherein he has been prejudiced, has no right to relief in a court by means of an application for injunction. That remedy cannot be granted to stay a damage for which ample compensation may be had in an action for the recovery of damages.”
These principles are quite applicable also to the case before us, and meet with our entire approval.
It is true that eventually the plaintiff, Martinez, may succeed in having this decision of the courts annulled, and in setting aside the title of Moreno to the property claimed, but in the meantime he has no right to an injunction, nor to interfere in any way with her execution of the judgment, and her possession of the property. (High on Injunctions sec. 5.) The claim of Martinez, whatever it may be, could not serve as a basis for a writ of injunction under the statute laws of Porto Rico. (Rev. Stat. P. R., sec. 343.) According to the said statute, in order to obtain an injunction it is necessary for the party applying for the same to have some right which may be prejudiced or infringed by an‘ act which is about to be executed by the person sought to be enjoined.
An eminent elementary writer says:
‘ ‘ The utmost care should be observed in the exercise of the jurisdiction, and the relief should only be allowed upon a clear necessity being shown of affording immediate protection to some right or interest of the party complaining which, would otherwise be seriously injured or impaired.” (1 High on Injunctions, sec. 10.)
Nothing of the kind appears in the record of this case, and
For these reasons the judgment of the District Court of Mayaguez, rendered on the 26th of April, 1905, dissolving the injunction and adjudging the costs against the plaintiff, should he in all things affirmed.
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.