Mundo v. Juan Serrallés
Mundo v. Juan Serrallés
Opinion of the Court
A girl was born on December 16, 1952 in the city of New York and was recorded in the Vital Statistics Registry of that city under the name of Ann Serrallés. The record set forth that its parents were Félix Serrallés and Mercedes Mundo. In September 1954 the said minor, represented by its mother with patria potestas, filed in the Superior Court of Puerto Rico, San Juan Part, a complaint for declaration of paternity and support alleging that the said minor was begotten of the love relations which took place in Puerto Rico during the first four months of 1952 between the minor’s mother and Félix Juan Serrallés. Félix Juan Serrallés filed simultaneously in New York an action against the minor, the minor’s mother, and the Department of Health of that city denying that he was the father of the child and praying the court to issue an order to the Department of Health of New York to strike out his name as the father of the minor from the said birth registration.
All the defendants in the action in New York and also the defendant in the action in Puerto Rico were summoned personally in New York. All the defendants as well as the plaintiff in the action in New York appeared by their respec-
After the case was' decided by the New York court, Serrallés filed a petition for summary judgment in the Superior Court of San Juan alleging that plaintiff’s claim in Puerto Rico was res judicata, since the same question (the determination of the paternity) litigated between the same parties had been decided in favor of defendant herein by the New York court. Plaintiff having opposed the petition for summary judgment, the Superior Court, San Juan Part, held a hearing at which the parties appeared personally and through their attorneys. On August 22, 1956 the Superior Court, through Judge Luis R. Polo, granted the petition for summary judgment and rendered judgment dismissing the complaint in this case. Plaintiff appealed to this Court.
Appellant makes an elaborate assignment of errors allegedly committed by the superior court in not permitting plaintiff to challenge the New York decision on the ground of fraud and lack of jurisdiction. At the hearing held in the superior court in July 1956, appellant raised the question but did not offer evidence to that effect. Yet, the superior court had before it two legal precepts by which it was bound
For the reasons stated, the judgment rendered herein by the Superior Court, San Juan Part, on August 22, 1956 will be affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.