Martin v. Minnekahta State Bank
Martin v. Minnekahta State Bank
Opinion of the Court
This' action, which was to recover certain funds deposited with the defendant bank, by and to the credit of plaintiff, on the 14th day of August, 1890, was by stipulation tried to the court, without a jury, and resulted in a judgment in favor of plaintiff and against the defendant, for $1,647.57, including interest, costs and disbursements; and the defendant appeals. The complaint alleges, and the answer admits, that on the 14th day of August, 1890, plaintiff deposited with the defendant bank to his own account $1,428.52, and upon the same day drew a check against said account for $23.70, which was promptly paid when presented, and that a check drawn upon said account by the plaintiff upon the following day for the full amount remaining in the said bank to his credit, was presented, and payment thereof was refused. It appears from defendant’s answer, and from the evidence in the case, that on the 1st day of August, 1890, a default judgment was obtained against defendant and another for $1,410.65 in a cause entitled ‘‘Archibald Hanna v. Tolerton & Stetson Co., a corporation, and the Minnekahta Bank, a corporation”; that, on the 12th day of said month, by virtue of an execution issued upon said judgment, the sheriff levied upon $1,410.65 of the money found in defendant’s possession at its place of business, and, after the seizure thereof,, deposited, the same to his individual credit with the defendant bank, and as evidence of the transaction took a certificate of deposit, in the usual form, payable to his order upon the return thereof properly indorsed. The execution was thereupon returned fully satisfied, the judgment discharged of record, and
.The only issue of fact presented by the pleadings in the case is whether the deposits of the money seized on execution by the sheriff and evidenced by a certificate of deposit issued to him, and which was indorsed to plaintiff, and by the defendant bank placed to the plaintiff’s credit, at his request, upon the surrender thereof, were unconditional and in the ordinary course of business, or made subject to an agreement and understanding that the money was in effect to remain the property of and in possession of defendant until after the motion to vacate the judgment was disposed of by the court, and was to be subject to plaintiff’s check only in the event said motion was denied. The certificate of deposit issued to Seth Gifford, sheriff, at the time he deposited the money seized on. execution in the defendant’s bank, contained no conditional stipulation other than a statement that the amount specified therein was payable in current funds to the order of Seth Gifford, upon the return of said certificate properly indorsed, and the entry made in the bank book delivered to plaintiff at the time he surrendered the certificate properly indorsed is unconditional, and indicates a deposit subject to check, according to the custom and usage of banks. The court, apparently upon its own motion, and without notice to defendant’s counsel, after finding the substantial issues in favor of plaintiff, and against the defendant, and after the finding and entry of such findings, together with its conclusions of law and the judgment rendered thereon, made certain additional, though consistent, findings of fact, conform
Appellant proposed no findings of fact, and, so far as disclosed by the record, no exception was taken to the original findings of the court; and, as the findings are in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant, and appear to be sustained by the evidence, we would be reluctant to reverse the judgment upon this assignment of error. Hutchings v. Castle, 48 Cal. 152. Under our statute, the court may, in furtherance of justice, when the substantial rights of the adverse party are not affected by the exercise of its discretion, seasonably amend its written findings of fact to correspond to the oral announcement thereof at the time the decision was made, and file the same nunc pro tunc after the entry of judgment. Comp. Laws, Secs. 4938, 4939, 4941; Insurance Co. v. Boon, 95 U. S. 117; Williams v. Ely, 13 Wis. 1; Manufacturing Co. v. Adams (Minn.), 50 N. W. 360. Upon the evidence, which was conflicting, concerning the nature of the transaction between the sheriff and plaintiff, and with the defendant bank, the court was reasonably justified in making the following findings of fact: “9. That, on the 1st day of August, 1890, one Archibald N. Hanna obtained a default judgment in this court against the defendant in the sum of $1,410.65; that the said judgment was satisfied in full and discharged of record on August 14, 1890; that said judgment was satisfied by Seth Gifford, as sheriff of Fall River county, by making a levy, on August 12, 1890, upon certain
The defendant bank, having received and placed the deposit to plaintiff’s credit generally, became liable, upon an implied contract, to pay his checks drawn thereon, when presented; and, after such liability has been recognized by a partial performance of the contract, a case is presented which re?
Reference
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- Syllabus
- 1. On the first day of August, 1890, a default judgment was obtained and entered against the defendant and another. Twelve days later an execution previously issued was levied by the sheriff upon money in defendant’s possession, which was seized and taken into the actual possession of the officer, who satisfied the judgment and immediately deposited the money to his own individual credit in defendant’s bank, taking a negotiable certificate therefor in the usual form, which was immediately thereafter, by indorsement, transferred to plaintiff and placed to his credit in said bank subject to check. After defendant had paid a check drawn by plaintiff upon said account for a portion of the amount so deposited, and after a refusal by the bank to honor a check for the balance thereof, the court vacated and set aside the judgment, for the purpose of allowing one of the defendants to answer. Held, in the absence of a stay of execution or order of restitution, that the defendant bank-was legally divested of the subject matter of the suit, and not entitled under the circumstances to withhold the money from plaintiff, nor to assert that the same was deposited in the name of plaintiff, but for and on behalf of the judgment creditor. 2. Where a case is tried without a jury, and evidence that is immaterial and incompetent under the pleadings has been admitted by the court over a valid objection, such evidence requires no specific finding of fact and it is not prejudicial error to entirely disregard the same. 3. A court who tries issues of fact and makes its findings and conclusions of law, which are concurrently filed with the judgment based thereon, has power to seasonably make additional though entirely consistent findings, conforming more specifically to the decision as orally announced at the conclusion of the trial and to file the same as of the date the original findings were filed and entered. 4. When a bank receives a deposit and unconditionally places the same to the general credit of the depositor, it becomes liable upon an implied contract to pay his checks drawn thereon when presented, and it is against the general policy of the law to permit such bank, in an action by the depositor to recover money thus voluntarily placed to his credit, to claim to be the owner thereof. (Syllabus by the Court.