State v. Washington Dredging & Improvement Co.
State v. Washington Dredging & Improvement Co.
Opinion of the Court
In. chronological order the events out of which this lawsuit grew were about as follows: On May 13, 1895, the appellant company made application Eo-. 1747 in the office of the commissioner of public lands of the state of Washington to purchase certain tide lands belonging to the state, claiming to be the upland owner entitled to the preference right of purchase. Embraced in this application, which included a large amount of land, was block 228 of Seattle tide lands, which is the subject of the present controversy. On April 25, 1895, George Kinnear and D. O. and W. R. Brawley made application to purchase tide lands', many of which! were included in the application Eg. 1747 made by the appellant, but which did not include block 228. Said George Kinnear and W. R. Brawley also, made application for other lands-, not including block 228, on May 13, 1895. John Stempke and A. O. Shaw also- made application on
On February 7, 1898, the board of state laud commissioners rejected all of the aforesaid applications, of which the defendant was advised in due course. From this order derfendant attempted to appeal to the superior court of King county. This appeal of defendant was served upon George' Kinnear, D. O. and W. R. Brawley, John Stempke, A. O. ' Shaw, the hoard of land commissioners and the attorney general of the state, and was docketed in the King county superior court as cause 25,299. Thereafter Kinnear, Brawley and others of the applicants filed a motion in said canse to dismiss the appellant company’s appeal for various reasons, which motion was, on the 20th day of August, 1898, allowed by the superior court of King county. From this order of dismissal made by the hoard of land commissioners February 7, 1898, no appeal was taken by any of the parties to the proceeding before the hoard of commissioners, except the appellant. Subsequently a motion was made in the superior court of King county to redocket the said cause Kb. 25,299, to which motion the said parties mentioned above, Kinnear and others, objected, and the motion to redocket was disallowed. From this motion to redocket an appeal was taken to the supireme court, which was dismissed ou June 26, 1900. On April 30, 1900, defendant filed a lis pendens in King county, asserting its right to purchase certain tide lands* including block 228 in controversy, and the parties above named, moving for the original dismissal, appeared and moved to cancel the lis pendens, which motion was denied on July 12, 1900. From the order denying the said motion, an appeal was taken, and judgment was reversed, and the said superior court entered an order cancelling the lis pendens.
On January 28,1902, the appellant served on C. O. Dalton, assistant attorney general of the state of Washington, a
Most excellent briefs have been filed in this case, evincing much painstaking labor and investigation. But -there are one or two questions which it seems to us axe decisive of the case. The first question that challenges our attention is the sixth assignment of error, which embraces the contention that the judgment of the court is without effect for the reason that the court acted without jurisdiction, in that the application to vacate was made by motion and not by petition, as required by Bal. Code, § 5153 (P. O. § 1033) ; and many cases are
Again, the applellant appeared in answer to- this motion, which was duly served upon it, and while it is true the appearance was what is termed a “special” appearance, deny-' ing the right of the court to try the cause, yeit under such circumstances, if the court proceeded to judgment up|on a wrong theory of which particular statute it should proceed under, it was an error-of the court which could and should be reviewed on appeal. It is not the best policy to allow parties against whom a judgment is entered under such circumstances as surrounded the entry of this judgment, to treat the judgment with that silent contempt with which they would be justified in treating an absolutely void judgment of which in legal presumption they had no knowledge; and there having been no successful appeal taken from this judgment, it cannot be at
“It is true that a motion to vacate and set aside a judgment for the reason that it is void is not a ground of attack for which direct authority can be found in the Code. It is, however, a ground of attack recognized by the well established practice and is also a direct attack on the judgment. It is a proceeding in the cause not required toi be brought by the service of original process, and falls within the rule permitting service to be made on. thei attorney of record. . . . Having been made after due notice to the parties, it is not void for want of jurisdiction, and is binding on the appellant, even though it may have been erroneous.”
This cause is also in point on the contention) of the appellant that the judgment which was entered should not have been disturbed so far as block 228 is concerned, for the reason that there was no contest over this particular block with the other applicants, the court in the case just cited saying:
“Lastly, it is urged that the interest of the respondent affected only a part of the real property included within the mortgage, and the court should have permitted a sale of that part in which the respondent had no interest. It is too late for the appellant to urge this objection. By the order of the court the entire judgment was vacated. If this was an irregularity at all, it was one which was presented for the consideration of the court at the time of making the order. It must therefore be corrected by some appellate or correetory proceeding, and cannot form a basis for a successful collateral attack.”
Again, the history of this case is to a certain extent reviewed and the case decided in Washington Dredging etc. Co. v. Kinnear, 24 Wash. 405, 64 Pac. 522, as will be seen by the following opinion:
It was found that the order was an appealable order, and the judgment was reversed and the cause remanded with instructions to order the lis pendens cancelled.
The judgment just cited was the third disposition of this cause, and it seetms to us that it finally and clearly disposed of the ease, and relegated it to the realms of “finished business.” The theory upon which the Us pendens was ordered cancelled was that there was no action pending, it having been
It is earnestly contended by the appellant that, before the state could prosecute it® case to judgment, it should have placed appellant in the same position that it was in before the commencement of the action after the contract was entered into, by restoring to it the $67.60 which it paid. It seems to us to be sensibly contended by the respondent that the state was powerless to observe this undoubted principle of law and make the application of it in the usual manner, for the reason that the officers of the state had no right or power to draw money from the state except in response to an appropriation f-cr that purpose-, and the, best that could be done, which is all that is ever required in law or ethics, was to consent that appellant should take judgment against the state for the amount which it had paid to the state. To hold otherwise would be to hold that a party dealing with the state, and dealing wrongfully and illegally, as it was finally determined that the appellant did in this case, would bind the state to such an illegal and wrongful agreement by reason of its inability to pay in. advance of the institution of the remedy which it Was
Other questions are discussed at length by the attorneys for the appellant, but we think the questions that we have discussed determine the cause. The judgment is affirmed.
Mount, O. J., Cbow, Boot, and Puxlbbton, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The State of Washington v. Washington Dredging and Improvement Company
- Cited By
- 2 cases
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- Syllabus
- Judgment — Vacation—Jurisdiction—Mode op Procedure — Cancellation op Tide Hand Contract. Upon, a motion to vacate a judgment cancelling a state contract to purchase tide lands, entered in a proceeding instituted by application to the commissioner of public lands, in which all the parties are before the court, the court has jurisdiction although the application to vacate was by motion and not by petition as required in ordinary actions, by Bal. Code, § 5153; especially where the adverse party was served with notice, making only a special appearance and taking no appeal from the judgment of vacation; and especially where the judgment was the third and last disposition of the case. • Judgments — Vacation—Collateral Attack. That a judgment affected lands not in controversy between tbe parties, is not ground for a collateral attack upon tbe vacation of tbe judgment. Same — Jurisdiction—Vacation. If a court is without jurisdiction to enter a judgment wbicb it subsequently vacated, it is immaterial whether it acted without jurisdiction in vacating it. States — Cancellation of Instruments — Actions— Conditions Precedent — Tender of Monet Paid. The state may commence an action to cancel a contract for the sale of tide lands without first tendering repayment of an installment paid by the purchaser on the contract, since the state officers had no authority to draw a warrant therefor, and could only consent that the defendant take judgment against the state for the amount paid.