Blea v. Sandoval

• Decision Date: 26 April 1988
• Docket Number: No. 9717,9717
• Citation: 107 N.M. 554,761 P.2d 432,1988 NMCA 36
• Parties: Juan Antonio BLEA and Annie Quintana, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. George SANDOVAL, Sr., Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeals of New Mexico

Page 432

761 P.2d 432

107 N.M. 554

Juan Antonio BLEA and Annie Quintana, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. George SANDOVAL, Sr., Defendant-Appellant.

No. 9717.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

April 26, 1988.

Certiorari Denied Aug. 8, 1988.

[107 NM 555] Roberto L. Armijo, Las Vegas, for plaintiffs-appellees.

Santiago "Jaime" R. Chavez, Lopez, Chavez & Graham, P.C., Taos, for defendant-appellant.

OPINION

ALARID, Judge.

Plaintiffs filed an action to eject defendant from certain lands to which they claimed ownership. Defendant moved to dismiss or for judgment on the pleadings. That motion was denied. After a non-jury trial, the trial court held that defendant had no right to be in possession of the property and that plaintiffs did have such right. Accordingly, plaintiffs' claim in ejectment was granted and defendant's counterclaim to quiet title was denied. Defendant appeals the trial court's refusal to dismiss plaintiffs' claims, and the court's grant of the ejectment claim. He does not appeal the court's denial of his counterclaim. We reverse.

FACTS

George and Felicita Sandoval moved onto the subject property in approximately 1944, after they were married. At the time, the property was allegedly owned by Felicita's family. The Sandovals and their family were the only people in possession of the property for over forty years, and George remained in possession at the time this lawsuit was filed. While the Sandovals were living on the property, Felicita attempted to buy it from one of her uncles. She paid him $300, but no deed was ever given to the Sandovals. Plaintiffs paid the taxes on the property.

In 1982, plaintiffs and plaintiff Quintana's daughter filed a quiet title action naming George, Felicita and several other people as defendants. Although George defaulted in the prior action, Felicita defended and filed a counterclaim to quiet title in herself. In a non-jury trial, the trial court dismissed both plaintiffs' claims against Felicita with prejudice, and Felicita's counterclaim with prejudice. One week later, the trial court issued a judgment defaulting George and the other defendants except Felicita, and quieting title to the other defendants' interests in the property in plaintiffs. Plaintiffs appealed the trial court's decision regarding their claims against Felicita to the supreme court, which issued a non-published decision affirming the judgment.

Felicita died in May 1985, shortly after the supreme court decision was filed. Plaintiffs immediately filed the instant action, seeking to eject George from the property. George answered and moved to dismiss the complaint, or alternatively, for judgment on the pleadings, claiming that the prior decision in the quiet title action was res judicata and barred plaintiffs' action. The trial court, after reviewing the pleadings in the earlier case, denied the motion to dismiss. The court issued an order to that effect, and included language stating that there was "no just cause for delay" and that the order should be filed immediately.

After a non-jury trial, the trial court issued a letter decision containing what we interpret as findings of fact and conclusions of law, although they were not denominated as such. Pursuant to that decision, a judgment was entered on October 14, 1986, granting plaintiffs' claim for ejectment.

DISCUSSION

Plaintiffs raise two procedural arguments to preclude our consideration of defendant's appeal. First, they argue that the order denying the motion to dismiss was a final appealable order because it contained the "no just cause for delay" language. Since defendant did not appeal from that order within thirty days of its entry, plaintiffs contend that he is barred from appealing that denial now. This contention, however, is without merit. SCRA 1986, 1-054(C)(1), provides that "when more than one claim for relief is presented in an action, * * * the court may enter a final judgment as to one or more but fewer than all of the claims only upon an express determination that there is no just reason for delay." (Emphasis added.) The court's denial of the motion to dismiss was not a final judgment as to any of plaintiffs' or defendant's claims. The order did not dismiss any of those claims, but merely disposed of an issue affecting those claims. Therefore, it was not a final appealable order. See Graham v. Cocherell, 105 N.M. 401, 733 P.2d 370 (Ct.App.1987). Accordingly, defendant's appeal from the denial of the motion to dismiss was neither waived nor untimely.

Second, plaintiffs argue that defendant's failure to submit findings of fact and conclusions of law precludes this court from reviewing the trial court's decision ejecting defendant and entitling plaintiffs to possess the property. We recognize that the failure to submit findings of fact and conclusions of law precludes a review of the evidence on appeal. Smith v. Maldonado, 103 N.M. 570, 711 P.2d 15 (1985); see SCRA 1986, 1-052(B)(1)(f). However, this merely prevents us from reviewing the factual basis of any findings the trial court may have made. This court may still review the trial court's decision to determine whether it is legally correct, and whether it is supported by findings of fact, if any, made by the trial court. Smith v. Maldonado. Defendant predicated his motion to dismiss on the assertion that the prior judgment was res judicata to plaintiffs' claims in this case. The effect that judgment has, or should have had, on this case is a legal question that does not require a review of the facts. Similarly, we may review the effect of that prior judgment on the trial court's determination that plaintiffs are now entitled to possession of the property, because it is also a legal issue which does not require a review of the evidence. If, on the other hand, defendant had argued that the trial court's judgment was not supported by the facts adduced at trial, review of that claim would be prohibited. See Martinez v. Martinez, 101 N.M. 493, 684 P.2d 1158 (Ct.App.1984). Defendant has raised no such evidentiary issue, and we may address only the issues he has raised. See Smith v. Maldonado.

Although defendant contends that the judgment in the quiet title action was res judicata to plaintiffs' claims in the ejectment suit, the applicable doctrine is collateral estoppel. The quiet title action was a completely different cause of action than plaintiffs' ejectment claim, although one of the ultimate facts necessary for the decision in each case was the extent of plaintiffs' ownership or possessory interests. When a subsequent suit involves a different cause of action than the prior suit, collateral estoppel should be applied to determine which issues plaintiffs or defendants may not relitigate. See Adams v. United Steelworkers of Am., 97 N.M. 369, 640 P.2d 475 (1982); Thompson v. Barngrover, 101 N.M. 216, 680 P.2d 356 (Ct.App.1984). Applying collateral estoppel principles, we hold that the prior judgment in the quiet title action precludes plaintiffs from claiming superior title to defendant and, thus, that plaintiffs should not have prevailed in their action for ejectment.

EFFECT OF DEFENDANT'S DEFAULT IN PRIOR ACTION

In an ejectment action, the plaintiff must win on the strength of his own title, not on the weakness of defendant's title. See Romero v. Herrera, 27 N.M. 559, 203 P. 243 (1921); see also Burke v. Permian Ford-Lincoln-Mercury, 95 N.M. 314, 621 P.2d 1119 (1981) (the very foundation of the right to maintain an action of ejectment is the plaintiff's right to possession of the premises). A party in possession of land is entitled to remain in possession until ousted by one having a better title than the party in possession. Hallmark v. Baca, 61 N.M. 420, 301 P.2d 527 (1956); Harrison v. Gallegos, 13 N.M. 1, 79 P. 300 (1905). Accordingly, where no legal title is shown in either party, the party showing prior possession in himself, or those through whom he claims, will be held to have the better right to possession. Sandoval County Bd. of Educ. v. Young, 43 N.M. 397, 94 P.2d 508 (1939); Romero v. Herrera.

Plaintiffs claim, and the trial court agreed, that the default judgment entered against defendant in the prior quiet title action quieted title to defendant's interest in the property in plaintiffs. Hence, plaintiffs contend that they have superior title to defendant and are thus entitled to eject him. It is therefore crucial to determine whether defendant's default in the prior action has collateral estoppel ramifications.

There is ample authority for the proposition that a default judgment has no collateral estoppel effect. See Restatement (Second) of Judgments Sec. 27e, at 257 (1982); Grip-Pak, Inc. v. Illinois Tool Works, Inc., 694 F.2d 466 (7th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 958, 103 S.Ct. 2430, 77 L.Ed.2d 1317 (1983); In re McMillan, 579 F.2d 289 (3d Cir.1978); Lynch v. Lynch, 250 Iowa 407, 94 N.W.2d 105 (1959). The Restatement formulation and the foregoing cases recognize that default judgments do have res judicata effect, but distinguish collateral estoppel from res judicata. The basis of the distinction is the doctrine that res judicata bars consideration, in a subsequent suit, of all matters that could properly have been raised in the prior case, while collateral estoppel bars consideration only of issues actually litigated and determined by a valid and final judgment. See Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore, 439 U.S. 322, 99 S.Ct. 645, 58 L.Ed.2d 552 (1979); In re McMillan; Romero v. State, 97 N.M. 569, 642 P.2d 172 (1982). The Restatement and the foregoing federal cases recognize that in a default judgment, the issues are not actually litigated. The Restatement also states that the policy of preventing endless litigation does not apply as strongly in the collateral estoppel context as it does when parties are repeatedly attempting to relitigate the same cause of action. Hence, while it may be proper to accord res judicata effect to a default...