Cothren v. Evans, 13794.
| Decision Date | 17 February 1949 |
| Docket Number | No. 13794.,13794. |
| Citation | 172 F.2d 533 |
| Parties | COTHREN v. EVANS et al. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
G. P. Houston, of Heber Springs, Ark., and Gerland P. Patten, of Little Rock, Ark., for appellant.
M. F. Highsmith and W. D. Murphy, Jr., both of Batesville, Ark., for appellees Miriam Evans, administratrix of Wilfred J. Evans, deceased, and J. N. Mason.
Before SANBORN, WOODROUGH, and THOMAS, Circuit Judges.
The sole question for decision is whether this case was properly removed to the Federal Court. The appeal is from a judgment entered upon the verdicts of a jury in an action involving claims for personal injuries and an alleged wrongful death.
On June 27, 1947, an automobile owned by Wilfred J. Evans, a citizen of Indiana, and driven by J. N. Mason, a citizen of Illinois, collided with a motor truck belonging to W. M. Hunt, the driver of which was Willard O. Cothren. Both Hunt and Cothren were citizens of Arkansas. The collision occurred in Randolph County, Arkansas. As a result of the accident, Evans died, Mason and Cothren were injured, and the motor vehicles were damaged.
Counsel for Hunt and Cothren, on September 11, 1947, procured the appointment by the Referee in Probate for Randolph County, Arkansas, of Carl Brown, Sheriff of the County, as Public Administrator of the Estate of Wilfred J. Evans, deceased. No property of Evans ever came into the hands of Brown. On September 20, 1947, Miriam Evans, the widow of Wilfred J. Evans, was appointed Administratrix of his estate by the Probate Court of Knox County, Indiana, the place of his and her domicile.
Cothren and Hunt, on October 10, 1947, as plaintiffs, brought this action in a State court of Arkansas against Miriam Evans, as administratrix of the estate of her husband, J. N. Mason, and Carl Brown, Public Administrator of the Estate of Wilfred J. Evans, deceased. Process was duly served upon all the defendants. The claim of Cothren was that the collision and his injuries were due to the negligence of Mason and Evans, and he asked for a judgment of $22,500. The claim of Hunt was that his truck was damaged to the extent of $2,500 by the negligence of Mason and Evans, and he prayed for judgment in that amount. The case was removed by the nonresident defendants to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas on the ground of diversity of citizenship. The answer of Brown, as Public Administrator of the estate of Evans, was prepared by counsel for the plaintiffs and consisted of a general denial. Miriam Evans, as Administratrix, and J. N. Mason filed an answer denying that the collision was due to the negligence of Wilfred J. Evans and Mason, and asserting, by way of cross-claims, that the death of Evans and the injuries of Mason, due to the collision, were caused by the negligence of the plaintiffs. Mason asked for a judgment of $20,000 against the plaintiffs, and Miriam Evans, as Administratrix, asked for a judgment...
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..."A garnishee or stakeholder is a merely nominal party whose citizenship will not affect the question of jurisdiction." In Cothren v. Evans, 8 Cir., 172 F.2d 533, 535, the court "It is obvious that Brown, as Public Administrator of the Estate of Wilfred J. Evans, had `no real substantial leg......
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