District of Columbia v. Pace, No. 117
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
| Writing for the Court | JACKSON |
| Citation | 64 S.Ct. 406,320 U.S. 698,88 L.Ed. 408 |
| Parties | DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA v. PACE |
| Docket Number | No. 117 |
| Decision Date | 10 January 1944 |
v.
PACE.
Page 699
Mr. Glenn Simmon, of Washington, D.C., for petitioner.
Mr. Elmer E. Hazard, of Jacksonville, Fla., for respondent.
Mr. Justice JACKSON delivered the opinion of the Court.
Charles F. Pace came to the District of Columbia in 1913 from Florida, where he had theretofore been domiciled. His only purpose in coming was to enter the federal service. He became Financial Clerk of the Senate and served continuously until his death in the District in 1940. During these twenty-seven years he lived in boarding houses and in rented apartments and owned no real property in the District. At all times he maintained his registration and qualification to vote in the State of Florida and exercised that right either in person or by absentee ballot. His will, made in 1937, recited that he was 'of the City of Washington, D.C.' It was probated in Florida, and ancillary letters were granted in the District to the respondent executrix. District authorities, upon the premise that Pace was domiciled in the District, assessed an inheritance tax upon the transfer of certain jointly owned bank deposits within the District. Respondents paid the tax under protest and then appealed the assessment to the Board of Tax Appeals of the District on the ground that decedent was domiciled in Florida at the time of his death. The Board of Tax Appeals after hearing argument determined that decedent was domiciled in Florida, and ordered refund of the tax paid. The District appealed to the Court of Appeals, but before hearing this Court decided District of Columbia v. Murphy, 314 U.S. 441, 62 S.Ct. 303, 86 L.Ed. 329. The District thereupon moved to remand the
Page 700
case to the Board of Tax Appeals for reconsideration in the light of the intervening decision. The motion was granted. Upon reconsideration the Board re-adopted the findings theretofore made but concluded that the decedent had not overcome the presumption, arising from maintaining a home in the District, that he was domiciled therein and reversed its former ruling.
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed. It accepted and applied our decision in District of Columbia v. Murphy and, weighing the facts in the light of its principles, concluded that the decedent was domiciled in Florida at the time of his death. The evidence before the Board of Tax Appeals took a wide range, and we do not think it is necessary to recite it in detail. As is usual in cases of contested domicile, it gave rise to conflicting inferences, and a decision either way would be supported by substantial evidence. Whether the Board's determination or that of the Court of Appeals should be deemed correct would depend upon the weight to be given to many different items of evidence, the credibility to be given to testimony, and the inferences to be drawn from many admitted events. We did not take this case to determine where Mr. Pace was domiciled. But the scope of review of decisions by the Board of Tax Appeals of the District of Columbia is important to the administration of the District's tax laws, and since that question was not reached or decided in District of Columbia v. Murphy, we granted certiorari in this case.
Congress has seen fit in certain of the District's tax statutes to make liability dependent upon domicile. In the District, where a large proportion of the population owe their presence to Government service and have the...
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Richardson v. Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd., Nos. 87-1497
...appellate courts review the judgment differ, depending on whether it arose from a jury or a bench trial. District of Columbia v. Pace, 320 U.S. 698, 701, 64 S.Ct. 406, 408, 88 L.Ed. 408 (1944) ("findings of fact by an equity court and the verdict of a jury have from time immemorial been sub......
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Ruby v. American Airlines, Inc., No. 178
...by a district judge under the "not clearly erroneous" rule is wider than as to administrative orders. See District of Columbia v. Pace, 320 U.S. 698, 64 S.Ct. 406, 88 L.Ed. 408 (1944), and the discussion in Stern, Review of Findings of Administrators, Judges and Juries: a Comparative Analys......
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Wabash Corp. v. Ross Electric Corp., No. 21
...force they might have, our problem therefore becomes the same as that before the trial court." See also District of Columbia v. Pace, 320 U. S. 698, 701-702, 64 S.Ct. 406, 88 L.Ed. (3) Sometimes the so-called "ultimate" facts may be directly inferred from the facts ascertained by "secondary......
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Ethyl Corp. v. E.P.A., Nos. 73-2205
...Fed.R.Civ.P. Unlike an agency determination or a jury verdict, such findings may be fairly readily reversed. District of Columbia v. Pace, 320 U.S. 698, 702, 64 S.Ct. 406, 408, 88 L.Ed. 408, 410 (1944); 4 K. Davis, supra note 15, § 29.02, at 118-126; L. Jaffe, supra, at 615-616. See especia......
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Ruby v. American Airlines, Inc., No. 178
...by a district judge under the "not clearly erroneous" rule is wider than as to administrative orders. See District of Columbia v. Pace, 320 U.S. 698, 64 S.Ct. 406, 88 L.Ed. 408 (1944), and the discussion in Stern, Review of Findings of Administrators, Judges and Juries: a Comparative Analys......
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Richardson v. Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd., Nos. 87-1497
...appellate courts review the judgment differ, depending on whether it arose from a jury or a bench trial. District of Columbia v. Pace, 320 U.S. 698, 701, 64 S.Ct. 406, 408, 88 L.Ed. 408 (1944) ("findings of fact by an equity court and the verdict of a jury have from time immemorial been sub......
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Ethyl Corp. v. E.P.A., Nos. 73-2205
...Fed.R.Civ.P. Unlike an agency determination or a jury verdict, such findings may be fairly readily reversed. District of Columbia v. Pace, 320 U.S. 698, 702, 64 S.Ct. 406, 408, 88 L.Ed. 408, 410 (1944); 4 K. Davis, supra note 15, § 29.02, at 118-126; L. Jaffe, supra, at 615-616. See especia......
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Williams v. State of North Carolina, No. 84
...1082, 84 L.Ed. 1402. Compare District of Columbia v. Murphy, 314 U.S. 441, 62 S.Ct. 303, 86 L.Ed. 329, with District of Columbia v. Pace, 320 U.S. 698, 64 S.Ct. 406, 88 L.Ed. 408. See 121 A.L.R. 1200; Tweed and Sargent, Death and Taxes Are Certain—But What of Domicile? (1939) 53 Harv.L.Rev.......