J. C. Jacobs Banking Co. v. Campbell

Decision Date01 September 1981
Citation406 So.2d 834
PartiesJ. C. JACOBS BANKING CO., a Corp. v. W. Loy CAMPBELL. W. L. GLADISH, Jr. and Johnnie K. Gladish v. W. Loy CAMPBELL. Jessie Sue BYNUM v. W. Loy CAMPBELL. Jessie Sue BYNUM, as Trustee of the Lucy Scott Bynum Trust v. W. Loy CAMPBELL. W. Loy CAMPBELL. v. W. L. GLADISH, Jr., et al. Jessie Sue BYNUM, individually and as Trustee of the Lucy Scott Bynum Trust v. Charles W. WANN, individually and as Circuit Clerk of Jackson County, Alabama; Jim Lindsey, individually and as Circuit Clerk of DeKalb County, Alabama; and W. Loy Campbell. 79-296, 79-297, 79-464, 79-466, 79-625, 79-465.
CourtAlabama Supreme Court

L. Tennent Lee, III of Cleary, Lee, Porter, Evans & Rowe and James L. Tatum of Berry, Ables, Tatum, Little & Baxter, Huntsville, for appellant in No. 79-296.

James T. Tatum, Jr. of Berry, Ables, Tatum, Little & Baxter, Huntsville, for appellants in No. 79-287 and appellees Brooks Derrick, Izzy Derrick and Patsy Self in No. 79-466.

Richard F. Ogle of Denaburg, Schoel, Meyerson & Ogle and Carlton Wynn of Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, Birmingham, for appellee in Nos. 79-296 and 79-297 and cross-appellant in No. 79-466.

Frank K. Noojin and Charles E. Richardson of Watts, Salmon, Roberts, Manning & Noojin, Huntsville, for appellant in Nos. 79-464 and 79-465.

Frank K. Noojin of Watts, Salmon, Roberts, Manning & Noojin, Huntsville, for appellant in No. 79-625.

L. Tennent Lee, III of Cleary, Lee, Porter, Evans & Rowe, Huntsville, and Jack Livingston, Scottsboro, for appellees Robert D. Word, Jr., George Hunter Payne, and Elizabeth Payne Word, in No. 79-466.

Edward S. Allen and Steven F. Casey of Balch, Bingham, Baker, Hawthorne, Williams & Ward, Birmingham, for amicus curiae St. Paul Title Insurance Co., in Nos. 79-297, 79-296 and 79-466.

EMBRY, Justice.

These consolidated appeals are from judgments entered in an action filed in the Circuit Court of Jackson County on 18 October 1978, by William Loy Campbell, as a creditor of Hugh Otis Bynum, Jr. It sought to have declared void, and set aside as fraudulent, certain conveyances of real property and an assignment of a promissory note by Bynum, and a certain mortgage executed by other parties.

The Facts

In 1972, plaintiff Campbell, at that time a practicing attorney and now a Circuit Judge in Jackson County, lost both his legs as the result of the explosion of a device planted in his automobile which was triggered by his turning the starter switch. In March 1975, on account of the bombing, Bynum was convicted in the Circuit Court of Jackson County of assault with intent to murder Campbell. On 27 October 1975, Campbell filed an action for personal injuries against Bynum seeking damages of $2,000,000 for the injuries and damages suffered as a result of the bombing, and the action resulted in a verdict and a judgment in that amount being entered on 25 May 1978, by the Circuit Court of Jefferson County. The bombing incident and the criminal and civil trials were extensively publicized in various media.

At the time of his conviction in March 1975, Bynum had extensive real property holdings in Jackson County, some of which he owned individually and others which he owned jointly with his sister, Jessie Sue Bynum, who held her interests both individually and as trustee of the Lucy Scott Bynum Trust. Lucy Scott Bynum, another sister of Bynum, was both physically and mentally incapacitated during the entire period of time relevant to these proceedings.

Over a period of many years and prior to his conviction, Bynum had seldom sold any of his individually owned property. Subsequently, however, he departed from this practice and on 30 December 1975, while Campbell's suit for damages was pending, Bynum entered upon a series of transactions whereby in little more than a year's time he disposed of all his real estate holdings. Several of these transactions involved exchanges of real estate jointly owned in undivided one-third interests by Hugh Bynum, Jr., Jessie Sue Bynum, individually, and Jessie Sue Bynum, as trustee. Bynum exchanged his one-third interest in several tracts jointly owned for Jessie Sue's two-thirds interest in other tracts with the net result that Bynum became the sole owner of several tracts which had previously been jointly owned.

In addition to these exchanges, Bynum sold Jessie Sue his one-third interest in four other tracts of land. In addition to all the real estate he already owned individually, Bynum proceeded to sell the parcels of land acquired in the exchanges with Jessie Sue. Among the purchasers of these properties were George Hunter Payne, Robert F. Word, Jr. and wife Elizabeth Payne Word, W. L. Gladish, Jr. and wife Johnnie K. Gladish, Brooks Derrick, Izzy Derrick, and Patsy Self, each of whom was among those named as defendants.

When he learned that these transactions were occurring, Campbell filed in the probate Court of Jackson County a notice, denominated as a lis pendens notice. It described the nature of the personal injury action and stated that the notice was intended to establish a lien upon all real estate in Jackson County owned by Bynum, or in which he had an interest; and further, that any attempt by Bynum to sell, convey, or encumber any lands in which he had an interest would cause irreparable injury to Campbell; and the notice also had the purpose of warning Bynum or any proposed purchaser that no sales or encumbrances of the lands should be made until the conclusion of the personal injury action.

The Case

Several months after judgment in the personal injury action, Campbell filed the action from which these appeals are taken. It sought to void the conveyances and transfers alluded to earlier on the basis they were made with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud him in the collection of damages in the personal injury suit, in violation of Code 1975, § 8-9-6. In addition to the grantees of land from Bynum, the J. C. Jacobs Banking Company was made a party defendant. The bank was mortgagee of the property sold by Bynum to the Gladishes and also assignee of a promissory note negotiated to it by Bynum, who had previously received the note from his sister, Jessie Sue, as partial consideration for one of the conveyances of property to her. By amendment, Campbell added the charge that Bynum and Jessie Sue, individually and as trustee, conspired to hinder, delay, or defraud him, by preventing him, via fraudulent conveyances, from executing against and attaching property assets of Bynum from which collection might be made of the $2,000,000 civil judgment previously obtained by Campbell against Bynum, and for this alleged conspiracy $4,000,000 in compensatory and punitive damages was sought.

A counterclaim was filed against Campbell by the Words and Payne, seeking damages because he filed the purported lis pendens notice.

On 24 January 1979, the Honorable Randall Cole of the DeKalb County Circuit was appointed special trial judge for this case by order of the Chief Justice.

At the pretrial conference on 25 July 1979, the motion of Jessie Sue Bynum, individually and as trustee, for an advisory jury was granted and the case was set for trial; the claims against Jessie Sue, individually and as trustee, were to be tried with an advisory jury and those against all other defendants were to be tried without a jury. Jessie Sue's motion for change of venue was granted and the claims to be heard before an advisory jury were set for trial in DeKalb County.

When those claims were tried, the advisory jury returned a verdict in favor of Campbell and against Jessie Sue Bynum, individually and as trustee for Lucy Scott Bynum. Specifically, the jury found that the eight conveyances made by Bynum to Jessie Sue were void for fraudulent intent in the making of them and should be set aside. In its final judgment on 3 December 1979, the Court adopted the verdict of the advisory jury, but made an independent adjudication that the conveyances were due to be set aside. On the conspiracy claims, the court granted Jessie Sue's motion to dismiss and motion for judgment on the pleadings.

As to the nonjury hearing for the other defendants, the following adjudications were made: The conveyance of real estate to the Gladishes and the assignment of the promissory note by Hugh Bynum to the bank were set aside, with all rights, title, and interest in the land, and rights as payee under the note, restored to Bynum, subject to execution by Campbell in satisfaction of his judgment; requests that the conveyances to the Words, Payne, Self, Brooks Derrick, and Izzy Derrick be set aside were denied.

Campbell filed motions to alter or amend the judgment or, in the alternative, for a new trial or rehearing. By amendment to the final judgment, the trial court granted the relief sought by Campbell as to the mortgage executed by the Gladishes to the bank, declaring it void. All other relief sought in Campbell's post-trial motions was denied.

Bynum and Jessie Sue, in both her capacities, filed motions for alternative relief in the form of judgment notwithstanding the verdict; to set aside findings of fact and conclusions of law; for new trial; and for relief from judgment or order under Rule 60(b), ARCP. All were denied.

Thereafter, Jessie Sue, in both capacities, filed a petition with the trial court seeking an alternative writ of mandamus or rule nisi to require that the record on appeal be prepared and filed by the clerk of the Circuit Court of DeKalb County. By order of 7 May 1980, the trial court determined the appeal should proceed from Jackson County and denied all other relief requested in the petition.

Jessie Sue Bynum, individually and as trustee, appeals from the denial of the alternative writ of mandamus or rule nisi and from the trial court's final judgment of 3 December 1980. The Gladishes and the bank also appeal from the final judgment as amended. Campbell cross-appeals from...

To continue reading

Request your trial
112 cases
  • United States v. Glascock
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama
    • March 27, 1986
    ... ... Her trail thereafter meanders from Haleyville to Phil Campbell and on south to Jasper, all in Alabama, with evidence that her romantic interludes with Glascock ... Wilder, 270 Ala. 637, 120 So.2d 871 (1960), and its progeny, J.C. Jacobs Banking Co. v. Campbell, 406 So.2d 834 (Ala.1981). 13 In Wilder the Supreme Court of Alabama ... ...
  • LIBERTY NAT. v. UNIV. OF ALA. HEALTH SERVS.
    • United States
    • Alabama Supreme Court
    • September 19, 2003
    ... ... J.C. Jacobs Banking Co. v. Campbell, 406 So.2d 834 (Ala.1981) ... "`If such persons are not joined, the ... ...
  • Miller v. City of Birmingham
    • United States
    • Alabama Supreme Court
    • April 21, 2017
    ... ... J.C. Jacobs Banking Co. v. Campbell , 406 So.2d 834 (Ala. 1981). " " ... " " We note that the interest to be ... ...
  • Walden v. ES Capital, LLC
    • United States
    • Alabama Supreme Court
    • February 3, 2012
    ... ... Ex parte Izundu, 568 So.2d 771 (Ala.1990) (citing J.C. Jacobs Banking Co. v. Campbell, 406 So.2d 834, 849 (Ala.1981)). Thus, as the plaintiff in the Montgomery ... ...
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT