Meade v. Brown

• Decision Date: 02 March 1926
• Docket Number: No. 19318.,19318.
• Citation: 282 S.W. 457
• Parties: MEADE v. BROWN.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

282 S.W. 457

MEADE v. BROWN.

No. 19318.

St. Louis Court of Appeals, Missouri.

March 2, 1926.

Appeal from St. Louis Circuit Court.

Action by Carlos Gomez Meade against Paul B. Brown. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Affirmed.

T. J. Rowe and Henry Rowe, both of St. Louis, for appellant.

E. J. Brennan, of St. Louis, for respondent.

BENNICK, C.

This action was instituted in the circuit court of the city of St. Louis on May 14, 1924, by the filing of the following petition:

"Plaintiff, for cause of action, states that on the 26th day of November, 1920, plaintiff engaged defendant to execute for the release of one Cecil Stewart a bail bond conditioned that the said Cecil Stewart personally be and appear at and before the District Court of the United States for the Southern Division of the Southern Judicial District of California, at a term thereof to be holden on the 13th day of December, 1920, and from day to day thereafter, and from time to time, and from term to term, or at any time, at any future term or day of the term, as may be ordered by said court, until discharged by due process of law, and then and there to answer to any indictment or information for said offense whereof he stands charged, as well as all such matters as shall then be objected against him and shall obey and abide by all orders which may be made by said court in relation thereto, and not depart from said court without leave thereof; that plaintiff paid defendant $100, the agreed compensation for executing said bond, and deposited with said defendant the further sum of $500 as security that defendant then and there agreed to return said $500 security to plaintiff when defendant's obligation on said bond was terminated; that said Cecil Stewart appeared as provided in said bond and on the 24th day of October, 1921, entered a plea of guilty to the charge placed against him, and was thereupon sentenced to serve 9 months in the San Diego county jail, and thereupon began to serve said sentence; that demand for repayment of said $500 security was made by plaintiff on defendant; that proof was furnished by plaintiff to defendant that defendant's obligation on said bond was terminated; but defendant failed and refused and still fails and refuses to repay said $500. Wherefore, plaintiff prays judgment against defendant in the sum of $500, and interest from the 24th day of October, 1921, together with his costs in this action sustained."

To this petition defendant demurred, assigning as reasons therefor: First, that the petition failed to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against defendant; and, second, that the petition was so vague, indefinite, and uncertain as to not advise defendant a the precise nature of the cause of action attempted to be alleged against him. This demurrer was overruled, and, defendant declining to plead further and being in default, judgment was rendered for plaintiff in the sum of $500 with interest, or for the total sum of $595.50, from which an appeal was allowed to this court under the provisions of section 1474, R. S. 1919.

The sufficiency of the petition as against demurrer is the only matter before us for our determination. Defendant argues that it fails to state a cause of action against him, for the reasons that it does not state that the defendant executed the bail bond mentioned in the petition, nor where or in what jurisdiction or before what court, official, or person said bail bond was executed; that it shows on its face that the principal in said bond failed to comply with the condition thereof, in that it fails to allege that said Stewart appeared before the court and...