Norris v. Haggin

• Decision Date: 19 May 1890
• Citation: 10 S.Ct. 942,34 L.Ed. 424,136 U.S. 386
• Parties: NORRIS v. HAGGIN et al
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

136 U.S. 386

10 S.Ct. 942

34 L.Ed. 424

NORRIS v. HAGGIN et al.

May 19, 1890.

J. H. McKune, for appellant.

S. C. Denson and Louis T. Haggin, for appellees.

MILLER, J.

This is an appeal from the circuit court of the United States for the district of California. The plaintiff, Samuel Norris, who is appellant here, brought his suit in the superior court of the county of Sacramento against James B. Haggin and Lloyd Tevis by way of a bill in chancery. The bill gives a very lengthy account of what the plaintiff calls a 'fraud and imposition' practiced upon him by the defendants, who had been his agents and attorneys, and who, when he became so enfeebled in mind as to be incapable of understanding his rights, or attending to business at all, procured from him conveyances and mortgages and other instruments in writing, by means of which they secured the title to over $1,500,000 worth of property, principally real estate. This suit was commenced on the 1 st day of August, 1884; and, after a demurrer by defendants had been filed in the state court, it was on their motion removed into the circuit court of the United States for the district of California. There the case was heard on the demurrer, which was sustained by the circuit court, and the bill dismissed. 28 Fed. Rep. 275. From the decree dismissing the bill the present appcal is brought.

The statements of the bill are very full and profuse in their recital of the advantages taken by the defendants of the plaintiff. He sets out in the amended bill which was filed in the circuit court that he was a citizen of the kingdom of Denmark, and a resident of the Sandwich Islands; that from the 1st day of December, 1849, until the 2d day of April, 1861, he was the owner in fee, in possession, and entitled to the possession, of a certain piece or tract of land consisting of 45,000 acres, in the county of Sacramento, on the right bank of the American river, and known as the 'Rancho del Paso,' and more particularly described in a patent from the government of the United States to him, which was duly recorded in the office of the recorder of Sacramento county; that, also, he was the owner of certain other parcels and lots of ground, the value of which in the aggregate amounted to $1,535,000. He then says that on or about the 1st day of January, 1855, said Haggin and Tevis became, and, until a short time prior to the commencement of this suit were, the trusted agents, business managers, and attorneys of plaintiff in and about the management of his business affairs connected with said property; that the defendants, for a valuable consideration, promised and undertook to act as his agents and confidential advisers, and that, having faith and confidence in their integrity and ability, he, from said 1st day of January, 1855, to the last of December, 1867, trusted them, and took and acted on their advice in all his business affairs, and counseled with them in all matters of importance, and confided to them all matters pertaining to his affairs. He then states that on the 4th day of March, 1859, he was injured by a severe blow on his head, whereby his senses and faculties were impaired so that he then and thereby became deaf, and that for several months his hearing was wholly gone, and his left eye became, and for several years was, sightless; that his nervous system was so far injured by said blow that for several years thereafter he was unable to take refreshing sleep, and for more than 10 years thereafter he was unable, and mentally and physically incompetent, to attend in person to his business affairs, or comprehend or understand what had been done in or about his said business, or to direct his agents how to act therein. The specific acts offraud charged to have been committed against him by the defendants are, mainly, that on the 29th day of April, is the year 1859, while in this unfortunate condition, they procured from him a note for $64,000 with a mortgage upon all his property to secure its payment; that this note was without consideration; that he did not understand it; that it was never read to him; and that, also, without his knowledge, they brought suit and foreclosed the mortgage by a decree of court, under which they purchased it at the sale, and now have the legal title; also, that they procured other judgments to be rendered against him in favor of other parties, on alleged contracts of which he had no knowledge or recollection, and in which, also, certain of this property was sold and purchased, and came ultimately to the hands of defendants Haggin and Tevis, all of which was through their contrivance. It is further alleged that, in order to make sure of their claim to this property, they procured from defendant on the 23d day of June, 1863, a conveyance, executed and delivered by him to said Tevis, of all the estate hereinbefore described, and also all other lands owned by him in California, which deed was recorded in the proper office on the 10th day of September, 16 3. The bill also alleges that these frauds did not come to his knowledge until a short time before the commencement of this suit, and then only through information derived from his counsel in the case.

There are many things about the bill which are peculiar, and calculated to throw suspicion on the claims here asserted. The original bill filed in the state court was afterwards supplemented by two amended bills in the circuit court of the United States. The allegation of these bills are, in the main the same, but there are some differences in them which are calculated to attract attention. Among these are the fact that in the first amended bill filed in the circuit court of the United States, the execution of the note and mortgage for $64,000 is...